TEAM SKIRMISH: Tuesday’s “team-building retreat” for Oxnard...

TEAM SKIRMISH: Tuesday’s “team-building retreat” for Oxnard leaders dissolved into internal squabbling just moments after it began (B1). . . . Attacking Mayor Manuel Lopez for criticizing the very $14,000 conference that he took part in, Councilman Andres Herrera huffed: “C’mon, Mayor! Give me a break!” After 15 minutes, the only agreement was to quit for the day and try again May 9.

PISTOL-PACKING: Simi Valley Councilwoman Sandi Webb urged legislators to make it easier for Californians to carry guns, particularly so women can protect themselves from men (B5). . . . But the National Organization for Women says that argument is just a National Rifle Assn. ploy to persuade more women to buy guns. Said Elizabeth Toledo, state NOW coordinator, “This type of bill and marketing is exploitative.”

COMING HOME: After two years in Washington, former Ventura County political activist Kevin J. Sweeney returns this summer to Ventura County and his old employers at Patagonia Inc. . . . Family ties--a new wife and stepdaughter--lie behind Sweeney’s switch from serving U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to championing environmental causes and guiding marketing plans for the Ventura clothing maker. Said Sweeney: “I can’t possibly work the hours I now work in Washington and be a good dad. The decision to leave was very easy.”

AND IF BY LIMO? To honor Paul Revere’s brave warning ride 220 years ago Tuesday, KVEN radio sent two messengers racing off for LAX in stretch limousines, one by land and one by sea. . . . The winning ride: Pastor Milt Davis made it from the Ventura studio to the airport in 90 minutes via the swifter seaward route, the Pacific Coast Highway. . . . Ex-CHP Cmdr. Don Leach’s limo bogged down in Ventura Freeway traffic--including a jam caused by a CHP lane blockade that stretched his daring rush-hour ride to 95 minutes.