DIGGING OUT: There’s no need to dig...

DIGGING OUT: There’s no need to dig out from winter weather in Ventura County yet this year. But the dry spell has kept a few thousand gallons of gasoline from washing down the Ventura River and into the ocean after a tanker truck jackknifed, exploded and fell in part into the dry riverbed. . . . Officials expect to bring in skip-loaders and start excavating today or Wednesday. . . . Said state Fish and Game Warden Hector Orozco: “We want to get the contaminated soil out as soon as possible. You never know when it might start to rain.”

PINING AWAY: It’s the time of year when the Roatcaps do 75% of their of business; they own the Santa Paula Christmas Tree Farm (D7C). . . . But that doesn’t mean that they’re coasting the rest of the year. Thursel, 75, and her husband, Ralph, 76, are out in the Monterey pine orchards planting, irrigating, controlling pests and all else that farming entails. . . . Said Thursel Roatcap: “People think these trees grow on their own, but they don’t.”

BETTER WATCH OUT: Freshly cut trees from a farm still have moisture, but it may have been a while since those sitting in grocery store lots had a good drink of water. And that can mean a fire hazard. . . . In fact, Christmas is the season for house fires, caused by lights or candles on dry trees, lights on metallic trees, overloaded extension cords, or Christmas trees and wrapping paper in the fireplace after the big day. Said Ventura County firefighter Joe Luna: “They go up in a big ball of flame with the intensity of gasoline. You’d be surprised what people do.”

EARLY CHRISTMAS: Maria Palmerin of Oxnard received a $1,000 check Monday, part of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit that she and 28 other women brought against Buenaventura Lemon Co., charging discrimination against them because of their sex (B1). . . . There are many things she needs to buy with her money, but one of the first is a bicycle for her daughter, Karina. . . . Said Palmerin: “Thankfully, it came at a good time for me.”