Ounce for Ounce: The federal drug czar’s...

Ounce for Ounce: The federal drug czar’s message in Los Angeles on Thursday (B11) echoed an Oxnard proposal: Look to prevention for a cure. . . . The city is considering extra money for youth programs, not police. But Oxnard Police Chief Harold Hurtt notes that “prevention is long-term, and the residents of our city right now are in fear for their lives.” Three city teens have been shot to death in the last few weeks.

Calls Waiting: Even though Pacific Bell must wait until July 1 to offer Caller ID, the regional GTE office in Thousand Oaks is forging ahead June 15. . . . Pacific Bell had to wait because it had not finished its state-required customer education campaign. GTE, spokeswoman Cary Hyun says, has no such delay. Hyun says about a third of GTE’s customers have asked to be blocked from the service.

Church Party: Even as preservationists struggle with the fate of the original St. Rose of Lima church in Simi Valley (B1), parishioners are preparing for their 75th anniversary. . . . Simi Valley’s oldest Catholic church will hold a giant birthday party Sept. 22, with up to 2,000 people expected, organizer Sheila Shaffer says. . . . But the building where it all got started will most likely sit empty and neglected throughout the festivities. Efforts to renovate the building have so far failed.

Old Mass: St. Rose of Lima is old for Simi Valley, but far from the oldest Catholic church in Ventura County. San Buenaventura Mission, of course, holds that distinction, begun in 1793. . . . For many years, according to Ventura County Museum of History and Art docent Pat Bell, the only place Mass was said between the San Fernando Mission and Ventura was at Rancho Camulos near Fillmore. Then, Oxnard’s Santa Clara Church was built in 1877.