SAME NAMES: Gloria Walker has seen them...

SAME NAMES: Gloria Walker has seen them come and go--the Jessicas, Ashleys, Jennifers and all the other vogue names. At Little Oaks School in Thousand Oaks, where Walker runs the preschool, a surplus of Seans, Kyles, Andrews, Dereks and Amandas can cause confusion. . . . “Parents are coming in with some mod names,” she said: Kass and McKenzie for girls, Kylen and Kai for boys. . . . Preschoolers don’t poke fun at names, she said: “At this age, they accept everything.”

COUP DE GRASS: The caller was anxious. Some suspicious-looking kids were hanging around three overgrown lots in her Oxnard neighborhood, possibly dealing drugs or plotting other crimes. Listening on their weekly cable call-in show Monday, Police Chief Harold Hurtt and spokesman David Keith urged a call to code enforcement about the tall grass. . . . That might prove awkward: The three lots in River Ridge are owned by the city. Keith’s response: “Nothing surprises me.”

SEA MONSTERS: One of the victims suspected a shark attack, but investigators say it may have been a sea lion that bit two swimmers at San Buenaventura State Beach (B1). . . . Lots of sharks--including blues, makos and great whites--ply the waters off Ventura County but rarely bother swimmers, said John McCosker of San Francisco’s Steinhart Aquarium. . . . Exception: two kayakers attacked by a great white off Malibu in 1989. Only one body was found, near Channel Islands Harbor.

JOB OPENING: What with the state’s budget crisis, it may be a while before Ventura County gets any new judgeships. So attorneys are already calling court officials about a commissioner’s job opening in November. The commissioner will hear Municipal and Superior Court cases, mostly at the East County Courthouse. . . . The last time county judges hired a commissioner, 83 attorneys--nearly 10% of the county’s total--sought the job. Pay: $84,400.

Favorite Names

Names most frequently given to newborns in Ventura County*:

GIRLS 1. Jessica 2. Ashley 3. Stephanie 4. Jennifer 5. Amanda

BOYS 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Daniel 4. Jose 5. David

Source: California Dept. of Health Services