AIR SUPPLY: The number of smoggy days...

AIR SUPPLY: The number of smoggy days in Ventura County hasn’t changed much in the past five years. But the air is much cleaner than it was 20 years ago, thanks to lower business and auto emissions. . . . County meteorologist Gary Arcement says Simi Valley continues to be the smoggiest city locally because of its horseshoe-shaped valley and proximity to the San Fernando Valley. “Things tend to stagnate a little bit there.”

HOT TOPIC: A new state law that allows the public to buy pepper spray without receiving training concerns Oxnard Police Chief Harold Hurtt. “We have professional law enforcement people who use the same chemical agent, and we require them to go through a great deal of training,” he said. . . . Hurtt worries that users might get it in their own eyes or have it taken from them. But training is available from stores such as Shooters Paradise in Oxnard, which offers a weekly class for $17.

GROWING PAINS: It was born in 1962 and got its first big face-lift at the age of 21. Now, as the Buenaventura Mall approaches middle age, its owners want to perform make-over No. 2 (B1). . . . Some residents oppose the proposed expansion and remodeling because of a tax rebate promised to the developer, but plenty of shoppers support the plan. “We have been waiting for this for years,” said Molly Kerwin of Ventura, who used to shop at the mall when it was an open-air center in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

HEART ACHE: How far will Jeff Litoff go to replace his ailing heart? Maybe all the way to divorce court (B1). . . . Last month, doctors told the Newbury Park man that, without a heart transplant, he had less than a year to live. Unable to afford the operation, Litoff said a divorce may be the only way he can qualify for MediCal and get the procedure done. . . . “I may have to divorce to live,” he said.