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Where was the outrage against bullying?
I have the privilege of teaching English as a Second Language to students at Conejo Valley Adult School. It’s like traveling the world every day. I meet fascinating people from all over our globe.
However, last week I was heartbroken when one of my students told us about an experience she recently had.
This student is a lovely lady from Morocco. Speaking three languages and having lived in Canada for years, her English is already spectacular. She’s really just polishing the edges in my advanced class.
Her husband’s work brought her and their two children here to the Conejo Valley. She is bright, soft-spoken and kind, so I was disheartened when she told us she had been mistreated here in my hometown.
She was filling up her car at a local gas station when a man behind her got out of his car and started yelling at her that she had taken his spot.
He noticed her head scarf and yelled that she was a terrorist and that she should go back to her country.
In this moment, despite her years of speaking English, this dignified woman could not put words together to say anything in return.
She did not answer him and he continued to berate her. As she retold her story to our class, I was in tears. She said she was not so upset about this one man—there was obviously something wrong with him—but she was shocked and disappointed that no one else in the very busy gas station stood up against this bully.
Everyone just looked down at their feet.
Born and raised in this city, I am so ashamed of how my student was treated. I think that most people here know that our lives are enriched by the many foreign people who have decided to live here.
Our children’s lives are better because they have diverse classrooms. My life is certainly more interesting.
I invite anyone in our community to come and meet my inspiring students or else just go outside. They are your neighbors too.
Laura Cifuentes
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks
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Where was the outrage against bullying?
I have the privilege of teaching English as a Second Language to students at Conejo Valley Adult School. It’s like traveling the world every day. I meet fascinating people from all over our globe.
However, last week I was heartbroken when one of my students told us about an experience she recently had.
This student is a lovely lady from Morocco. Speaking three languages and having lived in Canada for years, her English is already spectacular. She’s really just polishing the edges in my advanced class.
Her husband’s work brought her and their two children here to the Conejo Valley. She is bright, soft-spoken and kind, so I was disheartened when she told us she had been mistreated here in my hometown.
She was filling up her car at a local gas station when a man behind her got out of his car and started yelling at her that she had taken his spot.
He noticed her head scarf and yelled that she was a terrorist and that she should go back to her country.
In this moment, despite her years of speaking English, this dignified woman could not put words together to say anything in return.
She did not answer him and he continued to berate her. As she retold her story to our class, I was in tears. She said she was not so upset about this one man—there was obviously something wrong with him—but she was shocked and disappointed that no one else in the very busy gas station stood up against this bully.
Everyone just looked down at their feet.
Born and raised in this city, I am so ashamed of how my student was treated. I think that most people here know that our lives are enriched by the many foreign people who have decided to live here.
Our children’s lives are better because they have diverse classrooms. My life is certainly more interesting.
I invite anyone in our community to come and meet my inspiring students or else just go outside. They are your neighbors too.
Laura Cifuentes
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks
Keep Rams out of open space
A recent letter by City Councilmember Al Adam (Acorn, Nov. 17) outlines his vision for the city for next four years.
Most goals are what you might expect, like addressing a need for commitment to public safety, fiscal responsibility concerning the city budget, affordable senior housing and restoration of our downtown.
However, slipped in the middle of his list is the statement: “Find a permanent location in Thousand Oaks for the Los Angeles Rams.” I left a message with the council member asking for further explanation but never received a reply.
Then this week’s Acorn’s (Dec. 1) front-page article “Meetings continue between Rams, city” addresses the topic of the Rams’ permanent training center site again.
To those who aren’t aware, the conversation is over a proposed Rams’ training center that would take at least 50 acres.
I say, wait a minute. Didn’t we just vote to continue Ventura County’s SOAR program, which protects our county agricultural areas, and Thousand Oaks Measure W, which restricts our city’s development until 2050?
I realize Americans love their sports, but building a 50-acre training center is no small thing. Where would they choose to build 50 acres that wouldn’t carve into our beautiful open spaces?
We made our voice known Nov. 8 when it came to preserving our open spaces. The majority of the residents don’t want to open the door to building that would eventually end up losing our uniqueness as a county and looking like a lot of Southern California.
Whether this project is somehow planned to be built on an already developed location or if it’s to be built on some of our open spaces makes all the difference.
Is it possible that the City Council is considering incentives to encourage the Rams to locate here? I encourage others to contact our council and ask for specific plans that are going on among themselves.
We in Ventura County love our sports as much as anyone, but we treasure our city and agricultural open spaces more.
Gail Hubbs
Newbury Park
Editor’s note: Rest assured,
the Rams’ facility, if constructed
in Thousand Oaks, will not be
built in protected open space.
—KJ PS: I did not know the Acorn ed is well versed on land use issues in TO? Pray tell us where 50 acres of dirt is available; even 2 senior projects were rightly turned down. Pinecrest? Naa! Nick Q
Newbury Park
Editor’s note: Rest assured,
the Rams’ facility, if constructed
in Thousand Oaks, will not be
built in protected open space.
—KJ PS: I did not know the Acorn ed is well versed on land use issues in TO? Pray tell us where 50 acres of dirt is available; even 2 senior projects were rightly turned down. Pinecrest? Naa! Nick Q
Take homeless woman into custody
Apparently police in Newbury Park require more public input to motivate them to enforce our vagrancy laws.
A woman began standing and sitting along Cabrillo Avenue several months ago. Now she stays overnight under the valley oak at the junction of Cabrillo and Borchard Road.
She has been contacted by police at least once a day. Afterward, she packs up bags, stands by the side of the road and then moves back to the tree.
The nearest businesses with toilets, not open 24 hours a day, are 100 yards away. Her vicinity has been littered with tissue paper and fast-food trash and the sidewalk smeared with food. The public sanitation implications are obvious.
It’s not possible to read the minds of local police and officials to determine why they allow this violation of the law and residents’ property rights to continue.
Some believe this would not be allowed in a higher-value subdivision. Also that if this individual were male, she would have been arrested long ago.
Pragmatic reasons exist for local officials to arrest and confine, or deliver this individual to a mental health facility. Borchard and Cabrillo are high traffic roads. Borchard has a high speed limit, and vehicles use Cabrillo to evade the signals at the junction of Borchard and Reino.
This person is possibly mentally ill. She often appears delusional or intoxicated and makes inappropriate gestures and comments to those walking by.
If she were to die of exposure, stagger into the road and get run over or cause a car to swerve and strike someone else, holier-thanthou indignation could break out about “Why didn’t someone do something?”
This would have an adverse impact on the careers of our local law enforcement and aspiring politicians.
Particularly after some journalist finished sensationalizing the woman’s death into a racist act of official neglect.
It is now time for our local police and officials to permanently remove this person—before she either kills herself or ruins someone else’s life.
Winthrop R. Staples III
Newbury Park
Newbury Park
Allegiance should be to Constitution
Before the new administration officials are sworn into office next month, I call upon them to reflect on their oaths of office and recognize their allegiance is to the United States Constitution, not to the flag.
Although the oaths differ in form between the various federal positions, each of them has as its centerpiece upholding the Constitution. None of them reference a flag.
The current Pledge of Allegiance, more appropriately named “The Flag Salute,” fails to convey the central importance of our Constitution. I believe a more appropriate pledge of allegiance would begin: “I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and to the Republic which it defines.”
Larry Ashim
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks
Measure AA’s shortcomings led to its failure
In a Dec. 1 article in the Ventura County Star, Darren Kettle, Ventura County Transportation Commission executive, stated that Measure AA failed to pass because it was plagued by five imperfections. Incredibly, none of the imperfections he mentions had anything to do with the content of the measure itself.
Rather, he cited outside influences. I believe AA’s defeat was due to the following shortcomings.
1. It tried too hard to be all things to all people, such as road and freeway improvements for county drivers, railroad and bus expenditures to appease senior citizens (even though our current train and bus fleets are nowhere near full), additional expensive bike lanes for young bicyclists (even though the current bike lanes are not highly utilized).
2. Lack of specifics regarding precisely how these funds would be spent.
3. A rather lackadaisical designation of what percentages of the total added income would be spent for each project. As an example, why the 50-50 split for county versus city for roads and freeways?
A majority of Ventura County drivers feel that road and freeway improvements are badly needed, especially highly traveled routes. We also believe that Measure AA was not the preferred way to accomplish this.
If the measure had concentrated on improving highways, freeways and cities’ roads, rather than diluting it with so many other vaguely related issues, it would have had a much better chance of passing.
There is also the perception that if the money currently allocated for the general fund were spent more efficiently we would have sufficient resources for the needed road improvements.
There appears to be widespread belief that if Measure AA funds had been increased by raising the sales tax, we would not have seen an increase of that amount for road transportation maintenance, etc.
Instead, it is felt that because of the influx of all the new revenue from the sales tax increase, we believe that the money currently allocated for transportation issues from the general fund would be designated for use elsewhere.
This is a major flaw that must be addressed.
Robert J. Ruhr
Thousand Oaks FAILS to talk about any bel tightening Not advertised but Kettle got $40k yr raise to $240K & retd dir gets 240 yr for life !!! Nick Q
Thousand Oaks FAILS to talk about any bel tightening Not advertised but Kettle got $40k yr raise to $240K & retd dir gets 240 yr for life !!! Nick Q
Peek into Muslim community was appreciated
I wanted to send my appreciation for Ms. Belmond’s article titled “Feeling support, not fear” on the front page of the Nov. 23 Acorn.
It was such an uplifting and refreshing coverage of her interview with a Muslim community in Newbury Park about their feelings after the election of President-elect Trump and how that has affected them.
With their sharing we found enlightenment about their outlook, which is so sensible, logical, respectful and well-thought-out.
They are a peaceful, familyoriented community and devoted in the Muslin faith. They believe they are created “to serve God and humanity.”
Rarely do we read in the media such positive and informative coverage of our sisters and brothers living here in our country.
Thank you, Ms. Belmond, and may I commend you on this marvelous article.
Denise Edwards
Thousand Oaks TRUE ICCV.org is in NP but parishers come from Agoura to Camarillo Used to be as far as Goleta & Simi but we now have Ismic Centers there & Oxnard; less driving! I know I am one of the founding members from 1987
Thousand Oaks TRUE ICCV.org is in NP but parishers come from Agoura to Camarillo Used to be as far as Goleta & Simi but we now have Ismic Centers there & Oxnard; less driving! I know I am one of the founding members from 1987
Growing pot outside is better for environment
Concerning Proposition 64, Thousand Oaks City Councilmember Joel Price is quoted as saying, “My understanding is we can prohibit outdoor growth.”
The City Council should study the carbon footprint of growing marijuana indoors with artificial lighting.
According to Evan Mills at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, “One average kilogram of final product is associated with 4,600 (kilograms) of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, or that of 3 million average U.S. cars when aggregated across all national production.”
Marijuana grown via artificial lighting is not a “green” product. Growers in some of our state’s more rural areas use diesel generators to power large grow operations. Energy usage for growing marijuana indoors is so high that there have been court cases concerning the legality of using thermal imaging to detect the heat signature from the electricity consumption of grow houses.
The majority of the state’s electrical supply comes from burning fossil fuels. Growing indoors requires bright lights. It adds up to a high carbon footprint.
I don’t think our City Council needs to be too concerned about residents growing weed in their front yards. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, and such ostensibly valuable plants in plain sight would not be very secure.
As the city cannot supersede California law, which allows the growth of sox plants, the best option may be to allow outdoor cultivation out of public view while discouraging energy-intensive indoor growth.
Paul Nicholson
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks
What happens when a puma harms a child?
It may seem heretical to all of you bleeding hearts for a beast of prey, with callous disregard for the financial loss to the ranchers, but do you realize that the pumas can also harm a child or a beloved pet?
By the way, do you have same feelings for the coyotes?
As far as the $55 million needed to facilitate the safe passage over the 101, that money should be better used to ease the situation of disabled veterans and/ or the homeless.
The dangerous wild beasts do not belong in the vicinity of urban or semi-urban neighborhoods.
I expect some wild condemnation from all of you bleeding hearts.
Dan Kraus
Thousand Oaks PS There is a good front pg story about the lady rancher & how she is strapped for funds I think I lost my cat to a coyote; hit to think what happened to him; Nick Q
Thousand Oaks PS There is a good front pg story about the lady rancher & how she is strapped for funds I think I lost my cat to a coyote; hit to think what happened to him; Nick Q
Studying abroad an introduction to new cultures
My name is Solveig and I am an exchange student from Farsund, a small town on the coast in Norway.
I’ve been living with my host family for nearly three months.
I have not only learned the American way of life with my family, but I am also making so many new friends at my school, Newbury Park High School. I am having such an extraordinary experience and want to share it with everyone.
My family from Norway will be coming to visit in the spring, and I hope to introduce them to some of the American culture via my host family.
We live in Newbury Park under “Old Boney,” and it is beautiful. The weather is gorgeous (of course) and has yet to get below 70 degrees. I have been to the beach many times in Ventura County, and my favorite is the one in Port Hueneme.
My host family has taken me to Hollywood (Walk of Fame) and Venice Beach via Malibu and Point Mugu, and my friends have taken me out as well, and we always have a good time.
I love watching the surfers and the sea life. We have also been kayaking out at Channel Islands Harbor, and that was a blast.
The very last journey was when we took a 14-hour road trip and went north to San Luis Obispo and went swimming at Avila Beach on the way to Hearst Castle. I loved it and my time here, and now we are beginning to embrace the holidays together. Can’t wait.
Everyone should consider hosting or traveling abroad for studies.
Solveig Belland
Newbury Park "Yes a lot of racism would disappear but then we have trumpf" Nick q
Newbury Park "Yes a lot of racism would disappear but then we have trumpf" Nick q
Park district seems clueless about dog park
Having attended the Conejo Recreation and Park District’s dog park improvement meeting last Saturday at Conejo Creek Dog Park (Avenida de Las Flores), the first question I had: Why couldn’t they get the address of the meeting place correct on the notices they posted at the park?
They blamed someone else.
The next question: Had they done a gate traffic study or a daily attendance count again? Their response was something like, “We don’t know,” seeming on the clueless side.
Wonderful. We are supposed to trust these people making decisions about improvements to something about which they have no clue?
The same thinking brought us the idea to pave Las Flores to make an access road to Waverly. Ed and Bill Janss are rolling in their graves at the thought of the last remaining “dirt” in the heart of the Conejo Valley about to see more pavement and concrete.
All that park needs is a completely paved ADA-approved parking area, including access to the dog park entrance and the portable restroom facility.
Keep it simple and cost-effective, people. Spend the saved resource on the youth of our community.
Steve Serota
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks
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