MOUSE RESEARCH: Was Walt Disney, creator of...

MOUSE RESEARCH: Was Walt Disney, creator of Mickey and Donald, an FBI informant? So said a book that drew a tornado of publicity. Now the Disney family, citing its own documents and sources, has counterattacked (F1). Said Diane Disney Miller, the surviving daughter: “The article went beyond the ordinary stuff. . . . It was just something we couldn’t let stand.”

OUT OF PRINT: From browsers to deep researchers, from video-renters to lovers of the classics, the notices hit library users like a grenade: Nine libraries in northern L.A. County are among 43 targeted for closure because of state budget woes (B1). . . . Especially hard-hit could be readers in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. Their nearest library might be 40 miles away.

HANGING ON: Teledyne said this week it will lay off 1,200 workers, including 500 in Southern California, raising questions about the company’s Valley employees. . . . The giant defense firm won’t disclose the fate of the roughly 1,500 workers at Teledyne Systems in Northridge, but they might be able to breathe easier at this news: Teledyne will rename it Teledyne Electronic Systems and make it the headquarters for two other divisions.