PTA ADVOCATE: Simi Valley resident Joyce Peariso...

PTA ADVOCATE: Simi Valley resident Joyce Peariso has been named treasurer of the state PTA, a job that puts her in charge of the group’s $1-million annual budget and its scholarship program. She will have the post for two years. . . . Peariso worked her way up to the state position by serving on local PTAs for nearly a decade. She lives with her husband, Richard, and her daughter, Kristi, who just graduated from college. “The PTA is for all children, not just our own children,” Peariso said.

SUMMERTIME BLUES: Summer school is becoming increasingly popular among Ventura County students for a variety of reasons (B1). . . . Amelia Batt knows the drill. It is the second year the Ventura High junior has attended summer school. The worst part is getting up early, Amelia said: “All my other friends get to sleep in until noon, and I’m just getting out of school.”

FAIR PHOTO: This year’s promotional poster for the Ventura County Fair depicts a jumble of ribbons awarded at the 12-day event, which begins Aug. 16. Fair judges hand out about 28,000 ribbons a year--or one for every 25 county residents. . . . Annie Hoover figures she’s taken home at least 150 over the past 40 years, four of them first-place awards for her flaky lemon meringue pie. . . . But even baking champs sometimes make mistakes, Hoover admitted. “One year my meringue turned pink,” said Hoover, 76. “To this day I don’t know why.”

PASS THE PERRIER: A new treatment plant will improve water quality for residents of Port Hueneme, the Channel Islands beach community and the two Navy bases. But it comes at a cost (B1). . . . The hard part is deciding just how pure tap water should be, said consultant Lynn Takaichi. It is possible to achieve water quality that matches the bottled variety, but Takaichi doubts the expense is worth it: “This is the same water you’re putting on your grass. You don’t need the bottled kind.”