Task ForceNow is their chance to make...

Task Force

Now is their chance to make a difference: Nineteen community leaders meet Friday to begin hammering out a recommendation for the governor about the fate of Camarillo State Hospital (B1). . . . Gov. Wilson’s handpicked team includes participants from business, religion and education. They’ll have to find unity fast--their report is due Nov. 1.

Library Layoffs

The protracted root canal that is the dismantling of Ventura County libraries has tortured no one more than library employees, who have seen their number shrink from 132 to 59 in four years (B1). . . . With seven pondering layoff notices given out last week, workers are weary and confused. Some are giving up and taking matters into their own hands. They’re leaving voluntarily.

High Street Low

Downtown Moorpark has declined since Joy Cummings, above, and her husband opened a shop there in 1973 (B1). The owner of The Gas Station clothing store on High Street says that nowadays only 56% of her regular customers are locals. The rest come from out of town. . . . While most of those locals “do live in the newer housing tracts,” Cummings says, she misses the days when almost all her customers were nearby old-timers.

Street Smart

The new intersection at Lewis and Pleasant Valley roads in Camarillo leaves at least one driver less than thrilled (B1). Few people turn left from northbound Lewis Road, but they have their own lane to do so; most want to turn right though, and there is no designated lane. So two lanes back up. Plus, oncoming lanes seem to head right into one another. . . . Never fear, says a city traffic engineer. Not only does it all make sense, but the misaligned lanes aren’t really misaligned--if you look at them right.