ROCK ON: Just when you thought the...

ROCK ON: Just when you thought the world was safe for easy listening, punk rock is making a return (F1B). . . . Punkers are proliferating in Ventura County, forming bands and showing up at events geared toward the multicolored-hair generation. . . . When the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District organized a Punk in the Park concert last spring, an estimated 1,200 punkers showed up. “I’d never seen so many people dressed so funny in one place at one time,” recreation supervisor Dennis Anderson said.

TWO-PART HARMONY: With less than a month before its first concert, the New West Symphony has come to terms with a local musicians union over how to pick its members (B1). . . . Forty of the new orchestra’s 70 seats will be filled, without auditions, by musicians from the former Conejo and Ventura County symphonies, and the other 30 by tryout. . . . “We are ready to begin our concert season in earnest,” said board President Lawrence Blonquist.

IN BUSINESS: Although enrollment at the Japanese language school in Oxnard is down to just 30 students this year (B1), the school has managed to stay afloat, in part due to its annual chicken teriyaki dinner. . . . Volunteers will work for days before the Oct. 28 event to prepare the 1,500 meals, said parent Kazue Kitchens. “It’s the only way of recouping for the year,” she said. For more information, call 483-5948.

RED ALERT: Oxnard has called out the red team in response to Nabisco’s decision this week to sell its local plant. . . . Nestle USA Inc. bought the factory, but a company spokeswoman said the future there was uncertain. Seizing on the red team concept--the brainchild of state officials trying to retain jobs--Oxnard officials and business leaders met Wednesday to draft a plan aimed at making Nestle feel at home. . . . “I’m taking the attitude that Nestle is considering a move to Oxnard, but is also considering other locations,” said Steve Kinney with Oxnard’s Economic Development Corp.