PAST TREASURES: Ventura County is fortunate to...

PAST TREASURES: Ventura County is fortunate to have dozens of sites that have been declared historic landmarks or points of interest by the county’s Cultural Heritage Board . . . Among them: five barns, 12 churches, three cemeteries, 37 private homes and a pagoda in Oxnard . . . Designation is based on guidelines issued by the National Register of Historic Places.

MUSIC MATTERS: Oh sure, she’s wowed them on Broadway and shared the screen with some of Hollywood’s leading men--but how did Bernadette Peters go over in Thousand Oaks? (Calendar, Page 3). . . Peters performed for the city’s glitterati at the splashy gala opening of the Civic Arts Plaza (Photos, B2). But on Sunday, just plain folks got to tour their new City Hall and enjoy a community showcase featuring local performers (B1). As for Peters, the verdict--at least from some in the audience--was that she lived up to the city’s high expectations for the plaza’s inaugural concert.

POINT MAN: For school districts, getting money out of Sacramento is no mean feat . . . But Moorpark schools chief Tom Duffy has managed to get $55 million in state funding to pay for seven of the nine schools in the fast-growing district (B5). . . Rising enrollments are a boost for districts seeking money for new campuses. But understanding how red tape works is also a valued asset. Said Alicia Cruz of the Poway school district, where there’s also been a big influx of students in recent years: “(Duffy) knows the right people, and he’s willing to help other districts.”

STAR TALK: Paul Weissman is in great demand on the lecture circuit, but Ventura College has managed to snag the research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena . . . Weissman, who worked on the Galileo Project, is set tonight to lead an up-close-and-personal discussion of the “Great Comet Crash of 1994,” when numerous fragments from the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 showered the planet Jupiter.

Historic Places

Number of designated historical landmarks or points of interest in Ventura County cities: Santa Paula: 28 Simi Valley: 28 Oxnard: 14 Port Hueneme: 14 Thousand Oaks: 13 Fillmore: 12 Ojai: 9 Ventura: 9 Camarillo: 4 Moorpark: 2 Source: County Cultural Heritage Board