MOVIES GALORE: Ventura County movie-goers soon will...

MOVIES GALORE: Ventura County movie-goers soon will have a plethora of screens to choose from, just in time for the holiday viewing season. . . . Thousand Oaks’ six-screen United Artists theater at The Oaks mall, set to close for a two-month renovation, will reopen in November (B5). Meanwhile, the grandly named Camarillo Movie Palace, a 12-screen Edwards Theaters multiplex, will open about Thanksgiving. Both cities--and consumers--should make out, said Camarillo Mayor Ken Gose. “I think there’ll be enough for everyone,” he said.

ANYBODY OUT THERE? Don’t look now, but local UFO sightings are on the rise, especially around the east county. So says the local chapter of the Mutual UFO Network. . . . In recent months, sky watchers have reported an intense orange light blinking over Newbury Park, a triangular gizmo flying over Camarillo, and a “bright, bright light” hovering just above the Conejo Grade, said chapter director Alice Leavy. And someone videotaped an “unusual object” speeding from Thousand Oaks toward Simi Valley. . . . Sightings seem to come in spurts, Leavy said.

SETTING UP: Miki McFadden, Ventura College’s new volleyball coach, is starting out with mostly new players--only two returned from last year’s team (C8) . . . But the former setter on the U.S. Olympic women’s volleyball team likes a challenge. “I’m doing a lot of teaching,” she said. “But I like to fit the system to the athletes. We’ll get better.”

CLEAN AND CLEAR: If the county’s beaches and waterways appear a little less cluttered this week, it’s because they were relieved of about 16 tons of trash last weekend. . . . More than 1,400 volunteers sifted through the sand and dirt to come up with 4,738 pounds of recyclable stuff and 26,780 pounds of trash for the dumps. Those numbers will likely go up, because final figures from Santa Paula aren’t in yet. . . . “All in all it was good,” said county waste management analyst Richard Sweet. “It raises the public awareness.”