Ventura County Star Videos: Business

Kookie cookies made fresh

A create-your-own-kookie retail franchise opens in the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks.

Tomandote for Everyone

Frank Ruvalcaba created a tea drink that reminded him of what his grandmother used to make. The small company, started in the family’s Moorpark home, has taken off and could hit $3 million in sales this year. Most weekends, Ruvalcaba and family can be found out at the various stores that sell the bottled tea talking people into trying some.

Wellness Expo

The Rewards of Wellness Expo at the Ventura YMCA offered resources for worksite wellness programs as part of an effort to encourage such programs among the county''s employers.

Ocean Rescue TV

Crawford, along with a friend and the owners of Channel Watch Marine, started shooting many of the ocean rescues the company does nearly every day and has launched a Web site capturing the drama.

Adjusting to the economy

Rising prices and a weakening economy have changed people’s behavior. Consumers talk about how they have changed their driving, shopping and other habits to try to stretch their dollars further.

Armoring up for war

Glenn Harris has gone from a champion off-road racer to a major defense contractor by transforming his knowledge of building and driving trucks able to withstand harsh tracks through the desert into ideas that armor military vehicles against the harsh tests of war. His Oxnard-based company, Southern California Gold Products, now "up-armors" trucks, humvees and construction vehicles for the Navy''s Seabees.

New breed of characters

Sparky Greene, a writer and film producer from Malibu, has created a fantasy universe with his new graphic novel, "Age of Insects: Not Human." He recently opened an office in Ventura.

Changing oil

How often do you change your oil? The state Integrated Waste Management Board suggests some people may be changing theirs more often than necessary. We check with some local drivers on how often they change their car’s oil and why they stick to that routine.

Truckers feel the pinch

Motorists are feeling sticker shock at the pump, but it''s even more of a struggle for truck drivers shelling out over $4 a gallon for their gas-guzzling tractor-trailers that average just 5 or 6 miles per gallon.

Shoppers target new store

Target opened a new store at the Pacific View mall in Ventura. With 220,000-square-foot of retail space on two floors, the store drew more than 1,000 shoppers Tuesday night.

'Fresh & Easy' store opens in Simi

Simon Uwins, of Fresh &Easy Neighorhood Markets, gives the Star a tour of their newly opened store in Simi Valley. The store opened in a shopping center at the corner of Alamo and Tapo streets.

Clearing Out the Clutter

Combatting clutter is a $6 billion industry, and growing rapidly as people try to simplify hectic lifestyles. Teine Kenney, founder of organizethis Inc. in Newbury Park, started her business in 2004 and finds peace in removing chaos.

Eco-friendly vessel

Georgia Highway, a new ship operated by “K” Line, has new features that make it more environmentally friendly than ships of the past, such as a triple hull that helps prevent oil leaks and silicone paint on its hull that makes it harder for organisms to clutch onto the ship, keeping invasive species from stowing away to another port. The car carrier came through the Port of Hueneme on its maiden voyage.

Woman struggles to finish home

Mariam Edgar has spent five long years building a modest hillside home on Acacia Road in Newbury Park. Many obstacles have pushed the cost of the project beyond budget. Now that its finally almost complete, she might lose the house before having the chance to live there.

Purifying drinking water

Puretec Industrial Water in Oxnard provides systems that let companies purify the water they use beyond what is found in regular drinking water. This is helpful for industries as diverse as computer chip manufacturers and soft drink companies. Systems can include a range of different filtering steps, including reverse osmosis and deionization to get all of the dissolved minerals out of the water.

Happy to own

Mark and Marianne Moise bought a home in Camarillo in May. Mark works for the city of Oxnard, and Marianne is a nurse. The couple grew up in Ventura County and wanted to buy a home here. They were able to get a fixed-rate loan through a first-time homebuyer program that helped in that endeavor, but have still had to make some sacrifices to pay the bills.

Grading customer service

Local shoppers talk about today''s customer service experiences.

Organic earth walls

The McGrath Family Farms is using white tubes with a mixture of earth, cement and water to build a sound wall and ornamental planters along their property in Camarillo.

Welcome to the AlloSphere

The AlloSphere Research Facility brings together science and art to allow researchers to see and hear the data they''re working with -- even if that data represents something infinitesimally small or uncomprehendingly large.<br><br> The facility, located at the California NanoSystems Institute at UC Santa Barbara, is a 30-foot diameter sphere built within an echo-free cube to create an immersive experience for those who step inside. During a recent energy conference, attendees had a chance to see what the AlloSphere has to offer.

3-D doctoring

TrueVision Systems Inc., a Santa Barbara company, is bringing high-definition 3D technology from the theater to the operating room. By wearing special glasses, doctors and others working in the operating room can observe the surgery in 3D. The screens bring a new dimension to teaching residents and sharing new procedures.