Rob Varela / Star staff
Carolina Soria, 10, holds a crucifix while John Jones carries a flag Tuesday during a blessing ceremony at the former site of the San Miguel Chapel at Thompson Boulevard and Palm Street in Ventura. Nearly 300 people gathered to open the anniversary celebration of San Buenaventura Mission.
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225th anniversary of San Buenaventura Mission
By dusk, the Crooked Hat Drummers were at full throttle, banging their drum covered in buffalo hide and chanting honor songs as onlookers bowed their heads and nodded silently to the beat. Members of the Saticoy Chumash Youth, some as young as 6, their fresh faces spotted with white tribal paint, sang joyfully, shook rattles and clapped with feathers in their hands.
FULL STORY »RELATED...  State rejects plan for tax money to repair missions
Mission San Buenaventura information
California Mission Studies Association
California Missions Foundation
San Buenaventura Mission site
GRAPHIC: California's missions
Free Ojai house may prove costly
Jeff Weinstein has a common problem: There's already a house on the lot in Ojai where he wants to build his dream house. The common solution would be to tear down the old house. But Weinstein, an architect and environmentalist who lives in Santa Monica, says it pains him to destroy a perfectly good house and dump the remains in a landfill.
FULL STORY » Agencies blame gangs for increase in crimes
A suspected rise in gang activity caused a slight uptick in violent crimes in areas patrolled by the Ventura Police and the Ventura County Sheriff's departments this year, according to statistics released this week. Violent crimes, which range from homicides to aggravated assaults, rose 3.13 percent in Ventura, with reported forcible rapes having the most significant increase.
FULL STORY » RELATED... DOCUMENTS: Sheriff's Department press release and crime stat breakdown by city
GRAPHIC: Ventura County's reported crimes
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If you are interested in out-of-the-way, back-roads motorcycle outings, challenging mountain bike rides or inspiring day hikes in Ventura County and the surrounding area, then these escapes are for you.
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