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The State Department of Public Health has fined 14 California hospitals for safety issues, including one in Ventura County.
Simi Valley Hospital was fined $25,000 for an incident in which a sponge was left inside a woman for four years, and was only discovered following a second surgery. Hospital officials have said they reported the accident to the state, calling it a regrettable incident, and say they have taken additional steps to prevent further such issues.
A second case of a potentially dangerous flu-like disease has been documented in Ventura County.
A 75 year old Simi Valley man spent nine days in the hospital after contracting West Nile Virus. He’s since been released from the hospital. On August 20th, an eastern Ventura County woman was confirmed to have contracted, but recovered from the disease.
West Nile Virus is transmitted to humans, and animals through mosquito bites. Most people bitten by infected mosquitoes don’t contract the disease, but in a small percentage, especially of those who are older, or who have weakened immune systems, it can be serious, and even fatal.
Ventura County Public Health officials are urging people to use insect repellant, to avoid being out at dawn, and dusk, which are peak times for mosquito activity, and to eliminate standing water on your property which can provide breeding spots for the insects.
Law enforcement officers in Moorpark are trying to figure out what led to a traffic accident which left a bicyclist dead.
Kenneth Gutherie of Moorpark was riding southbound on Moorpark Avenue yesterday morning when he was hit by a southbound vehicle at the street’s intersection with Poindexter Avenue.
The 52 year old man was pronounced dead a short time later at a nearby hospital.
Investigators say it’s unclear still as to who might have been at fault.
Santa Barbara County authorities say they are pursuing multiple charges against a woman whose dog they say bit a five year old girl in the face last month.
The girl was attacked on July 5th, on State Street in Santa Barbara. However, the woman believed to be the dog’s owner left the scene.
Santa Barbara police asked for the public’s help, and say they received information which helped them identify Jean Francis Snyder of Santa Barbara as the dog’s owner. Following a criminal investigation, animal control officials are asking prosecutors to pursue five charges against the 57 year old woman, including failure to report an animal bite, and concealing information about an animal to prevent quarantine.
Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a sexual predator who attacked a jogger on a remote trail in the Conejo Valley in broad daylight.
The woman was running on Lindero Creek Trail, in Thousand Oaks at around one yesterday afternoon when a man knocked her to the ground, and hit her in the face. The woman fought back, hitting the man, which allowed her to break free, and run to safety.
She was shaken up, but otherwise unhurt. A search failed to find the attacker.
A body found in a small Santa Barbara County lake is that of a Southern California man who disappeared in the area several weeks ago.
A worker at the Alisal Guest Ranch spotted the body in a lake at the Santa Ynez Valley ranch Wednesday morning. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department is now saying it was Kurt Brimberry, a San Marino man who was last seen alive in mid-August. His car was found smashed into a tree a few miles away from the ranch August 18th.
How Brimberry died, and how he ended up in the lake are still unanswered questions. Department officials say it could be several weeks before autopsy results are complete.
Thousands of rush hour commuters got a bird’s eye view of some brush fires in Ventura County.
Two fires broke out just north of the 118 Freeway in Simi Valley, one near Kuehner Drive, and one near Yosemite Avenue around 5:30 last night. No structures were damaged. The fires, which burned more than 30 acres of hilly brush, were contained in about two hours.
The cause of the fires is still under investigation.
Ventura Police are investigating what they’re calling the apparently accidental fatal fall of someone from a high rise hotel in the city.
Police and paramedics were called to the 400 block of Harbor Boulevard just before 7:30 last night. A woman had fallen to death from a balcony on the 11th floor of the Crown Plaza Hotel.
Authorities say their investigation indicates the death was an accident. The name of the victim hasn’t been released yet.
A South Coast college professor has been honored with a knighthood by the French government.
Westmont College French professor Mary Blackwood Collier received the tribute for her dedication to spreading French culture.
She received the honor from the French Counsul General in Los Angeles, at a ceremony in Santa Barbara County this week.
Collier has taught French at Westmont for more than three decades.
A Ventura County university has the largest enrollment in its more than five decade long history.
California Lutheran University, in Thousand Oaks is expecting 4200 undergraduate, and graduate students when classes start next week. That’s an increase of more than 100 students from last year.
The enrollment numbers include students at the university’s satellite campuses in Santa Maria, Oxnard, and Woodland Hills.
CLU is the parent of KCLU radio.
