NAME RECOGNITION: Forget about keeping up with...

NAME RECOGNITION: Forget about keeping up with the Joneses. . . . In Ventura County last year, more homes were sold to families with the last name Rodriguez than to families with any other surname, according to Dataquick, which tracks real estate sales. The name Jones ranked 15th on the list in the county, with 23 sales. Statewide, families named Smith reigned, buying 1,858 homes, 39 of them in Ventura County. And if your name is Brown, that may bode well for what you can afford: the average price of houses bought by Browns in the county was $310,342--the highest among the top 20 surnames in the survey.

FAMILY BUSINESS: Being tracked by a TV camera crew during a trip to Las Vegas might not be everybody’s idea of a relaxing vacation. . . . But Simi Valley budget officer Ken Schachter and his family took the gamble when a news crew from the CBS television show “48 Hours” asked to tag along on a recent family trip to the made-over, newly kid-friendly gambling Mecca. Highlights of the Schachters’ trip were recently broadcast nationwide. “The concept of bringing children to Las Vegas is not something I have a problem with,” Schachter said.

SMOKELESS IN VENTURA: So far, a high-profile campaign to stop smoking has paid off for KVEN radio talk-show host Carl Haeberle. . . . He launched the on-air effort in January in conjunction with county health officials as a way to encourage smokers to give up tobacco. It’s the longest period Haeberle has gone without smoking since he took up the habit in 1958. “In theory, I should be comfortable with it,” he said of life without cigarettes. “But I’m not. . . . It’s basically one day at a time.”

ZERO TOLERANCE: Although 114 county students have been expelled this school year for carrying weapons, such expulsions are leveling off after rising for years. The reason: tough, anti-weapons policies established after the stabbing death of a Simi Valley boy. (B1)

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Home Sweet Home

Most frequently occurring last names among Ventura County home buyers in 1994:

Rodriguez: 47

Johnson: 41

Smith: 39

Garcia: 38

Lopez: 38

Hernandez: 34

Miller: 33

Source: Dataquick Information Services