Chiliville: Jim Beaty of Fillmore is a...

Chiliville: Jim Beaty of Fillmore is a world champion chili cook, and he’s hosting the city’s chili cook-off today (F19). . . . He and his wife, Eileen, sell chilies and sauces from their home. The most common error among cooks, they say, is making the batch too hot. “That’s simple to do. Anybody can do that,” Eileen says. “You want to have a nice, warm heat down the back of the throat when you swallow it, but then it goes away.”

Bursting in Air: Tonight’s the night everyone enjoys seeing the darkened sky erupt in patriotic pyrotechnics, all the more thrilling because the slightest spark could send the county’s dry hillsides into a flaming apocalypse. . . . “A fire prevention officer has been assigned to each display,” county fire spokeswoman Sandi Wells says. Thousand Oaks poses the biggest problem because it shoots the works from grassy Fireworks Hill, which has been known to ignite during the big show. A nearby field has been tilled, weeds have been cleared and firetrucks will stand by, Wells says. “We’ve taken what precautions we can.”

Scott Free: Speaking of Independence Day. . . . Former Moorpark City Councilman Scott Montgomery will be celebrating his today, having been sentenced Wednesday to a single day in jail for his criminal conflict-of-interest convictions (B1). Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell gave Montgomery a day’s credit just for being booked, so despite his felonious $3,500 loan from a trash hauler, he’ll still have plenty of freedom and liberty.