News from around the Ojai Valley
Ojai Summer Band Concert to be live streamed tonight
- Details
- Published: Wednesday, 17 July 2019 15:14
The Ojai Summer Band Concerts will continue tonight, July 17 at 7:30 p.m at Libbey Bowl.
This is the 28th year of the event, which includes music, popcorn, lemonade and a children's balloon march. The band is directed by Laura Denne.
Ojai photographer Stephen Adams will be providing a live YouTube stream of the concert beginning at 7 p.m. The link will be available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvWdvzUj13Q4-X7-k_W654w/videos, as well as a recording following the live event. The concert is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ojai West.
Teslas to power up at Bōku Superfoods’ 12 new charging stations in Ojai
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 16 July 2019 22:50
Photo 1: Reno Rollé with wife Lynn and son Reno Jr. welcoming visitors to the ribbon cutting July 16 at Bōku Superfoods
Photo 2: Ojai Mayor Pro Tempore Suza Francina cuts the ribbon in front of the new charging stations just as doves are released. Lynn and Reno Rollé are at Suza's right and county Planning Commissioner Phil White of Ojai is to her left.
Photo 3: Rob Malone of La Conchita shows all the whiz-bang features of his Tesla Model 3.
By Marianne Ratcliff, Ojai Valley News
Bōku Superfoods celebrated the opening of 12 new Tesla charging stations July 16 in its Ojai parking lot at 987 W. Ojai Ave., drawing a crowd of the electric-vehicle faithful and curious, several sporting T-shirts stamped with “I (heart) Ojai,” “Tesla,” and “Driving on sunshine.”
Many who drove to the event in their Teslas, Chevy Bolts and other electric vehicles literally drive on sunshine, charging their cars from solar panels at home.
“It’s our love of Ojai that drives us to stand up and proudly take our position as stewards — stewards of our community, stewards of the environment, stewards even of this property, and to do everything we can to serve and give back in some small way,” said Reno Rollé, owner of Bōku Superfoods with wife Lynn. “So, if this bank of superchargers helps to reduce emissions and keep our air even a tiny bit cleaner, if just a handful of drivers elect to park here and jump on a bike while their cars are charging, to help reduce traffic just a tiny bit and make our streets just a tiny bit safer, this makes us really, really happy.”
The couple welcomed the crowd before Mayor Pro Tempore Suza Francina cut the ribbon to the 72-kilowatt urban fast-chargers, which can add as much as 180 miles to a Tesla Model 3 in half an hour.
Where were you July 20, 1969? — Send email to letters@ojaivalleynews.com
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 16 July 2019 13:32
July 20 will be the 50th year since man landed on the moon. Please tell us in about 200 words or fewer where you were when the first human steps on the moon were taken. We will publish a sampling in the Friday, July 19, print edition of the Ojai Valley News. Thank you for taking this trip down memory lane in outer space with us! Send your memory to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Photos courtesy of NASA
Photo 1 — Earthrise: View of Moon limb with Earth on the horizon. This image was taken during Apollo 11 Mission.
Photo 2: The 363-foot-tall, 6.4-million-pound rocket hurled the spacecraft on the trajectory to the moon for man’s first lunar landing.
Make sure you are in the know about your hometown. Subscribe today by logging on to www.ojaivalleynews.com/subscriptions or call Gator at 805-646-1476!
Bōku to unveil 12 Tesla charging stations tonight
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 16 July 2019 11:17
The public is invited to attend Bōku Superfoods' ribbon cutting of 12 new Tesla charging stations in its parking lot at 987 W. Ojai Ave. tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Bōku cofounders Reno and Lynn Rollé have partnered with Tesla to make this day come to fruition with the 12 new Tesla 72KW urban fast-chargers, which can add as much as 180 miles to a Tesla model three in about half an hour. That level of DC Fast-charging combined with affordable 250 to 300 mile range EVs makes using EVs viable for almost all drivers, according to EV Advocate Russell Sydney.
Read more: Bōku to unveil 12 Tesla charging stations tonight
Suspect in dog stabbing found incompetent to stand trial
- Details
- Published: Monday, 15 July 2019 15:36
Photo courtesy VCSO
Daniel Vigil
Perry Van Houten, Ojai Valley News senior reporter
Daniel Vigil, the 29-year-old Ojai man arrested on suspicion of killing the family dog, has been found incompetent to stand trial, according to prosecutors.
The finding, based on a doctor's report, "... means the court made a determination that, at this time, the defendant did not adequately understand the charges against him in a manner where he could intelligently assist his defense counsel with the case,” said Brent Nibecker, supervising deputy district attorney with the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Environmental report on proposed state water inter-tie to be unveiled
- Details
- Published: Monday, 15 July 2019 13:13
Perry Van Houten, Ojai Valley News senior reporter
City of Ventura officials will tonight receive a key report on a plan that could help ease the water shortage in the Ojai Valley.
Ventura Water will present the Ventura City Council with the final environmental impact report on the proposed project, the State Water Project Interconnection.
OUSD board to discuss district office property in closed session July 17
- Details
- Published: Monday, 15 July 2019 11:46
The Ojai Unified School District Board will meet in closed session at 4:30 p.m. July 17, along with new superintendent Tiffany Morse, to discuss the district office and Chaparral High School property located at 414 E. Ojai Ave.
The reasoning for the discussion of the 414 E. Ojai Ave. property has not been disclosed at this time.
The board previously discussed the topic of request for proposals at this property in closed session at its May 6 meeting.
Make sure you are in the know about your hometown. Subscribe today by logging on to www.ojaivalleynews.com/subscriptions or call Gator at 805-646-1476!
Summit School, Aug. 17 school board retreat and banning rodenticide are on new superintendent’s first OUSD school board meeting agenda July 17
- Details
- Published: Saturday, 13 July 2019 00:42
Dr. Tiffany Morse, new Ojai Unified School District superintendent
Ojai Unified School District will hold its first school board with new superintendent Tiffany Morse on Wednesday, July 17.
The special closed meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a closed session meeting to discuss real property negotiations, which are regarding the school district headquarters property at 414 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai. The meeting will open publicly at 4:30 p.m. before the board adjourns to meet in closed session.
After the closed session, the board will reconvene in open session at 5:30 p.m., at which time it will be “asked to receive information on the next steps regarding the Summit Elementary School property,” according to the agenda, posted Friday afternoon.
Conflict of interest case filed against county of Ventura Public Works Agency manager
- Details
- Published: Friday, 12 July 2019 23:56
Ventura County District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced July 12that four counts of misdemeanor conflict of interest were filed against Raymond Gutierrez Jr., 59,of Ventura, manager of the Development & Inspection Services Division of the county of Ventura Public Works Agency.
At Ojai’s candlelight vigil Friday, July 12, protesters demand humane treatment for asylum seekers
- Details
- Published: Friday, 12 July 2019 22:37
Mostly Ojai residents line Ojai Avenue July 12 in "Lights for Liberty Vigil," one of hundreds held around the country Friday.
About 65 mostly Ojai residents lined Ojai Avenue July 12 to protest overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in centers where asylum seekers are being detained, chanting: “No hate no fear, immigrants are welcome here!” “Don’t cage children!” They waved signs that read: “Human rights are not just for citizens”; “Families belong together”; “Stop the war on refugees”; “Seeking asylum is not a crime.” As night fell, they lit candles and powered up light sticks.
Organized by Ojai Councilwoman Suza Francina, the local protest was part of some 700 protests nationwide, organized under the name “Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to end Human Concentration Camps.” A larger protest was held at the same time in Camarillo outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. The protests are occurring as ICE prepares for mass enforcement activities throughout the Southland on Sunday, July 14. On July 11, city officials were informed about an ICE officer in Meiners Oaks.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Hatlee said July 12 that local law enforcement and federal agencies are “totally separate” and that the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is not working in conjunction with ICE. “We are not working with them trying to identify people here illegally. … Federal agencies are charged with immigration enforcement; our role is our local areas and crime occurring within our jurisdiction.”
Therefore, for example, if a person were to be pulled over by a local law enforcement officer, he or she might be issued a citation for the traffic infraction, but that would not involve ICE, Hatlee said.
Candlelight vigil Friday, July 12, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Ojai’s Libbey Park to call attention to conditions in U.S. immigration facilities
- Details
- Published: Friday, 12 July 2019 17:06
Tonight — Friday, July 12 — a candlelight vigil is being held at Ojai’s Libbey Park from 7 to 9 p.m. to protest the conditions in U.S. facilities where refugees seeking asylum are being detained. Similar vigils, called “Lights for Liberty,” are being held tonight in other Ventura County cities and around the country as Immigration and Customs Enforcement prepares for mass enforcement activities on Sunday.
Besides the Ojai vigil, one is planned today, July 12, outside the ICE office in Camarillo, 770 Paseo Camarillo, from 7 to 10 p.m. There will be speakers, music and a mile walk.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Capt. Eric Hatlee said Friday that local law enforcement and federal agencies are “totally separate” and that the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is not working in conjunction with ICE. “We are not working with them trying to identify people here illegally. … Federal agencies are charged with immigration enforcement; our role is our local areas and crime occurring within our jurisdiction.”
Therefore, for example, if a person were to be pulled over by a local law enforcement officer, he or she might be issued a citation for the traffic infraction, but that would not involve ICE, Hatlee said.
Ojai Councilwoman Suza Francina will speak at the July 12 Ojai vigil. She said she organized it because “it is important to stand up and voice our objection to this. To me, it is a crime against humanity.” She said the separation of families and the reported conditions in which refugee children are being held at the border are traumatic for them.
Francina said her family experiences compel her to speak out — her mother survived the Nazi occupation of Holland and her father survived a prison camp in Japan during World War II. While her family was fortunate to have a sponsor to be able to immigrate to the United States legally, she said not all refugees fleeing violence in their own countries have that opportunity. She added, “I think there’s a better way to work with them than to have ICE deport or imprison them.”
Heat wave hits
- Details
- Published: Friday, 12 July 2019 09:13
Perry Van Houten, Ojai Valley News senior reporter
On the heels of one of the mildest springs and early summers on record, blazing heat has returned to the Ojai Valley.
High temperatures approaching triple digits are expected over the weekend, according to forecasters, with a slight cooling trend on tap for early next week.
Fireworks sketch palm tree in sky
- Details
- Published: Friday, 12 July 2019 09:11
Photo courtesy Lindsay Thomson
Nearly 2,000 spectators turned out to watch the annual Ojai Independence Day fireworks show at Ojai Valley Community Stadium, estimated Kristi Adejumo, president of the Ojai Independence Day Committee. In addition to the pyrotechnics, the event included a concert by Danny McGaw and the 33, a kid zone and food trucks.
Ojai defense attorney faces weapons charges
- Details
- Published: Friday, 12 July 2019 09:09
Photo courtesy VCSO
Christopher Welch
Perry Van Houten, Ojai Valley News senior reporter
Ojai criminal defense attorney Christopher Welch was charged this week with several weapons-related offenses stemming from an arrest in April.
On Monday, prosecutors filed charges including possession of a silencer, possession of an assault weapon and possession of a large-capacity magazine, all felonies.
City provides tips to prepare for quakes
- Details
- Published: Friday, 12 July 2019 08:58
Austin Widger, Ojai Valley News reporter
In light of the magnitude 6.4 and magnitude 7.1 earthquakes that shook Southern California on July 4 and July 5, respectively, the city of Ojai reminded residents about its three-step disaster plan.
Just a few hours before the second quake near Ridgecrest that was felt in Ojai, Ojai City Manager James Vega sent out a press release urging residents to make a kit, make a plan and stay informed for any type of disaster.
