RACE GOES ON: Nearly 500 of the...

RACE GOES ON: Nearly 500 of the 16,000 runners signed up for the Los Angeles Marathon are from Ventura County . . . Registration will continue until Saturday at 5 p.m. or until there are 19,000 runners, whichever comes first. . . The Jan. 17 quake threw training schedules off-track for many Southern Californians (C1), including some residents of hard-hit Fillmore, but most are game to compete in Sunday’s race. Some Fillmore residents will bus to the race with Ventura-based Team Inside Track.

HOT STUFF: Consumer demand for pepper spray is hot, but if delays in getting the new self-defense spray persist, suppliers say it may not be worth the trouble (B1). . . Some Ventura County retailers are still awaiting paperwork from the state that will allow them to sell the spray . . . “The state’s falling down on the job,” said one Oxnard gun store owner. Mace is available in many stores, but some suppliers say they may stop selling it for similar reasons: red tape.

WEIGHTY MATTERS: Get out your yardstick, it’s National Weights and Measures Week . . . Ventura County’s weights and measures division is celebrating its 79th anniversary. Nationwide enforcement began in 1799.. . . The county’s five inspectors examine store checkout scanners, gas pumps, truck scales and packaged goods for measurement accuracy, issuing nearly 60 citations a year . . . “Most people don’t realize someone is around protecting them,” said division head Bill Korth.

JEWISH VETERANS: Jewish veterans in Ventura County have formed two new groups . . . Jewish War Veterans Post 23 meets at Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks while Post 101 meets at Temple Beth Torah in Ventura . . . Upcoming plans: helping with Memorial Day observances in May and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Normandy invasion in June . . . The veterans want “to keep their own memories,” said Rabbi Shimon Paskow of Temple Etz Chaim.

Ready to Run

Number of Ventura County residents registered to run in the Los Angeles Marathon as of Tuesday: Thousand Oaks: 117 Simi Valley: 96 Oxnard: 75 Camarillo: 72 Ventura: 60 Moorpark: 24 Port Hueneme: 17 Ojai: 6 Fillmore: 4 Santa Paula: 4 Source: Los Angeles Marathon