Thousand Oaks Acorn

A 25-year-old transient appeared in Ventura County court today to be arraigned on arson charges. Gustavo Ramirez was arrested June 16 on suspicion of starting a fire that burned an acre of brush near the Thousand Oaks Transit Center.

"The Thousand Oaks and Conejo Valley community lost a great American warrior."

The Class of 2021 from the Conejo Valley has faced unprecedented challenges over the last four years, but they rose to the occasion and persevered in the face of unprecedented historical events. I’ve become stronger because of it."

A developer is seeking permission to build apartment homes and a three-story boutique hotel at the historic Timber School site while maintaining the historic buildings for public use.

EDITORIAL: Newsom owes it to the people of Californiawho’ve recorded some of the highest vaccination rates and endured some of the tightest rulesto keep his word and return to business as usual June 15; that includes abiding by CDC standards and allowing the inoculated to go unmasked.

A proposal to build a 240-unit complex at Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Lakeview Canyon Road will go to the City Council next week for preliminary approval.

"We will all always remember that we were once graced by a pure soul."

While the County of Ventura has dropped or settled most of its cases against violators of COVID-19 health guidelines, that’s not the case with Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park.

I don’t think he knows how many lives he touched.

The three land-use map alternatives that debuted Feb. 2 all have one thing in common: zoning for tens of thousands of additional apartments, condos and houses that don’t exist today, nearly all of it contained along the 101 corridor and much of it focused on multifamily dwellings.

Want to get outside this weekend? Check out these nearby caves.

Tim Gautier, 55, has officially been charged in the death of his wife. He's being held on $750,000 bail.

After a two-decade wait, preparations for the best backyard in the city are nearly a go again.

Caden Crowell, 22, will be eligible for parole just before he turns 70. Police say he shot David Smith of Thousand Oaks because they were members of rival gangs.

LAST UPDATE (7:17pm): All forward progress stopped. Evacuations to be lifted soon. VCFD will be on scene for hours doing cleanup duty and watching for flareups. Full story on toacorn.com later. UPDATE (6:50 pm): No fire in Moorpark. Erbes Road fire holding. Some units already being released. Firefighters will be on site for several hours. No structures lost! UPDATE (6:33 pm): Good news. Firefighters now have established dozer line/perimeter around fire. Starting to get uppe...r hand. Some resources being diverted to potential fire in Moorpark area. UPDATE (6:26 pm): From VCFD: Fire is approximately 250 acres with structures and infrastructure threatened. No structure loss. Sheriff is working on voluntary evacs. UPDATE (6:09pm): Fire spotting, now approximately 100 acres. UPDATE (6pm) : Fire has jumped Erbes Road, now threatening homes on Fernleaf Court and Mapleknoll Place. #BREAKING: A brush fire has erupted on the north side of Erbes Road near Sunset Hills Blvd. There are structures threatened as the fire is being pushed by a strong northeast wind. Road closures happening and evacuations possible. Firefighters are on scene with air support. Stay tuned to vcemergency.com Update (5:37 pm): Fire estimated at 20-30 acres and still on the north side of Erbes Road. Potential for 250 acres. Goal is to keep fire boxed in, south of Olsen Road, east of Erbes, north of Sunset Hills Blvd and west of Bard Reservoir. Photo from MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers

A fist fight at The Oaks mall that started after one person confronted another over not wearing a mask led to panic after an off-duty officer pulled out a gun to stop the brawl, according to TOPD.

Update (835pm): Reports are the weapon that was brandished belonged to an off-duty LA Sheriff’s deputy who was trying to break up a fight. No shots fired. No one injured. False alarm. BREAKING: Police have responded to The Oaks mall after reports came in about shots fired. TOPD has not been able to confirm report and have not found anyone injured. Mall had been put on lockdown so deputies could go store to store but so far appears to be false alarm. From Chief Fryhoff: We have numerous patrol officers on scene at the Oaks Mall regarding possible shots fired. We have no confirmation of any shots fired or any victims down. We are still on scene investigating a disturbance where a firearm was brandished.

EDITORIAL: Given this widespread support for returning to in-person instruction (12,000 students have already signed up), CVUSD missed a golden opportunity Tuesday night to move forward with a proposal made by board president Cindy Goldberg that would have had all grade levels back on campus by mid-November.

Every time I left that building, I would say, ‘There but for the grace of God go I,’ because everyone in my life was healthy. Until they weren’t.

A judge has issued a tentative ruling dismissing a 2018 lawsuit against the City of Thousand Oaks filed after the council allowed Godspeak church to occupy the former Miller Y in Dos Vientos.

The initial people to receive the vaccine will be frontline healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, technicians and room-cleaning staff, and residents and employees of long-term care facilities, Dr. Robert Levin said during a news conference.

CRPD is moving ahead with plans to demolish the 55-year-old community center at Dover and Hendrix park and build a new one. The public is invited to see a presentation on the proposal during two Zoom meetings set for next week.

TRAFFIC ALERT: Ramps connecting 101 to 23 will shut down at 8 tonight and will not reopen until 5am Monday, part of ongoing repaving effort on 23 Freeway. Erbes/Moorpark suggested as detours.

Don't want to vote by mail or drop box? Ventura County will have 48 in-person voting locations open Sat., Oct. 31 through Nov. 3. There will be nine locations throughout the Conejo Valley.

Conejo Valley school board trustee Sandee Everett has denounced a mailer sent out last week in support of her reelection campaign. Parents of the children whose faces were blurred in the photo featured in the mailer reacted with outrage that their images would be used without their permission and in support of a candidate they oppose.

Starting in 2022, expanded or rigid polystyrene food and drink containers and utensils, beach toys and loose peanut packaging material will not be able to be sold in Thousand Oaks.

Wind gusts destroyed a Newbury Park dance studio's outdoor setup on Monday. Everything was mangled into a massive ball of mess. See details: bit.ly/3mujdbC

Thousand Oaks-based biotech giant Amgen has made the call to keep its office staff working from home through June 2021. We think it’s unlikely that we’ll see a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases in the Greater Los Angeles area through the spring.

A man police say threw large rocks at homeless people sleeping near the Community Conscience building on E. Hillcrest Dr. has been charged with 3 counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

We don’t try to convince; it has to be something that someone wants to do. Newbury Park resident Bob Craig is in a race against the clock to find a kidney donor.

LASD has confirmed that investigators believe Rebecca Grossman was speeding to either stay ahead or catch up to a second vehicle the night she struck two young brothers in a Westlake Village crosswalk. The revelation explains why the first call that came in the night of Sept. 29 concerned street racing.

SHERWOOD SHOWDOWN: Rising PGA star and Westlake High School grad Matthew Wolff golfed alongside Tiger Woods in the first day of the Zozo Championship today at Sherwood Country Club. Wolff shot a 69 (-3), Tiger 76 (+4). Catch the rest of the tournament on the Golf Channel

Hill Canyon is one of the Conejo Valley’s great natural wonders. And it’s covered in graffiti.

Rebecca Grossman did not have her day in court yesterday as planned. The DA's office tells the Acorn they've held off on filing formal charges to give the sheriff's department more time to investigate.

Homelessness is the human rights issue of our day, and I believe my children’s children will read about this in their history books, and when they do, they’re likely going to ask me, ‘What did you do?’ I want to be on the right side of history.

Unhoused, but not unloved. Family members of those struggling with homelessness in Thousand Oaks share their stories of never giving up on the ones they love. It just takes one person in a family to make a decision, and they redeem the whole family."

Congrats to Luke Walsh and friends for winning the 2020 Take Your TO Acorn on Vacation photo contest! (Note: Photo taken pre-pandemic) Acorn staff picked top 10 and the winner was chosen via online vote.

The victim, 88-year-old Fred Rosenberg of Westlake Village, began teaching biology at CLU in 1999 after retiring from a 38-year career as a professor at Northeastern University in Boston and moving to California.

Need help with rent? City of TO taking applications starting Monday.

JUST IN: At its meeting tonight, the Conejo Valley school board decided on these dates for students to return to campus for classes. TK-2: Nov. 9 3-5: Nov. 12 Middle school: Nov. 16... High school: Jan. 19 See full story in Thursday’s Acorn. See more

JUST IN: Mike Seidman, who starred at Westlake High School and UCLA, was arrested Saturday. The 39-year-old Westlake Village native spent five seasons in the NFL. The driver of the vehicle Seidman collided with remains in the hospital in critical condition.

TRAFFIC ALERT: Ramps connecting 101 to 23 will shut down at 8 tonight and will not reopen until 5am Monday, part of ongoing repaving effort on 23 Freeway. Erbes/Moorpark suggested as detours.

"These kids were on loan to you from God."