ISLAND NATIVES: Scientists and environmentalists are battling...

ISLAND NATIVES: Scientists and environmentalists are battling to save native species in danger of vanishing from Channel Islands National Park (B1). . . . The island chain off the Ventura County coast is home to more than 30 threatened species of plants and animals. . . . “The Channel Islands have a number of endemic species found no place else in California or in the world,” said Mark Skinner, staff botanist for the California Native Plant Society. “From a biological standpoint, they’re priceless.”

ROAD TO RECOVERY: Seven years after being crippled by an earthquake, Whittier’s historic business district is still being rebuilt (Voices, B10). . . . Folks in Fillmore hope that their road to recovery won’t be so long. That city’s commercial core was badly damaged by the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake. . . . “We think that downtown is the heart and soul of Fillmore,” City Manager Roy Payne said. “It’s important to the overall long-term viability of this community to rebuild downtown as quickly as possible.”

LION QUEEN: Interior designer Sara Alviani is the new president of the Ventura Downtown Lions Club, the first woman to hold the post in the club’s 71-year history. . . . But she’s not making a big deal about her historic appointment: She’s more interested in continuing the club’s history of community service. . . . “I don’t like to make it an issue that I’m a woman; it’s just kind of hard to avoid sometimes,” Alviani said. “I just want to give something back to our community.”

TRUSTY TRUSTEE: Life outside public office for Elaine K. Garber? The stars say fat chance. . . . Appointed to the Hueneme school board in 1959, Garber is now the longest-serving trustee in Ventura County and one of the most senior in the state. The civic activist, who runs an astrology business out of her home, is considering a run this fall for a ninth term on the school board. . . . Garber is also a well-known history buff and was the first woman president of the county’s Historical Society. . . . “I don’t like to just talk about ‘Someone should do this,’ ” Garber said. “If I’m able to do it, I do it.”