COUNTRY BOY: Country singer Merle Haggard, best...

COUNTRY BOY: Country singer Merle Haggard, best known for the 1969 anthem “Okie From Muskogee,” will perform at the Civic Arts Plaza tonight (F1A). . . . But Haggard’s no Okie--he was born and raised in Bakersfield and now lives in Mount Shasta. This is his first time at the Civic Arts Plaza, but he’s no stranger to the county. “I’ve been mining this area for 30 years now, and most of the towns up and down the California coast are old hotbeds for me,” he says.

STREET SCENE: When the 19th annual Ventura Holiday Street Festival kicks off Sunday morning (F1B), Faye Campbell will be at the helm, as she has for the last 18. . . . Campbell expects about 40,000 browsers to turn out, the same as last year. The biggest change over the years has been in the types of crafts for sale, she says. “When we started, it was all macrame and hand-thrown pottery--popular things of the ‘70s. . . . Now it’s all what I call country cute--ducks and geese and cows and dried-flower wreaths.”

TEAM SPIRIT: He’d gotten the national notice, now it was time for some local action. So Hueneme High School celebrated Ronney Jenkins Day on Wednesday, complete with bands, pep squad and politicos. . . . Ronney, a senior running back who just set a national rushing record, recognized grandmother Jean Cobbs, who has raised him for the last four years. Cobbs, in turn, said later that the rally was “not all about Ronney. It’s about his team. Without his team, he couldn’t have done any of this.”