This story has just been added to the Page One lineup for tomorrow. It will run in the spot where we had the AP story about the alleged torture death in Iraq at the hands of the CIA. That story will move inside the main news section:

A small claims lawsuit stemming from a non-injury crash last year led to the chance filming of a train crashing into a strawberry truck in Oxnard this week.The powerful images of a train blasting through a truck carrying 37,000 pounds of frozen strawberries on Rose Avenue at Fifth Street have been broadcast nationally. It was a surprising encounter for film owner Gaspar Medina, 30, of Oxnard, who was just looking to tape the intersection’s stop lights when trains cross. “It was just a fluke,” Medina said.

Here's a look at what's planned for Page One of tomorrow's Ventura County Star:

A report on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's visit to Washington D.C., where he got California Republicans and Democrats in Congress to agree to work together to try to bring more federal dollars to the state.

The announcement out of Sacramento that two members of the state Assembly will introduce a version of Oregon's controversial Death with Dignity bill.

The story from Simi Valley on how police property room employee Lori Tate solved the mystery of the man's ashes, found in an abandoned Simi storage facility and brought to the police department.

President Bush's appointment of John Negroponte to become the nation's first national intelligence director.

A story by The Associated Press that an Iraqi being interrogated by the CIA at Abu Ghraib priosn died after being subjected to a technique widely described as a form of torture.

The story of the debate this morning at the Ventura County Economic Forum regarding proposed LNG facilities off the Oxnard coastline will be run on the Local news pages, and the rest of the coverage of the forum will be on the Business pages.

Added extras on the Star website tomorrow will include the daily podcast by Bruce McLean, a video of the tour of the Reagan library Air Force One exhibit and a gardening video that accompanies tomorrow's Home and Garden section.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Washington D.C. today and the Star's reporter in D.C., Michael Collins, (collinsm@shns.com), will be tailing the governor as he makes his rounds of federal offices. Expect federal funding for the state, education and base closings to be among the topics to be discussed. And, of course, we'll see if Washington remains starstruck by the star-turned-governor.

Continue reading "Sacramento vs. Washington"

We just had another story make the cut for Page One for tomorrow. It's out of Thousand Oaks. David Avila, who ran for a seat on the T.O. City Council last fall, has been arrested and charged with felony computer fraud among other things for a scheme he supposedly devised that sent out false cell-phone messages under the name of Mayor Bob Wilson the night before the election urging recipients to vote for Avila. Avila had a misdemeanor arrest last fall for disrupting a candidates' meeting by using a bullhorn to shout obscenities.

Here is the lineup, at this time, for tomorrow's Page One of the Star:

Economic forecast for Ventura County from UC Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project: This is the story that, because of the embargo, we can't tell you much about at this time. But it will look at the expected economic development in the county for this year ... and beyond.

Change in civilian Pentagon personnel rules: Reporter Michael Collins (collinsm@shns.com) details the proposed changes in the Department of Defense civilian employment rules. The story is already on the Star website.

And from the wires:
The National Hockey League becomes the first professional sports league to cancel an entire season over a labor dispute. The main story will run tomorrow on page one, with details and comments on the Sports pages.

The Justice Department says it will appeal a federal judge's ruling that declared the federal obscenity laws unconstitutional. The Justice Department claims the ruling has broad societal impacts.

Because of the number of graphics that will accompany the economic development package, only four stories will be on Page One tomorrow instead of the usual five.

The annual economic forecast for Ventura County from University of California at Santa Barbara will be released tomorrow morning. Business reporter Gretchen Macchiarella (gmacchiarella@VenturaCountyStar.com) will have highlights of the report in the morning paper. It will be officially presented at the annual Economic Forecast meeting tomorrow. Unfortunately, we can't tell you today what's in the report, even though we have a copy. It's embargoed, which means that we agree not to release the information before tomorrow morning's paper in exchange for getting a copy in advance to do our reporting. But I can tell you that there will be some very interesting projections about Oxnard and Camarillo.

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The Page One lineup for Wednesday looks like this:

Coverage of the memorial service and funeral for John Daniel House, the 28-year-old Simi Valley sailor who was killed in Iraq last month.

A story on Wildhorses in Need, the group that is trying to find homes (and in the meantime figure out how to keep alive) an estimated 500 horses brought into Santa Barbara County by a man who ended up not being able to keep them in feed. Many of the horses are now being kept in Ventura County.

Updated coverage on the situation in Beirut, keyed to the U.S. decision to withdraw its amabassador from Syria because of hints of Syria's involvement in yesterday's massive car bombing.

The decision by the FDA to set up an independent board to monitor medicines once they're on the market.

And a report showing that American Indian casino income is growing 10 percent or more a year and has hit $18.5 billion (with a "b") a year. That's more than Nevada rakes in a year.

The story being worked on regarding the loss in funding by the New West Symphony is going to be printed in the Local news sections tomorrow. It will focus on the symphony's funding situation, in the wake of the Amgen Foundation decision to not fund the symphony again this year.

New West Symphony is scrambling to fill an $80,000 hole in its budget, created when an expected sponsorship from the Amgen Foundation failed to materialize. The foundation says it periodically readjusts its giving and reporter Stephanie Hoops (shoops@VenturaCountyStar.com) is looking into reports that the readjustment means fewer dollars for local groups and more money for those outside Ventura County.

Continue reading "Seeking the foundation dollars"

Here is the Page One lineup for Tuesday, as of 3 o'clock:

FEMA meets with residents of La Conchita to lay out its aid package.

Part 3 of the Leaving Ventura County series, focusing on efforts by county businesses to keep and attract employees in the face of the stratospheric housing prices.

Profile on Assemblywoman Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills and her bill regulating carbon-dioxed emissions, making California the only place in the U.S. that will, in effect, join the Kyoto Protocol which takes effect Wednesday and tries to address global warming.

The death of former Lebanese prime minister in massive car bomb in Beirut.

The failure Monday of a test of the national missile defense system.

Mondays are often slow in the "news business," giving us a chance to plan for what's coming this week. Not today. There is a lot of news, both local and off the news wires, that will compete for page one Tuesday morning.

The third, and last, part of the Leaving Ventura County package, will be featured tomorrow morning. In this installment, reporter Charles Levin (clevin@VenturaCountyStar.com) examines the impact of housing price escalation, and flight from the county, on those of us left behind. He looks particularly at what businesses are doing to attract and keep employees.

Continue reading "A busy news day"