ATTENTION SHOPPERS: If you’re at The Oaks...

ATTENTION SHOPPERS: If you’re at The Oaks mall tomorrow, prepare to compete with 120 Japanese sailors for bargains. . . . Three ships from the Japanese navy will berth at the Port of Hueneme on Friday for a debriefing after military exercises in the U.S. Navy’s sea test range. Most of the 700 Japanese sailors will remain on base, playing golf or munching a barbecued meal. But 120 lucky sailors get a “shop-op” at The Oaks. The mall plans to serve soft drinks and cookies and open a special room for the sailors to store their shopping bags.

BIGGER FISH: Bud Smith has long shaped the Oxnard skyline. . . . First, he built the Wagon Wheel, then two towering office buildings. Now, Oxnard’s real estate mogul has bigger fish in mind. He wants to build a public aquarium at Channel Islands Harbor like the one in Monterey to draw tourists (B1). . . . “I guess it’s kind of selfish of me, because I’ve got so many properties down there,” Smith said. “But I really believe it will be good for everybody.”

DEW DROP INN: Figured out a destination for your vacation? How about Santa Paula? Or Ventura? Or Ojai? Ventura County has seven bed and breakfast inns. And a surprising number of local residents seek refuge in their quaint or cozy rooms (Ventura County Life, Page 8). . . . Some vacationers can’t afford to take off for two weeks, said Santa Paula innkeeper Cheryl Eigenhuis. “They don’t want to spend all their time on the road,” she said. So they hunt for spots to get away for a couple of days.

HEMMED IN: Pity the badger. And the California coast horned lizard. And the Lodderhead shrike. . . . These are among the species that roam the shrinking wildlife corridor that stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the western Conejo Valley. . . . The corridor will narrow a bit more with Thousand Oaks’ approval of the Dos Vientos housing project (B5). “This is a very high-quality habitat,” said state park and recreation’s Richard Rozzelle. “And we do not feel there can be any overriding consideration that would justify the extinction of these species.”