GET THE FAITH: For seven years, the...

GET THE FAITH: For seven years, the Orange County Congregation Community Organization--15 congregations and 50,000 families--has pounded the doors of city halls to tackle community issues. The latest push from Costa Mesa members prompted officials to begin leaning on deadbeat landlords to clean up their apartments (B1). “I can assure you, 15 years ago it was wonderful to live here,” says group member Patty Madueno. “Now it is hard to believe. We needed to do something about it.”

BRIEF HUMOR: Lawyer jokes are common these days, but how funny would it be if the lawyers started coming up with their own lines? The off-the-wall theatrical troupe, the Orange County Crazies, has been doing stand-up comedy routines at their Club Crazie at 115 E. Santa Ana Blvd. in Santa Ana. . . . Friday night, the stage will be turned over to lawyers who want to try their hand at stand-up. Says a spokesman: “We’ll even take judges; they can be pretty funny, too.”

COURTSIDE: Legendary UCLA basketball Coach John Wooden, though long retired, still has numerous demands for his time. But he’s agreed to speak on Oct. 12 at the annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in Orange. Reason: Orange Mayor Gene Beyer is a longtime friend. When Beyer coached high school basketball, he asked Wooden to appear at a team banquet. Says Beyer: “He was very responsive to a coach who wasn’t dry behind the ears yet. We’ve been friends for 41 years.”

IT’S A WRAP: Ever since George Lucas studied film at USC, college film schools such as UCLA and USC have been touted as the avenues to success. Now Chapman University wants a share of that. This fall it launches a graduate program that awards a master of fine arts degree in film and television production. Department Chairman Bob Bassett says it will be the same as offered by UCLA and USC: “This county is ideally situated, being in the Hollywood market but not in the Hollywood gridlock.”