How to resolve AdBlock issue? OVN Editorial on OPINION page: Vision for transportation equity
Who would intentionally build a tiny four-lane highway in front of a high school and a hospital? It was part of a larger plan by Caltrans to build four lanes out to Santa Paula, Carpinteria and Ventura that the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai fought against and won in the late 1960s.
Understanding its history gives perspective on how the only four-lane stretch of road in the area came to be.
The bully next door: OVN editorial on OPINION page 5-22
Thinking the city of Ventura is going COVID-broke and learning to love their neighbors? Not a chance! Casitas Municipal Water District is forced to lawyer-up to defend the Ojai Valley against the city of Ventura’s water grab.
In the midst of a pandemic that is wrecking local economies, the Ventura City Council is grappling with a $12 million deficit.
Pandemic Groundhog Day? 5-15 OVN Editorial
Welcome to Day One, again. The goals of the state and county have changed without notice. When the stay-at-home order began, we were told the intention was to “flatten the curve” — that deaths were inevitable, but we could stem the overflow of hospitals and mortuaries by staying at home. The new standard for counties to move to the governor's "Stage 3" for reopening is now zero new deaths for 14 straight days.
Public health and advocacy
Numbers don’t always tell the whole story. The Ojai Valley News has asked Ventura County Public Health to disseminate more relevant facts about the current status of COVID-19 patients in the Ojai Valley, and in which cities the deaths have occurred. The numbers from Public Health of COVID-19-positive patients continue to go up on its city-by-city chart, even while the number of active cases has dropped to 160 as of May 6 (if you do the arithmetic yourself). While you won’t hear it from county Public Health since it refused our public records request, the Ojai Valley News has learned there is currently one active case in the Ojai Valley and no deaths, to date.
OVN Editorial on OPINION page May 1: Considering lives and livelihoods
The Ojai Valley is winning the fight against the coronavirus with zero active cases, to date, but we are losing in the economic battle of our lives. All counties are being treated the same, regardless of the threat level they face. A total of 846,000 people in Ventura County are locked down, 151 people are currently diagnosed with COVID-19, and the countywide death rate is two people per 100,000.
April 17: OVN EDITORIAL on OPINION page: Levin levels an essential business
Two weeks ago, we reported that the Ojai store, Ben Franklin, was showing our small-town resilience by staying open as an “essential business” — a place to “purchase household products (such as cleaning and personal-care products) necessary to the safe, sanitary and essential operation of places of residence.” Additionally, it has been providing materials to support the massive schooling-from-home undertaking, well underway all over the valley, with teachers actively coordinating with the store’s owner to procure items for lesson plans.
April 10: OVN EDITORIAL on OPINION page: Call to save local business
The Ojai Valley News is adjusting to the challenges posed by the pandemic. We are reporting on them, and advocating here for changes needed to protect our community.
OVN’s adjustments:
We have moved our production to Valley Printers in Sylmar as our previous printer, the Santa Barbara News-Press, stopped "due to the COVID-19 state of emergency." As we make the switch to a new page size, we are hopeful the print quality is even better. Because the newspapers will be delivered to Ojai in the wee hours of the morning, they may arrive at subscribers’ doors as late as 11 a.m. Friday. However, the digital version is available Thursday by 8 p.m. at www.ojaivalleynews.com.
Ojai Valley News Editorial on OPINION page March 20: A new test for Ojai
Ojai has faced many challenges over the years, and this pandemic is a new one for us. What we do next, and how we cope with adversity will shape who we are as a community. Decisions people are proud of rarely follow fear and panic. Ojai is a special place, and what that means is being tested in a new way.
The people have spoken
Our tiny town has limped along for a dozen years since the recession and foreclosure crisis. We put aside street and pavement repair and other needed civic improvements.
With the landslide passage of Measure C on Tuesday — more than 82 percent of city voters approved it — the people are clear on this issue. These funds will allow for a new course to be plotted.
OVN EDITORIAL on Feb. 28, 2020, on OPINION PAGE: Vote Yes on Measure C for 'hotel tax' 5% increase to help improve city
The city of Ojai has more than $20 million in street repairs and other deferred maintenance costs, plus an urgent need for fire mitigation, parks and recreation site upgrades, and more. The need for funding is abundantly clear and the least-regressive tax option we see is an increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel bed tax).
OVN EDITORIAL on Feb. 28, 2020 OPINION PAGE: Write in Trevor Quirk for District 1 supervisor on March 3
The Ojai Valley News endorses write-in candidate Trevor Quirk for Ventura County supervisor in District 1, which primarily covers the Ojai Valley and Ventura. The election is Tuesday, March 3.