BRIEFLY; VENTURA COUNTY FIRE SEASON ENDS.

VENTURA - County officials called a formal end Wednesday to the fire season, which had been extended from mid-November by a warm, dry winter.

Officials said two engines will be dispatched to reports of brush fires, down from five engines, a helicopter, bulldozer and hand crew; one engine will respond to grass fire calls.

The Ventura County Fire Department responded to 153 brush and grass fires in 1999, including 24 in December. In 1998, it responded to 126 fires, including five in December.

- Daily News

RESIDENTS MAY BE PART OF STUDY

VENTURA - Thousands of randomly selected Ventura County residents will be asked to participate in a health study being conducted by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials said Wednesday.

The subjects will be asked to participate in an in-home interview and make visits to a mobile examination center, participating physicians and to a dentist from January through March. The CDC will not accept unsolicited volunteers.

Agency officials said other studies have already shown that Ventura County residents have lower-than-average death rates related to stroke, diabetes and heart disease. But locals have higher-than-average mortality rates from conditions such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.

Public health officials, lawmakers and physicians are expected to use the test results to develop health policies, programs and services.

- Daily News

MAN BEING HELD IN INVESTIGATION

OJAI - A 40-year-old Ojai man was being held Wednesday in lieu of $500,000 bail after his arrest on 50 counts of committing lewd acts with a minor, authorities said.

Jose Luis Paz-Ferrar was taken into custody on suspicion of assaulting a 17-year-old boy, who told police he was 15 when the incidents began.

The suspect was arrested about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after police saw him approach another teen-age boy, authorities said. Paz-Ferrar tried to run away, but was apprehended.

- Daily News

GRANTS FUNDING INTERNET ACCESS

VENTURA - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded the Ventura County Library with two grants totaling $96,200 to improve Internet access, officials said Wednesday.

One grant of $60,550 will allow expanded computer access at Avenue Library and E.P. Foster Library in Ventura; Fillmore and Piru libraries; Ray D. Prueter Library in Port Hueneme; Saticoy Library; and the Ventura County Historical Museum Library.

The second grant of $35,650 will fund a regional training lab at the E.P. Foster Library, providing Internet access and a resource for staff and customer computer training.

- Daily News

WARNING ISSUED TO BUSINESSES

SANTA PAULA - Local businesses are being warned to look out for counterfeit checks drawn on an closed account of the Santa Paula Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, police said.

Several counterfeit checks were cashed in December in Santa Paula and Oxnard, police said.

- Daily News

AGENCY IS HIRED TO COLLECT FINES

VENTURA - The city has hired a private collection agency to go after 12,000 people who haven't paid their parking tickets. And there are more than 1 million reasons why.

Up to 15 percent of the parking tickets issued by city traffic officers go unpaid each year with more than $1 million uncollected in the past six years.

The city hired Westlake Village-based Collectech Systems, which handles collections for 52 other cities in the state, to recoup the money. If a 45 percent collection rate is reached, as expected, Collectech will get a $300,000 fee.

Letters will tell violators that an unpaid ticket could be reported to credit rating services as unpaid debts, said police Lt. Don Arth.

-- Associated Press