THEY’RE BAAAACK: Nearly two years after noise...

THEY’RE BAAAACK: Nearly two years after noise tests were completed, a proposal to allow Navy jets to fly nearer to Silver Strand Beach is resurfacing this week. . . . The Federal Aviation Administration will hold a meeting Thursday to discuss the aeronautical aspects of a plan to allow the jets within a mile of the beach at altitudes as low as 100 feet. Currently, the aircraft must stay three miles away, Navy spokeswoman Teri Reid said. . . . The hearing will be at 7 p.m. at Port Hueneme City Hall.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: With crime seemingly increasing everywhere, many Southern California hospitals are bolstering security. (E1) . . . Although there have been few problems locally, most facilities take preventive measures. Administrator Michael Bakst said Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura employs security guards, video cameras and a locked emergency room, but has never had a problem “that conversation and rationalization couldn’t handle.”

LASTING LEGACY: When Oxnard Detective James O’Brien was slain in December, 1993, the Police Department had to import a crisis-response team to help co-workers deal with their grief. (B1) . . . Since then, the department has enlisted half a dozen local ministers from various denominations who spend their spare time getting to know the officers and being available to help. . . . They are appreciated. “In a time of need, in a time of prayer, they were there,” said Cmdr. Joseph Munoz, who was visited by the chaplains when he was hospitalized for abdominal tumors.

RISING VOICE: Twenty years after its founding, El Concilio del Condado de Ventura has grown into an organization that helped more than 13,000 county residents last year with health education and employment and citizenship services. (B1) . . . But critics say the group has lost its grass-roots touch. “They don’t really spend much time in the neighborhoods,” said La Colonia activist Carlos Aguilera.