SIMI VALLEY

Following an announcement last week that he will run for the 19th state Senate District seat next year, Jim Dantona stepped down Tuesday from a task force reviewing the Simi Valley Landfill expansion.

Headed by Councilwoman Barbra Williamson in a non-official role, the Simi Valley Landfill Expansion Task Force has been called a politically motivated group by some city officials, although members say the task force's purpose is simply to investigate impacts of the proposed expansion.

"Now that I am a candidate for the state Senate, I do not wish for the good work of Council Member Williamson's task force to be politicized by my continued involvement," Dantona said in a news release.

Dantona, 59, was an outspoken opponent of the landfill's plans for expansion during his campaign last year for a county Board of Supervisors seat.

The task force has been in place since April.

Dantona, who calls himself a centrist Democrat, is running for a Senate district that includes southern Santa Barbara County and all of Ventura County except Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula and Fillmore. The district is now represented by Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, who will be termed out in 2008 unless an initiative on the February ballot passes.

VENTURA COUNTY

Basketball game to help family of slain boy

Heartbroken by the killing of 6-year-old Sev'n Molina of Newbury Park and the brutal attack on his mother, Vicki Shepherd and others decided they had to help the family.

With the help of friend Ann Thickey, sheriff's Deputy Joe Evans, April Guerrero of the Ventura County Firefighters Association and Kim Allred of Amgen, where Sev'n's mother, Sandra Ruiz, worked, Shepherd has organized a charity basketball game to raise money for the family.

A team of sheriff's deputies will square off at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at Newbury Park High School against a team of Ventura County firefighters. Also on the court that night will be Charles White, a former NFL running back who won the 1979 Heisman trophy while playing at USC. White will play the first half with the sheriff's deputies and join the team of firefighters in the second half, Shepherd said.

All money raised at the game, which includes a raffle, will go toward the Sandra Ruiz Family Assistance Fund established by the Ventura County District Attorney's Crime Victims Assistance Program.

Tickets for the game are $10 each. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.sandraruizfamilyfund.org.

OXNARD

Carpinteria man pleads guilty to stabbing wife

A Carpinteria man, accused of stabbing his wife in Oxnard after crashing his car into hers, pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder.

Fermin Garcia Alcantar, who is in custody, is facing up to 15 years in prison for the Feb. 26, 2006, attack. He will be sentenced Oct. 3.

Alcantar, 31, admitted to using a deadly weapon — a knife — and causing great bodily injury to Nancy Alcantar. The two are getting a divorce, said his lawyer, Moises Vazquez of Santa Barbara.

Witnesses told police that Alcantar was driving on Saviers Road about 11:30 a.m., pulled up next to his wife's car and told her to stop. When she refused, he pulled ahead and their cars collided.

They got out of their cars and argued in the street, and he stabbed her several times, police said.

Also on Tuesday, Alcantar's younger brother, Lionel Alcantar, pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the same incident.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kevin McGee said Lionel Alcantar, 27, will be sentenced Oct. 2. He is facing up to four years in prison.

Lionel Alcantar's lawyer, Victor Salas, said his client used a knife to keep at bay a man who was with Nancy Alcantar. Lionel Alcantar then handed his brother the knife, which he used to stab Nancy Alcantar, said Salas.

SANTA PAULA

City sets emergency preparedness event

Santa Paula will hold a public gathering Saturday to help prepare residents for emergencies.

At the daylong event, participants will learn proper food- and water-storage techniques, pet first aid and more.

The Santa Paula Citizen Corps, a group with members from private and public sectors of the community, will present the emergency preparedness event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Harding Park, 1300 E. Harvard Blvd.

Firefighters, search-and-rescue workers and other emergency personnel will give demonstrations and examples of planning for an emergency or natural disaster.

The event will also include children's activities, including a fire hose competition and safety tips.

For more information, visit www.ReadySantaPaula.com.

— From staff reports