Already Crowded Jails Could Get More Inmates In the basement at the Ventura County Main Jail last week deputies searched one man who stood spread-eagle in front of a wall padded with a blue cushion while in nearby booking rooms small groups of four, five and even 10 men lay sprawled out and waited to be transferred to cells upstairs. After being searched, photographed and then booked, this was the man's welcome into the packed County Jail. Like most jurisdictions in California, Ventura County is running out of jail space. The county's two facilities -- the Main Jail next to the courthouse and the 12-year-old Todd Road Jail near Santa Paula -- have reached capacity. [continues 973 words]
Neighbors Wary After Alleged Rape Attempt. Apart from the clutch of weathered-looking men sitting on the front stoop furtively smoking cigarettes, there's little that distinguishes the small, three-bedroom home on a residential street near Oak Park. There's little indication that the home is at the center of a neighborhood controversy. The house is a "sober living center" where men needing a place free from drugs or alcohol can live in Spartan conditions. The tenants have an 11 p.m. curfew and are randomly tested for drugs or alcohol. The idea is to maintain a low-key environment and give the men a home safe from temptation, said Bobby Calandra, who runs the facility called Mission House. [continues 619 words]
Deputy in Fatal '92 Raid Still at Odds With D.A. Gary Spencer seeks vindication after Bradbury criticized his actions at Scott ranch. Legal fees pushed him into bankruptcy. Maybe Gary Spencer just doesn't know when to call it quits. Publicly rebuked for a drug raid that left a Ventura County rancher dead, thwarted in his court battle to clear his name and now bankrupted by legal fees, the Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy is still seeking vindication. The problem is, nobody seems to be listening. "I speak to anybody that's willing to listen, but unfortunately people are ready to go on to other things," Spencer said. Spencer, though, can't get past his anger at Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury, who criticized the deputy after the 1992 raid and now insists that Spencer pay $50,000 in legal fees for a failed libel suit. [continues 1174 words]
THOUSAND OAKSJust down the street from Marie Callender's in the Village Oaks office complex, Andrea Nagy is quietly dispensing marijuana to customers she says are sick and dying. But that quiet will probably end, because city officials pledged Thursday to shut down the county's first cannabis buyers club. Nagy, 27, a legal secretary who smokes marijuana to ease the pain of chronic migraines, said that voters' approval of Proposition 215 last year allowed her to dispense marijuana for treating medical conditions. [continues 708 words]
Activists Propose Cannibus (sic) Club to Get Pot to the Ill Law: Passage of Prop. 215 has created a gray area of jurisprudence and forced some local residents to obtain the plant through channels other than their doctor. According to one view of the law, Rick Maloof should be able to take a few drags of marijuana whenever he feels the need. Battling the ravages of AIDS, the Ventura resident is among dozens, if not hundreds, of local residents who say they may legally inhale the drug as a result of a statewide measure allowing marijuana use for medical purposes. [continues 1457 words]
