BRADBURY ACCUSED: Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman...

BRADBURY ACCUSED: Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block is accusing Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury of “willful distortions” in the D.A.’s investigation of a fatal drug raid in Ventura County (B1). . . . In March, Bradbury alleged that the search of Donald Scott’s ranch was not legally justified and was motivated by a desire to seize the property. Now Block has fired back, saying Bradbury is the one guilty of unethical conduct.

CAR CLUTTER: Only 0.3% of Ventura County’s 516,000 registered vehicles were towed or ticketed last year for being abandoned. . . . But it may get worse. Since 1990, the state no longer gives cities money for car removal. And environmental rules have made the county’s 12 junkyards pickier about what cars they take. . . . Today, the county Transportation Commission votes on a plan to add $1 to registration fees to pay for junker removal. Six cities and the Board of Supervisors would have to approve.

Junk Cars

Abandones-car reports in 1992. Some were towed, but in many cases the owners moved them. Ventura: 5,027 Oxnard: 2,857 Unincorp. county: 2,808 Thousand Oaks: 1,780 Simi Valley: 1,030 Camarillo: 838 Fillmore: 626 Moorpark: 330 Santa Paula: 324 Port Hueneme: 168 Ojai: 60 Source: California Cities, Towns & Counties, 1993

BUSY AT SEA: Their lifesaving work gets all the attention (B1), but the 40 men and women assigned to Coast Guard Station Channel Islands have other duties. The station maintains three dozen lights and other navigational aids in an area bounded by Santa Barbara, Point Dume and Santa Cruz Island. And an electronics team takes care of equipment as far north as San Francisco. . . . Rescues out of Channel Islands have risen from 160 in 1991 to more than 200 this year.