ORANGE TERRITORY: Orange County has the name,...

ORANGE TERRITORY: Orange County has the name, but we’ve got the oranges--15,653 acres of Valencias and navels, enough to make Ventura County the state’s fourth-largest producer (after Tulare, Kern and Fresno counties). . . . Orange County, meanwhile, has only 3,021 acres left, and they’re disappearing fast (A3). . . . Ventura County grows more oranges than any other county in Southern California. Most are Valencias used in juice. “But those of us who raise them eat them just like navels,” said Don Goodenough, who has 14 acres near Fillmore.

SMOKE BREAK: Moorpark and Thousand Oaks have cracked down on smokers, and Ojai is leaning that way. But not Simi Valley, where most council members oppose tightening the city’s smoking ordinance (B6). . . . That pleases Nancy Bender of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce: “We should let private enterprise and the free market dictate, not government.” . . . Only Mayor Greg Stratton, a former cigar smoker, wants to ban all tobacco in restaurants--to end discrimination against cigars. . . . The other council members are former smokers, too.

LATINO MAYORS: Last year, Manuel Lopez became the first Latino elected mayor of Oxnard. Now Hispanic Business magazine says Oxnard is the fourth-largest U. S. city with a Latino mayor (after Albuquerque, N. M.; Sacramento and Miami). . . . Lopez is ambivalent about whether Latino mayors need their own association: “Positive things would come from it, but there would be logistical problems, like traveling.” Maybe not: Of 35 cities with Latino mayors, 12 are in Southern California.

BUYING TIME? Home sales in Ventura County are ahead of last year, but prices continue to fall (Valley Business, Page 11). . . . “I never thought they would drop as much as they have,” said Bob Edwards, president-elect of the Oxnard-Harbor Assn. of Realtors. Best buys now: apartment buildings and condos, he said. Tax-law changes prompted a rush to sell apartment buildings, resulting in lower prices. . . . Median price of houses sold last month: $202,000.