WISDOM OF AGES: Ventura County is going...

WISDOM OF AGES: Ventura County is going gray, fast. And in recognition of the fastest-growing segment of our population, county officials have declared May as Older Americans Month. . . . About one out of 10 county residents is 65 or older. These years of experience tend to pool in some communities. Ojai has a greater concentration of elderly than other cities, attributed to its history as a vacation spot, its public transit and array of senior services. “It’s a great place to grow old,” said Councilwoman Nina Shelley, a septuagenarian. “But don’t tell anybody!”

ADDRESS UNKNOWN: The U. S. Postal Service got a lesson on social geography . . . from the residents of Thousand Oaks. The Postal Service recently notified residents with the 91320 ZIP code that they should use Newbury Park to correctly address letters. . . . Newbury Park doesn’t have quite the upscale image of Thousand Oaks, and residents became unglued. Hundreds blistered postal workers with angry calls. “The last thing we want to do is upset our customers,” Postmaster Douglas Leeds said. He assures that either city designation will do.

CLEAN SWEEP: What better place to locate a police cleanup patrol than a former laundry? County sheriff’s deputies are converting an old laundry into a new storefront station in Fillmore to cleanse the tiny town of its growing gang problems (B1). . . . The storefront location, Fillmore Senior Deputy Jim Aguirre said, “seems quite appropriate, given our mission.” The first order of business: scrubbing graffiti from the laundry’s walls.

BATTER UP: Amy Chellevold, a former Thousand Oaks High athlete, is emerging as the best hitter in college softball (C14). . . . Chellevold has already shattered the record at Arizona for hits in a season, and she’s within six hits of an NCAA record. She’s batting .504, after stepping up to the plate 228 times for the defending national champion Wildcats. “It’s truly amazing,” Coach Mike Candrea said, “when someone gets a hit every two times at bat.”

Aging Population

Percentage of residents 65 years and older in Ventura County cities:

Ojai: 19.7

Camarillo: 16.7

Ventura: 12.5

Santa Paula: 12.3

Fillmore: 11.5

Port Hueneme: 9.9

Thousand Oaks: 9.0

Oxnard: 7.7

Simi Valley: 5.3

Moorpark: 3.8

Source: U.S. Census Bureau