BOOM OR BUST: As Ventura County grew...

BOOM OR BUST: As Ventura County grew by another 11,500 residents last year, tiny Port Hueneme just got smaller--dropping by 150 (B1). Surrounded on three sides by Oxnard and the ocean on the other, the city simply has nowhere to grow. . . . “The city only has about 5% of its land left to develop,” says Community Development Director Tom Figg. The only other cities to show declines in state figures released Thursday were Simi Valley and Fillmore, both rocked by the Northridge earthquake.

MYSTERY LADY: She’s lived in Mexico, Israel and Santa Paula. She’s been a newspaper reporter, a mystery writer and a religious consultant. . . . Now Florence Mayberry has written her autobiography, complete with her 1920s stint at the Santa Paula Chronicle and her travels for the Bahai faith. The Missouri resident will return to Santa Paula today to sign “The Great Adventure” at Mr. Nichols bookstore from 3 to 5 p.m. and speak at 7:30 tonight in the Santa Paula Depot room.

PET PROJECT: Booters the cat slinks through the radio station, claiming the in-box as a bed and purring to the contemporary rock on Q-105 FM in Oxnard. “She loves the noise, she loves the activity. She’s really with it,” says station manager B.J. Young. Cats, dogs, even parrots are showing up at work across Ventura County (B1) . . . For those who can’t take their pets to work, here are some ideas for Be Kind to Animals Week: Buy an ID tag for your pet. Volunteer at the local animal shelter. Or turn off the television and play with your pet. Animal-rights groups urge a broader approach: Become a vegetarian . . . .

OUTDOORS WOMAN: . . . Don’t mention the vegetarian idea to Yvette Adams of Fillmore. She’s busy putting meat on her table the old-fashioned way: hunting it (E1). “I feel no sadness or remorse killing them because I know I am going to feed my family,” Adams, 28, says. . . . Recently she tried her hand at fly-fishing at a weekend retreat called “Becoming an Outdoors Woman.”