FALSE ALARM: Traffic officials are tired of...

FALSE ALARM: Traffic officials are tired of fielding complaints from irate residents of east Ventura, where railroad crossings activate even when there are no trains to heed (B1). When the long, wooden arms come down, whole neighborhoods are cut off. . . . “We’re very frustrated,” city traffic engineer Nazir Lalani said. “We’ve been trying to get the railroad to do something about this problem for at least a year, and it’s just not happening.”

PRICEY PUSH: On the one hand, the “motor-voter” law--an effort to get more people registered by signing them up through welfare and DMV offices--is attracting new voters in Ventura County (B1). On the other, the county elections office isn’t getting enough money to cover added costs. . . . “Every time I put a person on the file, it costs about $2,” says elections chief Bruce Bradley. “There is a cost of democracy, which we should gladly pay. But my budget doesn’t reflect it.”

PRETTY BABY: For the last decade, Tom Kelley’s yearly doll calendars have sold out. Now, the Ventura photographer has a coffee-table book called “A Century of Dolls.” But these babies aren’t Barbie--they can be worth as much as $50,000, Kelley says. . . . Kelley shoots more than the pricey miniatures in his Ventura studio--look down the aisle at a supermarket, and some of the illustrations on those food packages are his. . . . Kelley will sign his book March 23 at Barnes & Noble in Ventura.

HELPING KIDS: Stan Trom, who heads the child-support division of the county district attorney’s office, has agreed to head a statewide council that advocates for child-support issues. . . . Although his term doesn’t start until Feb. 22, Trom is already on the move--he’s in Washington, D.C. this week discussing welfare reform. His goals for the year include improving a computer system that would contain statewide child-support information.