LESS IS MUCH: It may be the...

LESS IS MUCH: It may be the difference between awful and just bad, but the air in the San Fernando Valley has gotten cleaner since 1980, along with air throughout the Los Angeles Basin. . . . Air quality officials attribute the trend in part to controls on industry and autos. See Valley Briefing (B5).

STAR BUCKS: Reports that President Clinton has decided to proceed with construction of an orbiting space laboratory (A1) could foretell good news for Rocketdyne in Canoga Park. . . . The orbiting lab would use solar power technology already developed for the controversial space station Freedom by a team that Rocketdyne headed.

WHAT FATE AWAITS: A 60-year-old Burbank movie set, the Western street where Gary Cooper faced death alone in “High Noon” and Lee Marvin reeled drunkenly in “Cat Ballou,” faces its own lonely death today--when the bulldozers come to town (F16). . . . Warner Bros. says that due to increased production, it needs the land on its Burbank Studio Ranch for a parking lot and storage facilities.

STAMP STOMP: Fans will honor Pacoima-born rocker Ritchie Valens from 1 to 3 p.m. today at the Pacoima Post Office, 13507 Van Nuys Blvd., celebrating issuance of a stamp bearing his likeness. Valens, one of the first rock legends (“La Bamba,” “Donna”), died 34 years ago at the age of 17 in an Iowa plane crash, along with Buddy Holly and J. P. (The Big Bopper) Richardson. He is included in a book of stamps that also commemorates Holly, Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Otis Redding and Dinah Washington.

CITY LIMITS: Los Angeles Mayor-elect Richard Riordan’s transition team members may visit L. A., but they wouldn’t want to live there. More than half live outside the city (B1). . . . The panel has as many members from Pasadena as from the San Fernando Valley--the source of Riordan’s strongest support.

Smog Check

Nearly a third of the Los Angeles Basin’s smog comes from power plants, industries, homes and consumer products. Motor vehicles: 70% Stationary sources: 30% Source: AQMD