SLOW WHITEWATER: In Ventura County, where whitewater...

SLOW WHITEWATER: In Ventura County, where whitewater is something you find on Sespe Creek, is anybody talking about the political scandal (A1)? . . . “We had a meeting Monday night and there were questions about health care and the economy, but not one about Whitewater,” said Terri Grando of the 400-member Conejo Valley Democratic Club. “Nobody’s interested.” . . . Not yet, maybe, but former county GOP Chairman Richard Ferrier says that may change. . . . “I don’t think the public can follow the details at this stage--it’s too complicated,” he said. “And the man in the street is loath to mistrust his President. . . . But the reluctance to come clean has planted suspicion. It smells bad.”

FINDING MUSIC: As music teachers become an endangered species at public schools, many parents wonder how to introduce children to music (E1). . . . Some have turned to private schools, like the Junior Music Academies in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Ventura. “They’ve cut so much from the arts at school,” said Pam Lasnik at the Thousand Oaks academy. “It’s given us a gap to fill.” . . . The three schools have 750 students at weekly classes. Cost: $49 a month. Parents must go too “so they’ll know what to do at home.”

DYING BREED: Speaking of endangered species, don’t forget the Elks--the two-footed kind at Ventura County fraternal lodges. Membership is declining, and a few lodges may disappear without an infusion of new blood (Ventura County Life, Page 24). . . . In 10 years, the Oxnard Elks have declined from 1,200 to 700. Median age: 69.

ROAD WARRIORS: For the second time in 20 months, the Oxnard City Council has renamed a stretch of what was once Colonia Road. . . . A name change was needed to avoid confusion with another part of Colonia Road and, in 1992, Mayor Manuel Lopez pushed through Camino de la Raza--or “Road of the People.” But some interpreted raza as “common people” and objected to such a plebeian address. . . . Now the council has adopted the residents’ choice: Camino del Sol. “The system works,” Lopez said.