Neat Residential Holiday Light Display on Pathfinder Avenue in Westlake Village

Scenes from the pathfinder avenue holiday light show in 2014

The awesome holiday light display at 4903 Pathfinder in Westlake Village is back this 2015 holiday season! Starting December 4th through Christmas from 6-9PM every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, weather permitting, stop by to see "snow" falling and a light show synchronized to music, with shows running every 15 minutes.

Monday through Thursday the lights will be on. Bring your food donations for the local Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank too!

Also, on December 24 bring your family, friends and kids; there will be Elves and other holiday characters handing out candy!

Ventura County Area Schools in Newsweek 2015 Ranking of Nation's Top High Schools

In August, Newsweek published its 2015 ranking of the nation's "top public high schools." The rankings were based on data from 16,285 public high schools from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Researchers determined the ranking by selecting schools at perform in the 70th percentile or higher in standardized state testing. From there, the ranking was done using the following criteria:

• 10% of ranking based on "Holding Power" or the proportion of 9th graders that stay enrolled through 12th grade.
• 10% based on the ratio of school counselors to students.
• 17.5% based on SAT/ACT test score performance.
• 17.5% based on AP/IB dual enrollment composite.
• 20% based on graduation rate
• 25% based on college enrollment rate.

Based on the above methodology, four local area schools made the top 500:

Oak Park High School ranked 120th overall and 18th in California

Westlake High School ranked 210th overall and 26th in California

Thousand Oaks High School was 215th overall and 27th in California

Calabasas High School was 339th overall and 43rd in California.

See more at www.newsweek.com/high-schools/americas-top-high-schools-2015.

Ventura County Top Ten Secured Property Tax Bills for Fiscal Year 2015-2016

Last month the County of Ventura Treasurer-Tax Collector published a list of the top 10 secured property tax payers in the county for fiscal year 2015-2016 as a matter of public record. Personally I thought for sure I would be on this list but, whew, I was not!  

Here they are:

#1 biggest taxpayer is Southern California Edison, with taxes of $13.4 million on $933 million of property valuation.

#2 is Thousand Oaks biotech giant Amgen Inc., with taxes of $13.1 million on $1.24 billion of assessed value.

#3 is Aera Energy LLC, with $7.1 million taxes on $679 million of assessed value.

#4 is Vintage Petroleum LLC, with $3.8 million taxes on assessed value of $356 million.

#5 is Proctor-Gamble Paper Products, which pays $3.7 million taxes on $307 million of assessed value.

#6 Macerich Oaks LLC pays $3.1 million in taxes on assessed value of $293 million.

#7 Southern California Gas Co. pays $2.8 million on assessed value of $198 million.

#8 Baxter Healthcare Corp (which I suspect is now called Baxalta) pays $2.8 million on assessed value of $262 million.

#9 Vintage Production CA LLC pays $2.4 million on $205 million assessed value.

#10 Los Robles Hospital pays $2.2 million on $206 million in assessed value.

Now what are you going to use this information for? Maybe a trivia game?

Property taxes are collected by the Treasurer-Tax Collector of Ventura County on behalf of the county, most of the city's 10 incorporated cities, 20 school districts and other local taxing agencies. As a resident of Thousand Oaks you will see a variety of taxes in addition to the base property tax of 1% of the assessed value of your property, such as school bonds, service agencies and special assessments.

Personally, perhaps my least favorite moment of the year is seeing the annual Secured Tax Statement in the mail. But heck, that's part of the price of living here in paradise I guess.

The general tax levy is limited to 1% of assessed value. Assessed value can increase no more than 2% per year based on Proposition 13. 

Learn more about Ventura County property taxes at www.ventura.org/ttc.

The Majority of Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers Plan to Relax on Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, but it hasn't always been that way. In December 1941, Congress passed a law signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to change it to the 4th Thursday; previously it was the last Thursday of the month (signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1863). The change was made in part to distance Thanksgiving a bit from Christmas (which hasn't kept Santa from appearing at most local malls well before today).

Moving on to tomorrow, Black Friday...in a drawing and informal survey on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook page yesterday, the question was asked, "what are your plans for Black Friday?" 

Based on the responses, I might have to sell short consumer retail stocks, as only 13% of the 188 responding to the survey mentioned they plan to shop on Black Friday! (And that includes one response who said he was "Amazoning.")

In fact, 4% of folks responded with "Not Shopping" I suppose to make a point....although that does not really answer the question as to what they DO plan to do.

Overall, 43% of the responses indicated a plan to "hang out" with family and/or just relax, or just SLEEP (9% indicate that) tomorrow. These folks plan to eat leftovers, relax, watch movies at home, play games and basically enjoy a day with family. Not a bad way to enjoy Black Friday.

Nearly 20% of responses indicates plans to go out and about on Black Friday, not necessarily to shop, but to enjoy the outdoors, take a hike, go to the movies, visit an amusement park, watch Santa fly from the sky at Janss Marketplace, watch kids' sports, etc.

Only 7% of responses indicated they plan to work on Black Friday. Yes, some of us still do have to work. And 5% indicated plans to get moving on holiday decorating around the house.

Other responses included "not sure," chores, travel, packing for move, buying a car, job interview, studying, party, get a facial and so on.

Most Popular Thanksgiving Meal Side Dishes From Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Fans

Copyright: 123RF Stock Photo from Mark Stout

In another Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Page drawing today, readers were asked to indicate a favorite Thanksgiving meal side dish. The following is a summary of this informal survey:

Tied for most mentioned side dish...<drum roll>... Sweet Potatoes and Stuffing, each with 19% of total comments.

Tied for third most mentioned side dish: Mashed Potatoes and Green Bean Casserole, each with 11% of comments.

Tied for fifth most mentioned side dish with 6% of total comments each were Yams, Veggies and dishes made with Pumpkin.

Other mentions in the drawing included Potato Casserole, Cranberry Sauce, Broccoli Casserole, a Thanksgiving Jello with Cream/Celery dish, Pecan Pie, Mac & Cheese, Roasted Potatoes, Noodles, Craft Beer (hmm), Sweet Potato Pie, Blair Sausage and Cranberries.

For a compilation of community holiday season events and activities through the end of the year, visit THIS LINK.

Space Shuttle Endeavor at the California ScienCenter Well Worth the Trip

The California ScienCenter is located in Exposition Park, about an hour-long drive from Thousand Oaks. Located adjacent to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the ScienCenter is a fantastic place to explore the world of science with the kids.

Sweetening the deal is the addition of Space Shuttle Endeavor at the Samuel Oschin Pavilion, the Endeavor's temporary home until the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is opened (currently anticipated sometime in 2018).

The Endeavor was first launched into space in May 1992 and its final mission was in May 2011, with 25 space missions and nearly 123 million miles flown. The orbiter has a wingspan of 78 feet and length of 122 feet. At 57 feet tall, it has quite a presence inside the Pavilion.

Also impressive is the array of informational displays surrounding the Endeavor, covering key milestones for all NASA space shuttles, including the Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor. For example, we learned that the Discovery has flown the most miles of any of the shuttles - over 148 million miles on 39 missions.

In addition to the Pavilion, the Endeavour: The California Story exhibit contains artifacts and displays associated with the shuttle program here in Southern California.

Admission to the California Science Center is free of charge; parking is currently $10. Due to the popularity of the Endeavor exhibit, timed reservations are required for weekends, holidays, special events and other high attendance periods, including Thanksgiving week and school winter/spring breaks. There is a $2 fee for online, printable reservations, $3 for phone reservations.

Better yet, book the Endeavor and an IMAX film together and the $2 Endeavor fee is waived. You won't regret it as the IMAX films are spectacular.

Visit www.californiasciencecenter.org to learn more.

Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers are Thankful for Many Things

As part of a drawing for tickets to the Reagan Library yesterday, we asked Conejo Valley Guide Facebook page followers to comment on something they are thankful for this holiday season. Over 300 folks commented in the span of eight hours. The word cloud below sums up what this great local crowd is thankful for as we approach Thanksgiving.

Word cloud courtesy of tool at www.jasondavies.com/wordcloud

For a compilation of community holiday season events and activities through the end of the year, visit THIS LINK.