GO WITH THE FLOW: Maybe local commuters...

GO WITH THE FLOW: Maybe local commuters won’t let the new detour on Main Street in Santa Ana (B1) bother them that much. A recent study released by the county’s Transportation Authority shows they are more likely anyway than neighboring commuters to find alternative roads when their regular commute route is jammed. . . . Says Vicki Mendez of Orange, who uses Main Street daily: “You never know when a street is going to be closed. Worrying about it doesn’t accomplish much.”

CASUAL ATTENTION: Anaheim Councilman Frank Feldhaus dressed casually when he went to his office Tuesday morning, unaware he would be in the national spotlight. His published comments that Anaheim panhandlers should be required to purchase city business licenses led to calls from talk shows in New York City, San Francisco and from the national TV networks. . . . “Because of this I had to go home and change,” said Feldhaus. “I was surprised by all of the attention.”

NO KIDDING: Even youngsters are feeling the pinch in this tough economy. The hands-on Children’s Museum at La Habra has had to raise admission prices to keep its programs running. Youngsters must now pay $3.50--$1 more--to enter the county’s only children’s museum. Senior citizens got bumped 50 cents too. . . . “It is still very cheap,” says museum spokeswoman Melissa Banning, “the cheapest one around.”

CLASS ACTS: If you’re worried that your teen-age freshman won’t wind up with a degree, UC Irvine has encouraging news. A new study shows that the number of freshmen who go on to graduate has jumped from 49% to 68% since 1978. And they’re doing it in about the same amount of time too, generally 13 quarters. . . . And this, says a spokeswoman, ‘despite lingering assumptions that students are taking longer to earn degrees and fewer students are graduating.”

Commuter Mazes

Rather than sit in traffic, Orange County residents are more likely to seek alternative routes to work when their usual paths are jammed. Orange County: 72% Los Angeles County: 62% San Bernardino County: 62% Ventura County: 60% Riverside County: 57% Source: Orange County Transportation Authority