GETTING EVEN: Ventura County community college trustees...

GETTING EVEN: Ventura County community college trustees have come out in favor of the school voucher initiative (B1)--and teachers plan to retaliate at the polls. “Count on it,” said Barbara Hoffman, president of the Ventura County Federation of College Teachers. . . . Two of the three trustees who voted for the resolution--Karen Boone and Gregory Cole--face reelection next year. Although the union supported Cole in the past, Hoffman was more upset about Trustee Timothy Hirschberg’s support for vouchers. “It’s very disappointing,” she said. “We’ve given him money and walked precincts for him.” Hirschberg is safe for a while: He won a four-year term in November.

MAGIC WORDS: Many residents think of Ventura County as a place where people still say hi to strangers. But they’re forgetting to say please and thank you, the Ventura Chamber of Commerce says. . . . “There have been letters from visitors to this area who thought the people were rude,” said Helen Spencer, a chamber volunteer. To shore up the community’s declining standards, the chamber is distributing 2,500 green-and-white buttons with please and thank you in big letters. . . . “We’ve forgotten the magic words,” Spencer said. “They’re the oil that makes society run smoothly.”

HUNGRY FLIERS: When Lisa Breuer suggests doing lunch, set aside some time--and money. Breuer has started an aviators social club that routinely flies hundreds of miles for a hamburger (Ventura County Life, J8). . . . At Logsdon’s Restaurant at Santa Paula Airport, fly-in customers are routine, headwaiter Steve Brown said. “We got two guys who come in every weekend from Van Nuys.”

NORWEGIAN BOOST: Norwegians have always been big in Thousand Oaks. In 1892, nine Norwegians established a colony in the Conejo Valley, and the northern edge of town is still called Norwegian Grade. . . . Now four Norwegian players are helping the Cal Lutheran soccer team make a run for the national title (C10).