VETERAN AID: Ventura County veterans don’t want...

VETERAN AID: Ventura County veterans don’t want special treatment, said Jim Rodgers of the American Legion post in Ojai. “Only a vocal few are complainers.” . . . But some veterans do need help getting medical care, pensions and burial benefits. “The county does fail in that sense,” Rodgers said, noting that the six-member staff of the county’s Veterans Services Office has been cut to four--one for every 18,563 veterans. . . . Veterans Services Officer Charles Lowrance agreed that cuts “have made the work harder.” The agency handles 300 to 400 cases a month.

SLIDE SEASON: The fires are out. Here comes the rain (B1). But it’s probably too soon for mudslides, said Ventura County Engineer Dolores Taylor. . . . “We only get mudslides when we have real saturated soil,” she said. By killing rain-absorbing vegetation, the recent fires may eventually cause slides on Pacific Coast Highway, she said. . . . Other trouble spots: California 150 and 33, where road builders cut through countless hillsides. . . . Last winter’s worst slide closed California 33 for five months.

RULING HELPS: A Supreme Court ruling on the rights of disabled children (A1) may aid a deaf and blind Ojai boy, his attorneys said. . . . The court said public schools must pay for private education of disabled children if the public schools are inadequate. Ojai officials have fought Bion Jackson’s efforts to attend a private school. . . . The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Bion, and attorney David R. Ellison said the new ruling makes an appeal unlikely.

RECALL HISTORY: The battle has been joined in Simi Valley, where supporters of three school board members are fighting a recall effort. (B4). . . . Recall elections--which originated in California 90 years ago--aren’t easy. But in 1991, Camarillo voters upset about water bills recalled three directors of the Camrosa Water District. The following year, Somis voters punished three school board members for firing a superintendent. . . . Cost of a Simi Valley recall: as much as $55,000.

Saluting Veterans

Ventura County has 74,253 veterans. When they served: After Vietnam War: 8,475 Vietnam War era only: 24,551 1955 to 1964: 9,199 Vietnam & Korea: 1,035 Korea War era: 10,218 Korea & World War II: 2,069 Korea, Vietnam, WWII: 1,209 World War II only: 16,799 World War I: 110 Other service: 588 Source: 1990 U.S. Census