VC Star May 25th, 2025 By David Goldstein Public Works Week, was May 18-24, and the American Public Works Association’s 2025 theme was “People, Purpose, Presence.” These cornerstone ideals explain the value and relevance of many public works programs, including programs that benefit our environment.On May 20, dozens of county workers led interactive activities and…
VC Star May 3rd , 2025 By David Goldstein On vacation in Mexico last month, I thought, at first, that our neighbor to the south has a great recycling system. Looking into it a little deeper, I found Mexico has the same problems we are trying to overcome, but they are approaching it differently. In…
Ojai Valley News March 27, 2025 After reaching recent milestones, the project to remove Matilija Dam “is progressing well,” according to county officials. “We talk about the three big rocks in the jar. What’s our focus today?” asked Jeff Palmer, assistant director with the Ventura County Public Works Agency. This calendar year, Palmer said, the…
The Acorn March 28, 2025 By David Goldstein Composting, a form of organics recycling, has taken on greater importance with the state’s recent push to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfills—where it is known to release deadly methane gas—and turn the organics into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that helps yards and plants…
VC Star April 12, 2025 By David Goldstein The original Earth Day celebration, on April 22, 1970, was organized in response to a disaster off our coast. In 1969, an oil platform’s spill in the Santa Barbara Channel created an 800 square mile slick, from Santa Barbara to Ventura County, and the resulting environmental destruction…
VC Star By David Goldstein March 22nd Ojai Valley Organics opened earlier this month and C&M Topsoils, another mulch-and-compost-making business, will open soon near Simi Valley. Meanwhile, Peach Hill Soils near Moorpark and Agromin, with locations near Oxnard, Simi Valley and Santa Paula, continue to make mulch and compost every day from the discards of…
VC Star By David Goldstein March 20th Are you bugged by bugs, but want to avoid poison in your garden that could harm your pets or kids? Do you want to stop pests from entering your home and weeds from competing with your vegetable plants, while protecting critical pollinators? UC Master Gardeners of Ventura County…
VC Star By David Goldstein March 8th The public is invited to attend the grand opening of Ojai Valley Organics at 11 a.m. Monday. The county-owned site, past the trailhead of the Ventura River Preserve at the end of Old Baldwin Road, has, since the 1950s, served as a burn dump, a garbage transfer station,…
VC Star By David Goldstein March 1st With two simultaneous grand openings Monday on opposite sides of Ventura County, local carpet recycling capacity will triple. The Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center, with a public event Monday afternoon, and Gold Coast Recycling and Transfer Station in Ventura, with a private event in the morning, will…
VC Star By David Goldstein February 15, 2025 Push the button and bear the piercing sound at least twice per year, advise experts who stress the importance of testing smoke alarms. Most people probably agree, but actually doing it is the hard part. Similarly, when smoke alarms with non-replaceable batteries chirp incessantly, flipping the disabling…