Detail ManDecades ago, Fernando Librado sat down...

Detail Man

Decades ago, Fernando Librado sat down with a historian to describe the daily workings of the San Buenaventura Mission (B1). But his accounts were lost amid reams of notes until recently. .. . . Experts are thrilled, since Librado was quite an authority: He was born at the mission in 1839. “In the past, we had to go from secondhand reports and accounts,” says professor David Hornbeck. “This gives us one little glimpse into the life of the everyday mission--how work was organized, an idea of the social structure.”

A Mixed Record

Only 25 Ventura County banks have been robbed in 1997. That’s about half the typical number, but law enforcement officials aren’t cheering (B1). . . . The reason: Among those robberies was the takeover heist in which teller Monica Lynne Leech was killed. The Thousand Oaks incident of April was the first fatal bank robbery in the county in at least 20 years. FBI agents are still searching for the men responsible for her death.

Busy Year Ahead

New buildings, new faces at City Hall and new developments on long-running issues are expected for Simi Valley in 1998 (B1). . . . “I really see this year as kind of a recovery” from the recession, said Mayor Greg Stratton. “We’re starting to see some sales tax jumps--even some double-digit jumps in the last few quarters. We’re starting to say, ‘Mmmmmm, good.’ ”