WALK FOR VICTIMS: Dozens of victims’ rights...

WALK FOR VICTIMS: Dozens of victims’ rights advocates will don walking shoes at noon Tuesday for a stroll around the Ventura County Government Center. They’ll walk about a mile in recognition of National Victims’ Rights Week . . . and to raise cash for a fund that helps crime victims countywide. Last year, walkers raised about $4,000 to assist 9,130 people through the Victim Services Division of the district attorney’s office. “We want to remind people that crime has a very devastating impact on people’s lives,� said Assistant Dist. Atty. Colleen Toy White.

NATURE AND NURTURE: A Los Angeles-based group wants to make sure Ventura County’s miles of sweeping shoreline and acres of national forest aren’t taken for granted . . . especially by children (Voices, B10). Nursery Nature Walks provides wilderness education programs for children, their parents, teachers and other nature lovers who want to escape the madding pace of urban life, if just for a day.

STUBBORN SEED: Profuse and defiantly yellow, the blooms covering Ventura County’s rolling hills are seen by some as a harbinger of spring in Southern California. But to parks officials, the sight of mustard plants is anything but welcome (B1). . . . Officials have tried for years to get rid of the non-native plants using controlled burns, but the resilient plant springs right back. Some observers say the efforts are futile. “You can do what you want to mustard,� naturalist Milt McAuley said. “But next year, it’s going to come back.�

MEMORABLE DAY: Volunteers in Ojai are busy planning the city’s most ambitious Memorial Day celebration ever. The May 28 event at Nordhoff High School will feature a flyover of vintage aircraft, a fireworks display and a performance by the Shirelles, a trio of female singers whose hits--such as “Soldier Boy�--topped the charts in the ‘50s and ‘60s. . . . After a decades-long hiatus, Memorial Day observances were revived in Ojai three years ago. “It’s really just growing,� said organizer Barbara Ortis.