BRIBE TAKERS: Jacque Sue Martinez was not...

BRIBE TAKERS: Jacque Sue Martinez was not the first Ventura County employee to take a bribe (B1). . . . Longtime residents may remember that Ventura County Supervisor Howard F. (Robbie) Robinson pocketed about $3,000 from a rock and gravel company in the 1960s. The 48-year-old supervisor was convicted on six counts of bribery on Dec. 22, 1970, and sentenced to prison. “Almost all of his work,” said the sentencing judge, “has been done without thought of personal aggrandizement.”

FIGHTING BACK: Cancer patients who want more than medicine are joining a support group under the Wellness Communities of Valley/Ventura (B1). . . . The first Wellness Community was founded in 1982 in Santa Monica by Harold Benjamin, a Beverly Hills real estate attorney whose wife, Harriet Benjamin, developed cancer. Now there are 13 communities nationwide serving 3,000 members a week who combat their illness through group therapy.

TAXING TIMES: It’s triple-witching hour for the average taxpayer, as converging deadlines this week force Ventura County residents to corral cash for their county, state and federal taxes. . . . Property owners like Thousand Oaks’ Karen Thomas lined up Monday to make last-minute county property tax payments (B1). . . . Those without cash can always use plastic. Ventura County now accepts property tax payments via the Discover credit card. (Valley Business, Page 3)

BUT IS IT ART? Giant soup cans and silk-screened Mickey Mouse portraits made artist Andy Warhol a cultural icon to admirers--and a pariah to detractors. . . . Beginning April 28, Thousand Oaks shoppers can judge whether the late pop-art pioneer deserved any more than the “15 minutes of fame” that he predicted for everyone, as 32 Warhol works go on display at The Oaks mall--alongside the world’s largest sandcastle. You be the judge.