Briefly:

Thousand Oaks-based GTE California, locked in a battle for toll-call customers with AT & T and other rivals, says its parent, GTE Corp., is switching from single- to double-sided bills, saving “the equivalent of 3,000 80-foot trees every year.” . . . Ventura County’s office vacancy rate at year-end stands at 16%, down from 21% a year ago, Grubb & Ellis Co. reports. Industrial and retail vacancies are down, too. “At year-end, Ventura County had the second-lowest vacancy rate of any major industrial market in Southern California and, in 1995, it may move past the San Gabriel Valley into first place,” Grubb declares. . . . LTC Properties Inc., an Oxnard-based real estate investment trust, raised its fourth-quarter cash dividend to 29 cents a share, up two cents from the previous quarter. . . . Ventura County’s jobless rate in November was 7.7%, up from 7.6% in October but down from 8.2% a year ago. Retail hiring was up last month, but agricultural jobs declined as usual this time of year, the state Employment Development Department reports.