PARTY ON: Thousands are expected to descend...

PARTY ON: Thousands are expected to descend on downtown Ventura for a celebration of the business district’s $3.6-million face lift. . . . The Ventura ArtWalk & Downtown Open House will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. and will include self-guided tours of art galleries and other shops. . . . A portion of California Street still unpaved will be turned into a giant public art project. “It will be like a big, empty canvas, and we’re inviting the public to come and paint it in,” city spokeswoman Elena Brokaw said. The painting starts at 3 p.m. (B6).

FOREIGN FILM: What’s the difference between summer in Yelena Vasyukova’s town in northern Russia and summer in Ventura County? More than just a tad. . . . The documentary director is touring the county to film the experiences of 35 Russian student leaders (B1). She hopes to offer viewers back home in Murmansk, where summer temperatures can be about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, a feel for the endless summer. . . . “The ocean is an unforgettable sight,” she said. “I hope what I see, I can make them understand.”

SETTING SAIL: William Vrooman once was among the young sailors who would skim across Westlake Lake on square-bowed Sabots powered by the wind. So when he died at the age of 20 in a car accident in 1989, his parents established the Vrooman Memorial Regatta at the Westlake Yacht Club. . . . Since then, the event has grown into a major competition (B1), attended by Vrooman’s parents, Clyde and Diette, every year. “They’re just really happy to see everyone out sailing around,” said Ryan Craft, 19, who won the first race.

SHOO FLY: Hopeful that Ventura County’s Medfly infestation is over, officials Tuesday plan to lift an agricultural quarantine around Camarillo (B1). . . . The move will allow farmers to sell to markets closed to them. The pests have not appeared in the county since late November. “We’re just as happy to be finishing and getting out of everyone’s way,” said Doug Hendrix, with the Cooperative Medfly Project.