ojai blog - news and events in the Ojai community

Good Show

Matthew Leighty, a junior at Villanova Preparatory School in Ojai, gets props from the ventura County Star (free reg req) for spearheading the transformation of an unkempt plot of weeds and trash into a garden paradise.
Leighty, who thought the project was a perfect opportunity to assist the community while earning his Eagle Scout Badge, cobbled together funding and support from the local community and businesses. The result is the Oxnard Senior Vegetable Garden on East Pleasant Valley Road.

Peak Oil: What, Me Worry?

Ojai is filled with environmentalists, entrepreneurs, artisans, architects and small businesses that understand that oil won't last forever, is harmful to the environment and makes us dependent on foreign oil sources.

Alternative fuel sources, and investment in the development and commercialization of them, are critical to the future of our country and the world.

Meanwhile, how much oil do we have? There's a political hot potato being thrown around called "Peak Oil," which basically says that a point is reached where discovery of oil has peaked and is outweighed by consumption. If we have hit that point, then we have reached a turning point for mankind.

The US population consumes its entire weight in oil every week! It becomes increasingly imperative that priorities shift to self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Egosurfing

So I was doing some Ojaiblog research on incoming traffic, indexing in search engines and whatnot, and came across a site called Blogshares. It's a "Fantasy Blog Shares Market". Odd. Seems kinda similar to Hollywood Stock Exchange, which looks like it's still doing its thing. Well, at least our stock isn't underwater.

Ojai Peacefest: United by Sound

The Ojai Peacefest comes to Libbey Bowl on Sunday Sept. 26 from 3 to 9 pm. The event showcases a variety of musicians and speakers, food and native arts and crafts. Headlining is United By Sound. Tickets are $10; children 12 and under get in free. Proceeds benefit Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions and the Akwit-Tasen Generations for Life Foundation. For more information, call 646-6281 or e-mail ojaipeacefest@sbcglobal.net.

Forest Service Adventure Passed

The U.S. House Resources Committee voted yesterday to approve legislation that would give the U.S. Forest Service and four other land-management agencies the authority to extend the recreation fees for 10 years (including what Ojai residents know as the Adventure Pass).

Under the proposed legislation, visitors would no longer have to pay a fee to park their cars beside the road but may have to continue paying to use campgrounds and other public facilities under a bill moving through Congress.

Alasdair Coyne, an Ojai resident who is conservation director of the volunteer group Keep the Sespe Wild, said several Democrats and Republicans on the committee supported the groups' efforts to terminate the fee program.

The Ojai Kid

I met Brett Wagner tonight. You may have seen his name on a lawn nearby - he's the Democratic Candidate for U.S. Congress in California's 24th district, which includes the Ojai Valley. He took a logical approach to the issues he discussed, doesn't come across in the slightest as a typical politician and has a great sense of humor about his startling likeness to Gene Wilder.

Ojai in the State Assembly

Since Ferial Amin Masry qualified as an Assembly write-in candidate in the March primary, reporters from across the nation have documented her efforts to become the first native-born Saudi elected (reg req) to public office in the U.S.

But that doesn't mean Masry has a realistic chance of knocking off Republican Audra Strickland for a seat the GOP has held for more than three decades.

Republicans hold a 12-point lead in voter registration in the district, which includes Ojai, Santa Paula and Fillmore and eastern Ventura County and Chatsworth, Canoga Park and Castaic in Los Angeles County.

Taste of Ojai

Taste of Ojai, 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, 905 Country Club Road. Azu, Boccali's, Mmm' LaLa, The Ranch House, Sri Thai and Suzanne's Cuisine are among the restaurants serving food to pair with regional and international wines. Proceeds benefit education and other community programs of the Rotary Club of Ojai. $50 per person, or $1,000 per table for 10. For tickets, call 646-8126 or 646-2339. To reserve group tables, call Victoria Alexander at 646-1401.

I'd accept a press credential if offered. :)

Search Dogs Ready for Hurricane Ivan

Ojai's own Search Dog Foundation, founded and run by Wilma Melville, is contributing help in the face of succesive hurricanes in the southeast.

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to rescue dogs and partner them with firefighters to become the most highly trained canine search teams in the nation. The Foundation is responsible for training over 40% of all of the Advanced FEMA canine search teams in the United States and provided 33% of the FEMA teams deployed on 9/11/01 to the World Trade Center.

If you're so inclined, there's an easy way to donate via the website.

Not just Bush vs. Kerry

With the proposal to remove the Matilija Dam a hot topic in the Ojai Valley, there is perhaps unprecendented interest in the Casitas Municipal Water District board of directors, with three of five seats contested by seven candidates in the November 2 election. The LA Times has more on trout, silt and spiraling water costs (reg req).