ISLAND HOPPING: There they were, the members...

ISLAND HOPPING: There they were, the members of the Ventura City Council gathered on a deserted island 14 miles off the coast. But civilization was still just a phone call away. Amid the ice plant blooms and the nesting sea gulls of Anacapa Island, the city leaders pulled out their cellular phones. . . . Mayor Tom Buford called to check on his legal office, and Councilman Greg Carson checked in with his plant nursery. The daylong trip was designed to highlight tourism on the Channel Islands, which drew 175,200 visitors last year. (B1)

ANGEL OF MERCY: As a nurse dedicated to caring for dying patients, Patricia McDonough is not surprised by the furor in Thousand Oaks over a home for the terminally ill. (B7) . . . “Our society is afraid of death,” she says. “We like to picture ourselves as being very strong and very independent and very macho. Death is not any of those things.” . . . McDonough, hospice director for the Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Assn., was recognized Sunday with an award from the Ventura County Education Council. The nursing group also honored Bea Frias of Ventura County Medical Center, Sally Cahill of Vista Del Mar Hospital and Marila Cook of Community Memorial Hospital.

SAFETY PATROL: Gone are the orange sashes and the hall passes of yesterday’s hall monitors. The students at Atherton Elementary in Simi Valley wear red T-shirts to patrol the playgrounds. And they are trained to mediate, not discipline, when fights arise. (B6) . . . In mediation, students are urged to reach a peaceful solution. “They have to guarantee to tell the truth, no put-downs or name calling,” says Principal Beverly Radloff.

TEACHER TRIBUTE: Start polishing those apples. Today is “Day of the Teacher,” honoring instructors at all schools. . . . Parents at the Weathersfield School in Thousand Oaks are celebrating with a luncheon for the elementary school teachers. Los Cerritos Intermediate School parents are preparing a Hawaiian luau on Thursday.