LONELY GUYS: Latino culture emphasizes marriage and...

LONELY GUYS: Latino culture emphasizes marriage and family life, Cal Lutheran sociologist Hoda Mahmoudi says. So why do Ventura County’s most heavily Latino cities--Oxnard, Santa Paula and Fillmore--have such high proportions of never-married people? . . . Simple, Mahmoudi said: In those towns, men dramatically outnumber women. “They just don’t have the choices,” she said, pointing to large numbers of men who came from Mexico to work. . . . Throughout society, she said, marriage is being postponed. “The women’s movement has given women choices. Marriage is not the only way to a stable situation.”

Where the Singles Are

Percentage of persons 15 and older who have never married: Oxnard: 30.0 Port Hueneme: 29.2 Filmore: 25.4 Santa Paula: 25.3 Simi Valley: 25.2 Ventrua: 25.0 Thousand Oaks: 25.0 Moorpark: 21.2 Camarillo: 20.2 Ojai: 19.3

Source: U.S. Census

CINEMA SISTERS: Movies about nuns are about as common as visits by the Pope, so Ventura County nuns are eagerly awaiting today’s opening of “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” (F1). . . . “We thoroughly enjoyed the first one,” said Sister Corita Burnham at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. “Some films about nuns are offensive--they don’t understand what we’re all about. But this one had a great message. They must have had a consultant--a sister telling them what it’s like.” . . . Nuns at St. John’s liked the original so much they did their own sister act at the hospital awards banquet, lip-syncing songs from the movie.

MAT MASTERS: In John Keever’s 25 years as coach, Moorpark College has built one of the state’s top wrestling programs (C12). . . . Now Keever believes that three of his sophomores could become individual champions at this weekend’s state junior college championships.

STREET ORPHANS: Simi Valley is about to put its major streets up for adoption--for $100 to $300 a month, depending on traffic. Sponsors who help pay for landscape maintenance will get a sign heralding the contribution. . . . The city hopes to recoup half of the $30,000-per-month cost of maintenance. . . . A panel wants the signs to be spiffed up with tree pictures, which seems appropriate: Streets up for adoption include Sycamore, Sequoia and Yosemite.

* The Top of Today’s News is on A2