SIGN ‘EM UP: Political activists are competing...

SIGN ‘EM UP: Political activists are competing to register the hundreds of newly sworn U.S. citizens who reside in Ventura County (B1). . . . The county’s GOP machine is also revving up to attract this potentially powerful voting bloc. For the first time, it has published a pamphlet that outlines the Republican platform in Spanish, said Bob Larkin, former chairman of the Central Committee. . . . “In Mexico, most people consider themselves conservatives, but when they come to the United States, they register as Democrats. We’re trying to reverse that.”

FOR LIZA’S DAD: When Liza Minnelli belts out show tunes at Thousand Oaks’ Civic Arts Plaza next month, a portion of the proceeds will help send an Italian American student to a school for the performing arts. The National Italian American Foundation’s Vincente Minnelli Scholarship was founded to pay homage to Liza’s late father, a well-known stage and film director. . . . Tickets are still available for the shows Aug. 9 through 12.

DOING D.C.: Thousand Oaks cardiologist Irving K. Loh was among the chosen few asked to attend a recent White House round table on health care reform. . . . “It was a little scary hearing what this Republican Congress is up to,” Loh said. Proposed cuts of $452 billion from Medicare and Medicaid programs are “outrageous,” he said. . . . The day’s high point? Meeting Hillary, Loh said. “She’s always spectacular. She has such a breadth of understanding and eloquence on this issue. . . . She is a model for the way women leaders should be.”

THE WEATHER’S NICE TOO: Thai nationals visiting the Oxnard Plain to learn about water-diversion techniques were impressed with American engineering (B4). . . . But Yawanit Thongpahusatcha, a minister with the Thai Embassy in Washington was even more taken with the county’s residents. . . . “In Washington, they are much more formal. It seems you enjoy life more.”