The Conejo Valley Guide "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, highlights of local things to do, compilations and other items. Focus is on information relevant to Ventura County and surrounding areas, including Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Moorpark, Somis, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara and Moorpark.
The Conejo Valley Guide® "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, local things to do, holiday event compilations, announcements and more.
The Los Angeles Rams commemorated Sgt. Ron Helus and the others who lost their lives at the Borderline Bar & Grill at tonight’s Rams vs Chiefs game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Hill Fire around 3:15pm on Thursday, Nov 8th, seen from west Los Robles Trail in Newbury Park.
The Conejo Valley and nearby areas have been inundated by emergencies, including the Borderline Bar & Grill shooting and the fires - Hill Fire (originated 2:03 pm in the Hill Canyon area of Thousand Oaks/Newbury Park) and the Woolsey Fire (originated 2:25 pm in the Simi Hills near the old Rocketdyne facility, 25000 Woolsey Canyon Road - bordering Canoga Park in Los Angeles County).
While CVG is not a news site and we cannot provide up to the minute updates, we do want to provide information and links to help local resident stay closely dialed in.
For updates including evacuations, shelters, etc., visit www.vcemergency.com. Or call (805) 465-6650.
For evacuation notifications, sign up by texting VCAlert to 313131 or visit www.vcalert.org.
If you are a Twitter user, the Ventura County Fire Department Public Information Officer provides periodic updates via Tweets at twitter.com/VCFD_PIO. The VCFD Twitter page also provides updates and some useful "Retweets" from other sources at twitter.com/VCFD.
Ventura County emergency alert radio stations: KVTA 1590 AM, KHAY 100.7 FM, KMLA 103.7 FM (SPANISH)
VISIT VCEmergency.com FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON MANDATORY AND VOLUNTARY EVACUATIONS, ROAD CLOSURES AND EVACUATION CENTERS.
City of Westlake Village emergency updates: (Woolsey Fire): www.wlv.org/AlertCenter.aspx
Donations:
Ventura County Community Foundation has established a Hill Fire/Woolsey Fire Sudden and Urgent Needs Effort Fund
Founded in response to the destruction of the Woolsey Fire, LV Fire Relief raises money and collects goods for families who lost their homes or have been displaced long-term by severe damage to their homes. LV Fire Relief is a community effort by local parents, staff, students, and business owners. Donations are processed with support of the Southeast Ventura YMCA and are tax-deductible. For more information, visit lvfirerelief.org.
National Park Service announced the Western Town at Paramount Ranch has been destroyed by the Woolsey Fire.
Peter Strauss Ranch was largely destroyed by the Woolsey Fire.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority announced a number of parks it manages are closed as a result of the Woolsey Fire, including Escondido Canyon Park, Las Virgenes View Trail, Triunfo Creek Park, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, Charmlee Wilderness Park, Zev Yaroslavsky Las Virgenes Highlands Park and others. (Updates at mrca.ca.gov/press/mountains-recreation-and-conservation-authority-issues-list-of-park-closures.)
Update 1/11/19: All of the above parks have been re-opened, with the exception of Charmlee and Escondido.
Update 1/30/19: Escondido Canyon is now open. Only Charmlee remains closed.
The MASH set and Reagan Ranch at Malibu Creek State Park were destroyed by the Woolsey Fire, according to the L.A. Times.
Malibu Creek State Park was closed until 12/18/18 due to the Woolsey Fire. State Parks lost some structures, such as employee residences, the historic Sepulveda Adobe, Red House, White Oak Barn and Reagan Ranch. For the latest information on how the wildfires have impacted state parks, visit www.parks.ca.gov/newsroom.
Other California State Park properties impacted by the Woolsey and Hill Fires, include Leo Carrillo State Park (fire burned through the campground, the visitor center, sector office, employee residences, three lifeguard towers, Leo Shop structures, the Junior Lifeguard Complex and several restrooms) and El Matador Beach. www.parks.ca.gov/NewsRelease/852
Also temporarily closed, but now re-opened, were Point Mugu State Park, Malibu Lagoon State Beach, Point Dume State Beach, La Piedra and El Pescador Beaches and Topanga State Park.
The Morrison Ranch House in Cheeseboro Canyon in Agoura Hills was destroyed by the fire.
The Hill Canyon Bridge in Thousand Oaks was torched and we be closed for at least several weeks until repaired.
The replica Chumash Village at Oakbrook Regional Park in Thousand Oaks was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire.
Conejo Open Space closed until further notice. Follow the COSCA Facebook Page for updates.
Opening 11/16: Los Robles, Rancho Potrero, Dos Vientos, Tarantula Hill
Opening 11/17: Wildwood
Closed until further notice: Hill Canyon, Western Plateau, Conejo Canyons, Lang Ranch, Woodridge, Oakbrook, Hillcrest and North Ranch open space areas.
As of mid-January 2019: All open except Hill Canyon Bridget and Oakbrook open space.
Rancho Simi Rec & Park District parks/trails closed (as of 11/19/18):
Corriganville, Coyote Hills and Challenger parks in Simi Valley and Eagle View Park in Oak Park.
Wood Ranch Trailhead open space area and Long Canyon Trail
Oak Canyon Community Park
Update at rsrpd.org
ABC News list of homes burned by Woolsey Fire.
Woolsey Fire
83,250 acres as of 7pm 11/10. 5% containment. Full containment expected by 11/15. 177 structures destroyed; 2 damaged.
83,275 acres as of 7am 11/11. 10% containment. Full containment expected 11/17. 177 structures, destroyed, 2 damaged.
85,500 acres as of 7pm 11/11. 15% containment. Full containment 11/17. 2 civilian casualties. 3 firefighter injuries.
11/12 7pm: 93,662 acres, 30% containment. Full containment now 11/15. Preliminary estimate 435 structures destroyed;.
11/13 7am: 96,314 acres, 435+ structures destroyed; 24 damaged. 35% containment. Full containment pushed back to 11/18.
11/13 7pm: 97,114 acres, 40% containment; full containment still 11/18.
11/15 7am: 98,362 acres, 57% containment. 504 structures destroyed (483 prelim; assessment ongoing - 370 confirmed destroyed and 96 confirmed damaged). Full containment expected by 11/19.
11/15 7pm: 98,362 acres, 62% contained, 548 structures destroyed, 157 damaged. 3 civilian casualties, 3 firefighter injuries. Full containment by 11/19.
11/16 7am: 98,362 acres, 69% contained. 616 structures destroyed; 183 damaged. Full containment by 11/19.
11/16 7pm: 98,362 acres, 69% contained. 713 structures destroyed; 201 damaged. Full containment 11/19.
11/17 7pm: 98,362 acres, 84% contained. 1,008 structures destroyed; 271 damaged. Full containment 11/22.
11/18 7pm 96,949 acres (must have done a reassessment), 91% contained. 1,452 structures destroyed, 337 damaged.
11/19 7am 96,949 acres, 94% contained. 1,500 structures destroyed, 341 damaged. Full containment 11/22.
11/19 7pm No change other than 96% contained.
11/20 6:30pm: 96,949 acres, 98% contained; full containment expected tomorrow. 1,643 structures destroyed; 364 damaged.
11/21 6:30pm: 96,949 acres, 100% contained!
Hill Fire
4,531 acres as of 7pm 11/10. 65% containment; full containment expected by 11/15. 2 structures destroyed; 2 damaged.
7am 11/11 - No change other than 70% containment.
7pm 11/11 - No change other than 75% containment.
7pm 11/12 - 4,531 acres; 80% containment.
7am 11/13 - same acreage, 90% containment
7pm 11/13 - same acreage; 92% containment
7am 11/15 - same acreage; 97% containment. Full containment anticipated tomorrow.
7pm 11/15 - same acreage; 99% containment; full containment 11/16.
11/16: Fully contained! Cal Fire seeks the public’s help determining what appears to be human cause to the fire. Possible $10K reward.
Pepperdine University has announced that classes will be cancelled until after Thanksgiving as a result of the Woolsey Fire.
CSUCI has announced it has suspended classes through Thanksgiving, though the campus itself will be open November 15-21.
Schools in the Conejo Valley, Oak Park and Las Virgenes Unified School District have closed through the Thanksgiving holiday.
Garth Brooks began the 52nd Annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards on November 14th with a remembrance and moment of silence for the victims of the Borderline Bar & Grill shooting one week prior.
Brooks said “On behalf of our country music community, I want to say that tonight’s show is lovingly dedicated to the 12 individuals whom we lost far too soon just a week ago tonight at the Borderline in Thousand Oaks, California,” Brooks said, referring to those who died after a gunman opened fire at the country dance bar. Tonight, let’s celebrate their lives. Let the music unite us with love, and their enduring memory.”
Sean Adler
Cody Coffman
Blake Dingman
Jake Dunham
Sgt. Ron Helus
Alaina Housley
Daniel Manrique
Justin Meek
Mark Meza Jr.
Kristina Morisette
Telemachus Orfanos
Noel Sparks
The iconic Western Town at Paramount Ranch was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire of November 2018. The only surviving structures were the church and the train station.
The Santa Monica Mountains Fund, in cooperation with the National Park Service, has launched “The Paramount Project,” a campaign to rebuild Paramount Ranch’s Western Town, recently destroyed by the Woolsey Fire.
The site, long popular with location scouts looking to replicate a rustic town with a Western motif, was also used for many of the special events that take place at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, including weddings, star parties, music festivals, classic movie nights and a variety of other activities. A National Park Service employee, along with her family, lived in Western Town and was one of three employees who lost park housing in the Woolsey fire.
The new fundraising initiative is expected to restore the only National Park Service site that interprets American film history. It was purchased by the National Park Service in 1980 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The focus of the campaign is to tap into the creativity, expertise, and resources of both the entertainment community and the general public to create a temporary set and then, ultimately, a number of permanent structures that will retain the rustic features of the past, but with more fire-resistant materials.
The National Park Service and the Santa Monica Mountains Fund have already been contacted by members of the entertainment industry who would like to be involved in the project.
In 1927, Paramount Pictures purchased 2,700 acres of the old Rancho Las Virgenes for use as a "movie ranch." Thus began an era of film production that had continued until last week with more than 300 films, television shows and commercials being shot here. The current ranch is comprised of 765 acres.
Famous Hollywood actors, from Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich to Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper, have strolled around the dusty streets that could be magically transformed into a real town that included a general store, a sheriff’s jail, a saloon, drugstore and a variety of other settings. After it was purchased by Paramount Pictures, a veritable who's who of Hollywood, such as director Cecil B. DeMille and actors Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert, practiced their craft here for the next 25 years.
But it was the diverse landscape that was the real star of the show. It offered filmmakers the freedom to create distant locales such as colonial Massachusetts in The Maid of Salem (1937), ancient China in The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938), a South Seas island in Ebb Tide (1937), and numerous western locations including San Francisco in Wells Fargo (1937). The art of illusion was mastered in this landscape.
In the 1950s, Western Town was created for television shows, such as The Cisco Kid. More recent television productions at Paramount include The Mentalist, Weeds, episodes of the X-Files and Hulu’s Quickdraw.
More recently, Western Town gained attention as Main Street in HBO’s hit series “Westworld.” For five years in the 1990s, it stood in as Colorado Springs, Colorado, providing the backdrop for many of actress Jane Seymour’s frontier adventures on the popular TV show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Also, Sandra Bullock had a leading role in The Lake House here.
Less known is the history of the Paramount Racetrack. The track operated from 1956 to 1957 and was known as one of the most challenging in the nation. The movie, The Devil’s Hairpin, was filmed on the course, which closed down after three fatalities within 18 months from its opening. Most of the track still winds through the grass and oak woodlands of the park.
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park System, it comprises a seamless network of local, state, and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/samo.
The Santa Monica Mountains Fund works to protect and encourage appreciation and understanding of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The Fund achieves this by supporting National Park Service efforts in education, science, research, improved facilities, citizen engagement, stewardship and philanthropy. For more information, visit www.samofund.org.
The General Store seen prior to the Woolsey Fire.
As a resident of Thousand Oaks for 25 years, never would I have thought that the city where I’ve raised two boys, both born at Los Robles Hospital, would land itself tied for 15th place in all-time deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history.
But here we are today, in shock over the worst tragedy ever experienced in the Conejo Valley. The hospital where my wife gave birth to our sons treated many of the 23 victims of last night’s shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill, 99 Rolling Oaks Drive, Thousand Oaks (south of the 101, off of Moorpark Road).
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their friends and families, first responders and others impact by this horrific tragedy.
The facts:
Shooting took place on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 11:20 pm.
There were 12 victims who died at the hands of the active shooter, who was also confirmed deceased.
One victim was Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus.
Other confirmed deaths: Cody Coffman, Justin Meek, Alaina Housley, Noel Sparks, Blake Dingman, Jake Dunham, Kristina Morisette, Sean Adler, Telemachus Orfanos, Dan Manrique, Mark Meza
Visit www.vcemergency.com for updates.
Visit City of T.O. website at www.toaks.org/residents/borderline-shooting-information for updates.
Monetary donations can be made at vccf.org/donate/make-a-donation to help those impacted by the tragedy.
TOPD asks well wishers to mail all cards, letters, care packages for Borderline victims and families to station. Pls no food or flowers. 2101 Olsen Rd T.O., Ca 91360 #TOakstrong pic.twitter.com/l423P0nZGB
— Thousand Oaks Sta. (@toaksvcso) November 13, 2018
Tue 11/13 All Day at Shake Shack Westlake Villlage at The Promenade at Westlake - 100% of proceeds to be donated to VCCF Conejo Valley Victims Fund (Borderline and Fire tragedies).
Wed 11/14 11am to 9pm at Ameci Pizza, 1724 E. Avenida De Los Arboles, Thousand Oaks - 100% of proceeds to benefit families and victims of the tragic event.
Thu 11/15 11am to 9pm at Bandits Grill & Bar Thousand Oaks - 100% of proceeds to benefit families and victims.
Thu 11/15 noon - Memorial Services for Sergeant Ron Helus at Calvary Church Westlake Village
Facebook Live Stream: www.facebook.com/VenturaCountySheriff (live stream starts at 11am with music until services start; ends 1:15 to 1:30).
Calvary Live Stream: calvarywestlake.churchonline.org
Traffic impacts: Road closures 8am La Tienda and Via Rocas near the church. There will be traffic in the area until about 3pm.
Fri 11/16 11am to 5pm at 2860 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd (at Skyline) - The Most Epic LemonAID Stand Ever - Local kids (who are currently out of school as a result of the wildfires) will be selling lemonade and treats. Proceeds go to families of Borderline shooting victims and Woolsey/Hill Fire families through the VCCF.
The following was written by Jenn Zimmerman, Cal Lutheran’s veterans coordinator, about Justin Meek.
Justin worked in the Veterans Resource Office for two years as a VA work study, and his impact will not be forgotten. His gregarious and outgoing attitude allowed him to instantly bond with the veterans who entered the office. He worked with the Veterans Club to plan events and help veteran-students with their VA certifications. Not only did he work with us, he was an active student on the campus. The busier he was, the more he interacted with his peers, the more he thrived. He was a kind and compassionate person who really cared for others.
Justin was a criminal justice and criminology major who had a passion for doing what was right. I’m not shocked he took action to protect the people at Borderline.
He was a part of the Kingsmen Quartet and loved singing in choir. He sang the National Anthem at graduation and was lined up to sing with the Disney Carolers for the holiday season. Justin came back to Cal Lutheran after he graduated to support the Country Line Dance Club with Borderline. He loved running college night and always seemed to draw a crowd.
He was planning to join the US Coast Guard; a compromise between his Air Force veteran mother and his Navy SEAL father. He enjoyed cooking for others and often brought his leftovers for us to share as we envied his cooking skills. He was going to be the chef our Veterans Day Celebration this Monday. Since he can no longer be with us, we will hold a memorial in his honor. Justin was a real go-getter and had his whole life ahead of him. He will be deeply missed in our community.
The U.S. Navy Seabee Museum at 1001 Addor Street, Port Hueneme is a state-of-the-art, free of charge must-see for local residents and visitors alike. One of the U.S. Navy's 11 official museums, the Seabee Museum displays historical material relating to the history of the Naval Construction Force, better known as the Seabees, and the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps.
The 38,000 sq ft museum was recently renovated and features modern exhibit spaces, memorial garden, theater, education room and well-stocked gift shop. Well worth a visit with the kids. Additionally, the STEM Center at the Museum is a hidden gem!
The second oldest of the official Navy museums, the Seabee Museum was established in 1947 in Port Hueneme, which today is part of Naval Base Ventura County.
The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm. Closed Sundays and all Federal holidays. Admission and parking are free. Learn more at www.usnavyseabeemuseum.com or call 805.982.5165.
On Friday night, May 19, 2017, the Weathersfield School (@GoWeathersfield) Twitter page tagged @ConejoJoe asking that I share a photo of a turtle found at the school.
I retweeted the post on my Twitter page.
And then I decided to also to post the photo on the CVG Facebook page, which at the time had over 13,000 followers and a lot more interaction than Twitter.
Sure enough, comments started rolling in with suggestions…non-profit animal rescue, “we can give him a home,” “I remember someone posting a missing turtle on a neighborhood board,” etc. There were 18 comments and 14 shares. Not viral, but apparently enough to get the attention of its owner, Paula Nathan, who at 9:10AM the next day posted:
Given the turtle was found literally across the street from the owner’s home, without social media, perhaps signs posted around the neighborhood would eventually have reunited the owner with Myrtle the Turtle. But with the social media’s help, Myrtle’s owner was able to connect quickly with her turtle.
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
Conejo Valley Guide® covers thousands of events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County, California and surrounding areas.
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