RAIN MAN: For the first time since...

RAIN MAN: For the first time since June, rain gauges across Ventura County had something to measure Monday morning (B6)--and Bill Minger was busy collecting the results. Minger assembles rainfall stats from 100 sites around the county. . . . At 19 of the stations, monitors take measurements precisely at 8 a.m. and phone in the results. The others report by mail once a month. . . . “Some are ranchers, some work at the fire stations, some are just people who agree to do it,” he said. . . . Wettest spot: Simi Valley, with 0.68 inches.

HONORING COLUMBUS: It was 501 years ago today that Christopher Columbus landed in the New World, but like government workers the Knights of Columbus celebrated Monday with a dinner for 170 people. . . . “It’s a big day for us, because he’s our patron,” Grand Knight Matthew Thomas said. The Oxnard council of the Catholic men’s group is the state’s largest, with 500 members. . . . The organization also has chapters in Ventura, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Newbury Park, Saticoy and Santa Paula.

PILL POPPERS: People over 60 consume 40% of the nation’s prescription drugs--and many get sick or die from mixing them (E1). . . . Jerry Pond, president of the Ventura County Pharmacists Assn., blames doctors who are too quick to pull out the prescription pad and patients who insist on a drug for everything. “Their disease has symptoms, the drugs have symptoms, and when you add more than three medications, it’s darn near impossible to know what’s causing the problem.” . . . Most common prescription side effects for older people: dizziness and constipation.

ON THE EDGE: Straddling the line between Ventura and Los Angeles counties, Box Canyon is isolated--and most residents like it that way, judging by the “Keep Out” and “No Trespassing” signs (Valley Business, Page 14). . . . “They come here to get away from people,” real estate agent Eva Reddington said. “They don’t want their neighbors coming over and borrowing sugar.”

When It Rains

Average rainfall in Ventura County Government Center*: Month: Inches October: 0.30 November: 2.08 December: 2.33 January: 3.78 February: 3.15 March: 2.76 April: 1.07 May-September: 0.62 * 1950-1985

Source: Ventura County Flood Control