NEW YEAR: Ventura County’s Chinese American population...

NEW YEAR: Ventura County’s Chinese American population has worked hard to keep alive an ancient tradition. Thursday marks the start of the Chinese New Year. . . . “Chinese New Year is like Christmas, if not bigger, for the Chinese people,” said Hillary Ling, a Camarillo dentist and member of the Ventura County Chinese-American Club. As it has since 1970, the club will sponsor a series of New Year events starting this weekend in Camarillo and Thousand Oaks. . . . For the record: 1994 is the year of the dog.

PAPAL BLESSING: Moving to fill longstanding vacancies in the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Pope John Paul II has named three new auxiliary bishops (B10), including the Rev. Msgr. Gabino Zavala, rector of St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. . . . Zavala will leave the seminary, where he has been rector for nearly two years, to oversee the San Gabriel Pastoral Region. . . . “I’m going to miss the seminary community as well as the rest of Ventura County,” he said.

SAFE HAVENS: Recent violence on Ventura County campuses (B4) so far has not sparked an exodus of public school students to private schools. But more parents are considering the option. . . . “A lot of people are taking money they invested for college and using it now,” said Dennis Rice, director of Happy Valley School in Ojai. . . . Added Sister M. Lisa Megaffin, principal at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks: “I will tell you that the violence in neighboring communities has people talking about it.”

SUPER HERO: Today they will bury Thousand Oaks’ Jack Kirby, a renowned comic book artist who co-created such super-heroes as Spiderman and the Fantastic Four. . . . “They didn’t call him Jack (King) Kirby for nothing,” said Rob Merriweather of Ralph’s Comic Corner in Ventura. “As far as super-heroes go, he’s pretty much tops.” . . Kirby’s contributions to Marvel Comics led to a 1960s comic book resurgence. Some of his early work sells for $3,000 to $4,000.

Asian Americans

Percentage of Asians in Ventura County cities: Oxnard: 8.5% Port Hueneme: 6.7% Moorpark: 6.5% Camarillo: 6.3% Simi Valley: 5.3% Thousand Oaks: 4.7% Ventura: 2.7% Ojai: 1.6% Santa Paula: 1.4% Fillmore: .9% Source: U.S. Census