Photo by Fern Barishman
A ubiquitous pink peace sign in Ojai, created by Fern Barishman s neighbor Lou Mora, was given to her by friend Brian Berman. It replaces the peace sign in front of Barishman s home on Ojai s Ventura Street that was defaced with a spraypainted backward swastika, obscenity and racial epithet sometime overnight between Feb. 19 and Feb. 20.
Ojai Valley News editor
Who ever spraypainted a backward swastika, racial epithet and obscenity on a pink peace sign on Ojai’s Ventura Street during the night from Feb. 19 to the morning of Feb. 20 probably had no idea that act of hate would prompt such an outpouring of love.
Ojai s Community Newspaper since 1891, makers of Ojai Valley Guide magazine, local News, Ojai Real Estate Weekly, Events, Arts, Sports, Opinion and more.
Ojai s Community Newspaper since 1891, makers of Ojai Valley Guide magazine, local News, Ojai Real Estate Weekly, Events, Arts, Sports, Opinion and more.
Marianne Ratcliff,
Ojai Valley News editor
Most Ojai Unified School District elementary students will start back to school remotely for at least one week when school resumes after winter break on Jan. 4.
However, students in OUSD special day classes and Chaparral High School are able to return to their campuses for in-person instruction on Jan. 4.
ABC Clubs will also be open in person beginning Jan. 4 and there are plans for adding more hours to that program, with details to come, according to Superintendent Tiffany Morse.
In a Dec. 29 email to OUSD families, Morse wrote that distance learning will be an option for families not comfortable with their children being on campus for in-person instruction.
Ojai Valley News reporter
The state’s Stay Home Order, first issued in early December, has been extended for at least another three weeks due to zero percent availability of intensive care unit beds in both Ventura County and the Southern California region.
This is a state calculation based on the number of staffed beds available and the high percentage of COVID-19 patients in ICUs. All COVID-19 patients who present in the Ojai Valley Community Hospital emergency room are being taken to Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, according to hospital officials.
Also, the last day of 2020 brought a record 1,582 new COVID-19 cases, above the 403 reported the day before. This brought the total number of cases ever reported in Ventura County to 39,559. Out of the nearly 40,000 all-time cases, 433 were in Ojai and 160 in Oak View.