AFTER THE DELUGE: Now that the torrents...

AFTER THE DELUGE: Now that the torrents of rain finally have subsided, Ventura County’s growers are assessing the damage to crops. And the outlook Monday was not as sunny as the weather (B1). . . . Experts say the recent storms damaged fruits and vegetables in the thick of harvests, flooded orchards and uprooted trees. The loss in dollars is still unknown, but could reach $10 million or more. “If it doesn’t rain anymore, I think we’ll be OK,” Oxnard-area farmer Doug Wagner said as he surveyed the damage. “But there’s going to be a shortage this year, no doubt.”

CAPITAL CASE: The way prosecutors see it, it doesn’t matter that Frederick Lee Jackson didn’t pull the trigger that day in January, 1992, when Genoveva Gonzales of Oxnard was raped and killed. He still deserves the death penalty, they charge, because he was there and told an accomplice to kill (B1). . . . But on Monday, in opening statements, Jackson’s attorney called that a lie. The one who ordered the killing, he said, is now the prosecution’s star witness.

FORREST WHO?: They didn’t win the title. As a group, in fact, they just missed a third-place finish (B4). . . . But eight students from Moorpark High School did return from the state’s Academic Decathlon with a haul of gold, silver and bronze medals for individual achievements. . . . And three won scholarships. “I have never been prouder,” said coach Larry Jones.

HIGHER LEARNING: As long as we’re on the subject of schooling, here’s a question: What has 106 locations, a staff of more than 42,700, and is touted as the world’s largest system of higher education? Give up? The California Community Colleges. . . . In all, there are more than 1.35 million students enrolled at the colleges. And over the past 30 years, when rising tuitions along with higher grade requirements have put college out of the reach for many students, enrollment at the community colleges has soared a staggering 300%.