NEAR CRISIS: The fifth annual Simi Valley...

NEAR CRISIS: The fifth annual Simi Valley Labor Day Soccer Tournament, which begins Saturday, lost one of its four venues this week when organizers were told that games couldn’t be held at Simi Valley High School. . . . But after some scrambling, those contests were shifted to Moorpark High. Games will also be held in Conejo Creek Park in Thousand Oaks and Rancho Santa Susana Park and Sinaloa Junior High School in Simi Valley. . . . The finals will be held at Santa Susana on Monday. For more info, call 583-5848.

STREET SMARTS: With the holiday weekend approaching, the National Safety Council recommends that drivers use their headlights both day and night. . . . While the Ventura County office of the California Highway Patrol has no official policy on the use of headlights during daylight hours, Officer Dave Cockrill says they are recommended on some roads, such as California 126. A “vehicle is certainly more visible” with its lights on, he says. . . . The CHP will be on maximum enforcement beginning at 6 p.m. today.

HOT TO SHOP: Nationwide, back-to-school sales are lackluster, a fact retailers attribute to the record-breaking heat (D1). . . . But locally, merchants say, sales are doing fine (B1). Among the must-have items this year are mini-backpacks, denim, oversized duds and surf clothing. . . . Eleven-year-olds Andrea Van Allen, left, and Melissa Donahue said they were taking advantage of the season to hit up their parents for shoes, skirts and dresses. “This is the time of year they’ll actually buy you more stuff,” Melissa observes.

SMILING FACES: A group of Thousand Oaks entrepreneurs will open a 57-seat dental clinic in Russia to serve the Moscow Police Department and some private customers (B1). . . . “We’re contributing to a need,” says Vic Pollard, who owns a T.O. dental-supply company. “How are we going to survive in the world if we don’t help others?”