SHUT OUT: A college degree may be...

SHUT OUT: A college degree may be out of reach for a growing number of nonwhite, non-wealthy students because of decreasing public funding, a new study says (A1). . . . “It’s a major concern of mine,” said Joyce Kennedy, director of Cal State Northridge’s Ventura campus. Plus, she said, “as fees escalate, we close the door on many students.” For female students with child-care problems, financial difficulties are compounded, Kennedy said. About a third of Cal State students work 30 hours or more a week to make ends meet.

GO FIGURE: It has garnered national attention, but now an all-female math class in Ventura is the subject of a federal civil-rights inquiry (B4). . . . The investigation could be the death knell for the program: Christine Mikles, the Ventura High School teacher who has championed all-girl math classes, has announced she is moving to Idaho at the end of the school year.

PIER-LESS: Farmers drained water from flooded fields and residents mopped up from this week’s deluge, as Ventura County braced for more rain, predicted for this weekend (B1) . . .. The succession of storms has left the county without its two municipal piers, both battered in high waves. Resident Powell Greenland, who has written a book on Port Hueneme’s history and lives across the street from the pier, missed the spectacle of the pilings being swept out to sea. “I didn’t realize it until I looked out this morning and saw they were working on (the pier),” Greenland said. “It’s obviously going to be laid up for a long time.”

MOMMY TRACK: Actor Peter Scolari, a resident of Ojai, is returning to the small screen with a role in the NBC-TV show “Mommies” . . . Scolari will portray the husband of actress Julia Duffy, his on-screen wife in a previous series, “Newhart” . . .. He’ll have plenty of leeway to create his latest character from scratch: In past episodes, the husband “was talked about but never seen,” an NBC publicist said.