NEWCOMERS: Illegal immigrants are getting most of...

NEWCOMERS: Illegal immigrants are getting most of the attention lately, but Ventura County has an increasing number of newcomers who followed the rules (B1). And most of them want to become citizens. . . . “Illegals want to become legal, and legal immigrants want to become citizens,” said Marcos Vargas of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, a Latino social services agency that helped 800 apply for citizenship last year. . . . Of the county’s 3,549 legal immigrants last year, 1,827 were from Mexico.

TARGETING KIDS: It was a smart move eight years ago when Patagonia, the Ventura clothing distributor, began publishing a separate children’s catalogue. Kids’ clothing sales have increased twice as fast as the adult apparel business (Valley Business, Page 10). . . . Like the adult catalogue, the kids’ version contains environmental messages about such things as salmon-threatening dams. . . . Also included is this time-honored environmental tip: “Recycle an outgrown garment to a younger brother or sister.”

TV DAD: For Edwina Brown of Oxnard, the death of actor Bill Bixby (B10) is like the loss of a family member. Brown’s son, Brandon Cruz, played Bixby’s son in the early ‘70s series “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.”. . . She credits Bixby with helping her son adjust to being a TV star at age 5. “He and Brandon were like father and son.” . . . Cruz, now a punk rocker, raised money for cancer research after Bixby came down with prostate cancer.

MURDERS UP: With nearly six weeks left in 1993, murders in Ventura County have already surpassed last year’s total (B1). . . . All of them have been caused by one of four means: gunshot (21), stabbing (9), strangulation (3) or blunt-object blows (2). “That’s typical,” said Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate, who called such murder-mystery standbys as poison, brake-tampering and a well-timed push off a cliff “very unusual.”. . . Speaking of guns, Congress is trying to pass some version of the gun-controlling Brady bill before it adjourns for the year (A1).

New Arrivals

Increase in legal immigrants in top California counties* 1991-92: Orange: 62.4% Ventura: 45.5% Monterey: 39.0% Riverside: 37.6% Santa Clara: 37.5% * Counties with more than 1,000 legal immigrants.

Source: Immigration & Naturalization Service