Neighbors
Teen’s new workout biz is in good shape
By Ian Bradley
ianbradley@theacorn.com | May 13, 2021
Starting a business is always a risky move. Starting a personal training business a few months into the onset of a pandemic is something most people would consider a bad...
Critical workers return to hospital
By Ian Bradley
ianbradley@theacorn.com | May 13, 2021
It’s hard to overstate how busy doctors and nurses have been during the pandemic, but hospitals rely on more than just medical staff to operate smoothly. At one time, Los...
Runner hits the trails for health, fun and awareness
By Ian Bradley
ianbradley@theacorn.com | May 13, 2021
A runner doesn’t need much more than quality shoes and a few miles of good road to work up a sweat. But running on streets amid cars and cyclists, waiting...
AT THE LIBRARY
| May 13, 2021
The Agoura Hills Library is holding book club meetings at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. To join a club, call the library at (818) 889-2278 or email Nina Hull at NHull@...
Runaway labs have impromptu play date
| May 13, 2021
Linda Levine of Agoura Hills recently brought her chocolate lab, Koko, to her friend’s home to play with her chocolate lab, Mousse. Levine says while she and her friend were...
Family
Artistic reflections
| April 8, 2021
Agoura High School leads all competitors with six finalists in the 2021 Reflections art and music competition. AHS had more finalists than any other high school in a region that includes eight other school districts. Each year more than 10,000 student entries into the artistic...
Tooth be told: dental health
| April 8, 2021
Regular dental cleanings for kids are one of many aspects of people’s lives that have been interrupted over the past year. However, instilling good dental hygiene habits early is still critical in helping ensure long-lasting oral health for a child. Most dental plans cover children...
Squirrel of the Month
| December 3, 2020
OUT OF HIS GOURD— Diane Lind submitted this photo on behalf of her 13-year-old daughter Zoe, an eighth-grader at Lindero Canyon Middle School. Zoe took the picture in the family’s backyard in Agoura Hills. The critter discovered the Halloween jack-o’-lanterns and began feasting on them....
Health
Teens do bling for Bumblebee
| May 13, 2021
Two Agoura High School students used the pandemic to make lemonade out of lemons for some happy bumblebees. Lily Kamen and Brooke Kinomoto, both juniors at AHS, were inspired by videos posted on social media to start a jewelry-making business last summer. They combined their...
Biotech startup gets cash infusion for gene therapy
By Kyle Jorrey
tonewstip@theacorn.com | May 6, 2021
High-profile venture capitalist Beth Seidenberg, recently named to Barron’s list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance along with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, is putting some of her firm’s millions to work right here in the Conejo Valley. Newbury Park-based biotech startup Capsida...
Westminster Free Clinic provides necessities for those in need
By Dawn Megli
dawn@theacorn.com | April 29, 2021
On a recent Wednesday, they started lining up under a gray spring sky at the makeshift medical clinic. Some came one by one. Some came two by two. Others walked up with their arms linked. As volunteers in blue and burgundy scrubs performed intake interviews...
Telehealth doctor visits: here to stay?
By Becca Whitnall
becca@theacorn.com | April 22, 2021
Changes that have come about out of necessity during the pandemic could stay in place for reasons of convenience or economics even after the health crisis passes. Some businesses have said they’ll continue to allow employees to work from home. Even with vaccinations up and...
Sports
Hard rock superstars
BOYS’ BASKETBALL /// Local report
By Eliav Appelbaum
eliav@theacorn.com | May 13, 2021
Basketball went from hopeless to humming within a few months. In January, nobody knew if there’d be a high school boys’ basketball season in California....
Cowboy throws no-hitter
| May 13, 2021
Justin Campbell is the king of the hill. Campbell, a Simi Valley High graduate and pitcher for the Oklahoma State baseball team, threw a no-hitter...
Row, row, row your boat
By Eliav Appelbaum
eliav@theacorn.com | May 6, 2021
Seven rowers walk into a boat. . . . Is that how it starts? Seven athletes from Acorn country, who train with Channel Islands Rowing...
Schools
Local students earn Nat’l Merit scholarships
| May 13, 2021
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the finalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and once again local students scored well. The following...
Civic-minded Calabasas High senior engages the community
By Ian Bradley
ianbradley@theacorn.com | April 22, 2021
The COVID-19 lockdown was a difficult time for everyone, but teens faced a particular challenge in dealing with distance learning. One Calabasas High School student...
Pool rewarded with $5K NHS scholarship
| April 22, 2021
Katelyn Pool was selected to win a $5,625 National Honor Society scholarship. She was chosen from nearly 10,000 applicants. Pool was elected vice chair of...
COLLEGE STANDOUTS
| April 22, 2021
Emma Williams of Oak Park made the fall 2020 dean’s list at San Francisco State University. Amanda Bonavida of Agoura Hills made the fall 2020...
Local school districts grapple with return to standardized testing
By Christina Cox
christina@theacorn.com | April 15, 2021
As students adjust to the return of in-person learning, many will also be asked to sit down and take standardized tests for the first time...
On the Town
Staging ‘Godspell’ takes a miracle
By Maria Cowell
Special to The Acorn | May 13, 2021
Grit. Tenacity. Innovation. That is what it has taken to bring the high school performing arts rendition of “Godspell Jr.” to the stage, even a virtual one. Like every aspect of life, COVID-19 has affected the performing arts, from shutting down Broadway in New York...
Unique love story on livestream
| May 13, 2021
Hillcrest Center for the Arts will present “The Last Five Years” at 8 p.m. Fri. through Sun., May 14 to 16 in outdoor live performances on its patio stage at 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. The production will also be livestreamed at 8 p.m....
A cappella group is driven to sing
By Cary Ginell
originjazz@aol.com | May 6, 2021
Whether you call it “car-cappella” or “carbershop quartet,” the Agoura Hills Harmony Chorus hasn’t let the pandemic stop them from congregating to sing their favorite tunes. The all-female a cappella singing group is one organization that has found a Zoom-free method of rehearsing together, and...
Family-owned Mexican restaurant punches through pandemic plus loss of mother
By Ela Lindsay
eLindsay@theacorn.com | April 29, 2021
The Lopez family has owned and operated their authentic, home-style Mexican restaurant for over 20 years—and that includes surviving the pandemic—barely. Money Pancho has been a fascinating success story since its earliest days, when papa Jorge Lopez, then a young chef at a restaurant in...
Faith
Passover marks a nation under God
By Brian Goldenfeld
Special to The Acorn | March 25, 2021
Passover begins Saturday night March 27 and ends Sun., April 4, but what is Passover? This holiday commemorates the departure of the nation of Israel from Egypt. Pesach marks the...
A faith perspective on good mental health during pandemic
By Christina Cox
christina@theacorn.com | March 25, 2021
From canceled birthday parties to the closure of small businesses, the devastation of the pandemic shaped every aspect of life over the past year. It especially worsened people’s mental health,...
Business
Conejo Valley firm picked for COVID-19 clinical study
By Christina Cox
christina@theacorn.com | May 13, 2021
Trevor Esaki and his team at Millennium Clinical Trials LLC, a Thousand Oaks-based clinical research...
Plans for new Kmart site are revised
By Kyle Jorrey
tonewstip@theacorn.com | May 13, 2021
John Tesoriero’s fixation with the old Kmart property on Hampshire Road began many years ago...
Columns
Wish list for post-COVID senior housing
Andrea Gallagher | April 22, 2021
When asked, I tell friends that if I outlive my husband and have difficulty living independently, I want to move to an assisted-living facility. I’m a person who thrives in the company of others, and a socially isolated life would be lonely and depressing for...
Finding special surprises along the way
Gloria Glasser | April 1, 2021
It’s often said that it’s the little things in life that matter, and living in the age of a big pandemic, it’s a comfort to appreciate those things. I discovered this while visiting my old neighborhood, Westlake Hills in the Westlake portion of Thousand Oaks....
Authors, aging experts share life lessons
Andrea Gallagher | April 1, 2021
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the book “Live Smart After 50: The Experts’ Guide to Life Planning for Uncertain Times” that I co-edited and co-authored with 32 other experts in the field of aging. It was a passion project for a few members...
Shedding off the old burial cloths for new Easter garments
Sally Carpenter | April 1, 2021
It’s the detail in Bible stories that make them fascinating and describe great truths. On Sunday morning, Peter and the beloved disciple ran to Jesus’ tomb. “Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen...
Taking a spring stroll renews the spirit, brings hope
Gloria Glasser | March 25, 2021
In autumn, folks flock to see the fall foliage display, an array of intensely vivid colors that flare gloriously for weeks then drop to the ground, leaving bare, empty, spidery silhouettes. It’s kind of surprising that now that it’s spring, as deciduous trees begin to...
Crime
SHERIFF’S BLOTTER
The Acorn Staff | May 13, 2021
Agoura Hills On May 1 a burglar broke the window of a home on Quail Run Drive, causing $200 in...
