STATE VISIT: The state community college board...

STATE VISIT: The state community college board usually meets in Sacramento. But next month, the panel is expected to accept an invitation to hold its September meeting at Ventura College. . . . “We’re not inviting them down so we can wine and dine and lobby and get more money out of them,” insists Timothy D. Hirschberg, president of the local community college board. “We just want to show the state leaders what we’re doing so that (our) district isn’t just a name among a list of others.”

RADIO DAYS: Cal Lutheran University’s public radio station, on the air since October, is gearing up to go after the big-name guests. . . . Among the first: singer Peggy Lee, who will star on the ‘Ventura Talk” radio show at 6 p.m. Monday. . . . Although the Thousand Oaks station doesn’t measure ratings scientifically, it’s been “getting lots of positive phone calls” from listeners who previously couldn’t pick up public radio signals, Program Director Mike West said. . . . The apparent rise in popularity could help the station snag future guests, he said.

PIER REOPENS: The Ventura Pier--closed temporarily to repair damage from a recent ocean pummeling--has reopened (B1). . . . But keep your fingers crossed. The 122-year-old pier may have to weather more abuse before the winter is over. January will bring normal temperatures and rainfall to the county, but the months after that could be colder and wetter than usual, said meteorologist Dean Jones of WeatherData Inc. “A continuous pattern of storm after storm” could increase vulnerability to oceanfront structures, he said.

SAFE MOTORING: Thousand Oaks’ newest device to catch speeding motorists is being put to use just in time for the year-end crackdown against unsafe drivers (B4). . . .. In Simi Valley, officers are stepping up patrols in an effort to keep the year’s drunk-driving arrests lower than in 1993, when intoxicated drivers caused 74 of the city’s 995 traffic accidents.

* The Top of Today’s News is on A2