CLAIR | Hometown Stories

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Since it was found in Simi Valley in 2020, this mosquito has spread to more than a dozen Ventura County communities. Its eggs cling to the walls of pots and tires and survive drying out, so they travel wherever we take them. It breeds in only a few drops of water, hides in drains and utility vaults, and bites in broad daylight. County officials now say it's established here and it isn't leaving.

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It's Sapwi Bike Park in Thousand Oaks, just over the hill from Simi Valley. No pass. No fee. No catch. You need a pedal bike and a helmet. It's open sunrise to sunset. There's a pump track built for endless laps and three jump lines: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Your kid starts on the rollers. Next month it's the tabletops. One day it's the big wood ramps. Here's what most people don't know. No city budget pays for it. Volunteers have built every berm and every jump since 2017. Now they want to build more: new lines, a better downhill trail, and an airbag so riders can learn big tricks safely.

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In 1980 the Simi Valley Enterprise ran a story about a lion. Page four. Easter Sunday. Under a photo of a lion on somebody's porch, the paper asked the only question that mattered. Who ever heard of an Easter Lion? Turns out it was a real estate agent named Linda Fraisier. A client made her the suit, and she'd already hit about five hundred doors around town. The kids wanted to know where the bunny was. She told the paper her line. He's busy coloring eggs and making candy for the other children and doesn't have time to go out. The photo caption says eggs and goodies. Linda told the reporter it was candy only that year. Eggs got too expensive.