SAFE NEW YEAR: The long New Year’s...

SAFE NEW YEAR: The long New Year’s weekend isn’t over yet for the California Highway Patrol . . . The CHP’s “maximum enforcement” patrol to catch drunk drivers extends through midnight tonight. . . . Countywide, the number of drunk driving arrests has dropped by about half since 1990. The CHP attributes the decline in part to strict new laws--and the stigma attached to drinking and driving, said CHP spokeswoman Staci Morse. . . . Shrinking resources have also forced the CHP to cut back on the extent of year-end enforcement.

ROOM WITH A VIEW: Golfers who’ve worked up an appetite on Oxnard’s only public course will soon be able to enjoy a full dinner at the clubhouse. . . . The city-owned River Ridge Golf Course is undergoing a make-over, including bigger quarters for the pro shop and renovation of nine of the course holes. By spring, the clubhouse will sport a new banquet room overlooking the lake and the 18th hole. . . . “It’s a magnificent building from the outside,” said course manager Otto Kanny of the facilities. “Inside, it was a little dysfunctional.” The City Council approved the $200,000 project in October.

READY TO WORK: Newly elected Ventura County supervisors Judy Mikels and Frank Schillo will be sworn into office this week (B1). . . . The veteran east county politicians share a common passion: They’re eager to get to work. . . . “To me, going flat out from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at night--that’s good,” Schillo said.

TOUGH COMMUTE: Riding Metrolink is an admirable way to try to curb smog and traffic congestion . . . but many commuters drive their cars to the train station--and still contribute to the smog problem. Charging a parking fee at Metrolink lots may encourage commuters to forsake their cars for bicycles. . . . Which raises another question, said Randy Rogers of Thousand Oaks’ Single Track Mountain Bike Club: “What percentage of people are even physically fit enough to ride their bikes to work?”

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Under the Influence

Annual drunk-driving arrest by the California Highway Patrol in Ventura County: 1994: 1,593* 1993: 1,883 1992: 2,496 1991: 2,945 1990: 3,264 * through November

Source: California Highway Patrol