ADMIRAL JENKINS: He’s super on land, now...

ADMIRAL JENKINS: He’s super on land, now he’ll get his chance on sea. Ronney Jenkins, the Hueneme High School senior who broke the national one-game rushing record last month, will be grand marshal of this year’s Ventura Harbor Parade of Lights on Dec. 16. . . . Jenkins isn’t from Ventura, but Judie Amendola of the Ventura Harbor Village says the choice was easy. “He’s the only one who came to mind because of his accomplishments.” . . . Besides, Amendola says, the parade isn’t just a city event: “I think of us as a county harbor. We really reach out to the whole county.”

JUVENILE JURY: Jenkins won’t be the only youthful participant in the parade: The judges will be seniors from the three Ventura high schools. The youths are being used because of the theme this year: “Kid’s Christmas.” . . . Each pair of judges, chosen by the principals at Buena, Ventura and St. Bonaventura, will have an adult helper. “We’ll be with them to help every step of the way,” Amendola says.

BLACKENED BELLS: Church leaders fear the bells will be silent during the Christmas choir program at St. Patrick’s in Thousand Oaks after a fire swept through the back of the Episcopal church and destroyed instruments and music (B1). . . . The fire, which was sparked by the coffee maker in the kitchen area, destroyed the parish hall and several church rooms, but the sanctuary was spared. . . . Said Assistant Pastor Bob Brown: “It’s very ugly now. But out of the ugliness, God will lead us to beauty again.”

HIGHWAY HASSLES: More than 30,000 cars use the Ventura Freeway-Seaward Avenue interchange every day, many of them driven by tourists on their way to the beaches or the harbor (B1). But the confusing off-ramp configurations won’t improve as soon as city officials would like, because of state cutbacks. . . . “That’s a shame, because it’s a very easy project to deliver,” says Ventura transportation engineer Nazir Lalani.