Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt Places in Ventura County That Have Closed Since 2009

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We’ve been tracking ice cream, frozen yogurt, gelato and other types of places throughout Ventura County and adjacent areas since 2009. The list at THIS LINK is updated periodically.

As we’ve added to the list, we’ve also removed places from the list that have closed over the years. For historical purposes, we have compiled the frozen treat graveyard below.

Frozen Yogurt/Ice Cream Graveyard

Breaking News: City of Thousand Oaks to be Renamed City of Westbury Oaks

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Breaking news! City of Thousand Oaks announces its new name, Westbury Oaks!

Incorporated in 1964, the City of Thousand Oaks expanded in the 1960s and 1970s to include two-thirds of Westlake Village and most of Newbury Park. However, the name Thousand Oaks remained the same.

Yesterday, after years of petitioning by local residents, City Council announced the renaming of the city to better reflect its components.

According to city spokesperson Ivana Fulya, Westbury Oaks beat out the other two top choices, Thousand Newlakes and Bury Thousandvillages by a slim margin.

Joe King of Westlake Village remarked, "Everyone's always been confused about where we live. Is it Westlake Village or is it Thousand Oaks? Now we'll all be one big happy, less confused family of Westbury Oaks residents!"

CVUSD representative Jess Kiddeen added "Thousand Oaks, Westlake and Newbury Park High Schools will be renamed Westbury Oaks I, Westbury Oaks II and Westbury Oaks III, respectively in light of this fantastic change."

Descendants of Egbert Starr Newbury, namesake of Newbury Park, had no comment.

California 16 and 17 Year Olds Can Pre-Register to Vote Online

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In 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 113 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson which allowed voter pre-registration beginning at age 16 once the California’s statewide voter registration database, VoteCal, was certified. VoteCal was certified in September 2016. 

Pre-registering to vote helps enable California youth to vote as soon as they turn 18. The process can be done online at registertovote.ca.gov as long as 16 and 17 year olds have signatures on file with the DMV. If signatures are not on file, they may pre-register by completing a paper form and mailing to their county elections office.

Pre-registration applies to California youth who are 16 or 17, a U.S. citiizen and resident of California, not currently in state or federal prison or on parole for a felony and not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by a court.

My 17 year old did it and said it took less than 5 minutes.

Learn more at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/pre-register-16-vote-18.

Donating to Charities Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution

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If you are age 72 or older and have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), you are required to take a “Required Minimum Distribution” (RMD) each year. The RMD is calculated by dividing your IRA account balance as of the last day of the previous year by a distribution period dictated by the IRS.

Distributions from IRAs (except Roth IRAs) are generally taxable income. And depending on your total income, the distribution may cause more of your Social Security benefits to be taxable.

Do you give to charities? One way to reduce the tax bite from RMDs is to give using a “Qualified Charitable Distribution” (QCD).

Using a QCD, you can give to your favorite charities directly from your IRA, up to an annual maximum of $100,000. Doing so helps meet your annual RMD requirement, while reducing your taxable RMD income. Yes, the amount of the QCD is excluded from taxable income.

Let’s look at an example.

Fred and Wilma Flintstone, who live in Bedrock, California, have an IRA with RMDs of $40,000 in 2021. Their only other income is $25,000 apiece in Social Security Income. They gave $5,000 to their favorite charities by writing checks and otherwise do not itemize deductions on their tax returns (their mortgage at 301 Cobblestone Way is full paid and thus no mortgage interest expense).

Based on the above, the Flintstones would owe taxes of $4,603 federal and $35 state on their 2021 tax returns.

Instead, if Fred and Wilma contributed to the charities using QCDs directly from their IRA, their tax liability would be $3,493 federal and nothing for the state. That would save them $1,145 in taxes! That’s a lot of Bronto Burgers!

The higher the tax bracket you’re in, the more these QCDs can save you in taxes.

Learn more about Qualified Charitable Distributions at www.irs.gov/publications/p590b#en_US_2020_publink100041439.

Sunset View From Tarantula Hill on a Cold February Evening, 2-22-22

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Yes, today is 2-22-22, a day that kind of reminds me of 11-11-11. It was a cold, cloudy day and while we did not see rain, we anticipate some showers tonight. In any case, enjoy these photos of tonight’s cloudy sunset from Tarantula Hill in Thousand Oaks.

The Ventura County Classical Guitar Society Meets Monthly and is Open to the Public

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What a small world it is. A Ventura County resident named Peter contacted us regarding making some additions to the local Live Music and Other Nightlife Options compilation.

Not more than a week or two later, while harvesting produce for local charity Food Forward, I struck up a conversation with another volunteer. His name was Peter. After a bit of bantering for over an hour, I mentioned Conejo Valley Guide® to him, to which he replied, "Oh, I know that website!" After a few more back and forths, I discovered that this was the same Peter that had recently emailed the site. Small world!

Peter told me that the Ventura County Classical Guitar Society is a hidden gem. The group of classical guitar enthusiasts meets generally the last Wednesday of the month at the Pleasant Valley Recreation & Park District Senior Center (1605 Burnley Street, Camarillo).

He said that it is a fun session to attend is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6PM. Members of the group as well as guests perform for the group starting at 7PM (guest performers start at 8PM). Donations are accepted for guest performers.

So if you're up for an enjoyable evening of live classical guitar performances, visit www.vccgs.com and check out upcoming performances.

Upcoming planned performances:

  • 2/22/23: Rodrigo & Niccole

  • 3/29/23: Hugo Nogueira

A Drive Down the Historic Norwegian Grade in Thousand Oaks

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The Historic Norwegian Grade was originally built by hand and $60 worth of dynamite in the early 1900s by the founding Norwegian families, Olsen, Pedersen and others. The top of the grade to Santa Rosa Road is about a mile and a half. The two lane road was improved in 2010 to make it slightly wider and improve the guard rail and signage. More history at THIS LINK.