ASHES TO ASHES: Christians in Ventura County...

ASHES TO ASHES: Christians in Ventura County today will mark Ash Wednesday, the start of more than a month of sacrifice leading to Easter. . . . “It is a time to remember that our life here on Earth is short, that we do turn to ashes and that we need to turn to God,” explained Father Norman Supancheck of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Fillmore. . . . Supancheck said last month’s earthquake has spurred people to re-examine their faith: “A lot of people want to get right with God.”

NO MORE DUST: Fed up with odor and dust, a group of nuns who live in a convent near the Bailard Landfill want to move (B1). And they want the county to pay the relocation costs. . . . The nuns are unhappy with tentative plans to keep the dump open and have hired a lawyer to press their demands. . . . “We don’t complain. We haven’t complained for 30 years,” Sister Mary Purificacion said. “But you have to fight for yourselves sometimes.”

ROYAL TREATMENT: Forget about the recognition that comes with being one of the safest cities in the nation. Simi Valley has something new to brag about: award-winning sewage treatment. . . . The city beat out all comers in a contest to determine who runs the best sewage treatment plant in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. . . . “It’s not one of those things everybody likes to talk about,” said Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton, who accepted a trophy Monday on behalf of the city. “But if it doesn’t work we get calls real quickly.”

QUAKE RELIEF: Members of the California Conservation Corps--including about 100 people from the Camarillo office--have contributed 100,000 hours of earthquake recovery assistance to Ventura and Los Angeles counties. . . . And that’s just the latest effort. The corps has been busy since October responding to fires, oil spills and other disasters. . . . “We’ve been doing this for so long, I’ve forgotten what normal is,” said conservation supervisor Paul Magie in Camarillo.

Places of Worship

The number of churches in Ventura County cities: Ventura: 73 Oxnard: 70 Thousand Oaks: 50 Camarillo: 37 Simi Valley: 36 Santa Paula: 30 Ojai: 25 Fillmore: 20 Port Hueneme: 10 Moorpark: 10 Source: Ventura County and Coast Almanac