CLINTON’S SPIN: Local news media gathered at...

CLINTON’S SPIN: Local news media gathered at Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange on Thursday to hear White House officials--via satellite--sell the President’s health plan. But CHOC staff and parents of patients listened intently as well. . . . Vickie Dimitruck of Irvine, whose 13-year-old daughter, Ashley, suffers from systemic lupus, worried that the Clinton plan might reduce her daughter’s access to specialists, since it would expand the role of primary care physicians. . . . “Under that plan, we might not have the option of keeping our doctors,” she said.

PRE-GRIDLOCK: Here’s a Southern California fantasy for you: You’re on the freeway and there’s not a car in sight. . . . The people who run the 3.2-mile Foothill Corridor tollway--opening Oct. 17 near the Alton and Portola parkways--are offering you a chance to play on the hardtop. The day before cars take over, you can pay from $12 to $20 and run all the way from a 1-K to a half marathon.

OLD FRIENDS: Carl’s Jr. founder Carl N. Karcher, above, set aside his bitter differences with his own president, Donald E. Doyle, long enough to accept a “Pioneer of the Year” award from a food service operator’s group in Los Angeles this week. . . . Some guests may not have known a feud was on. Not only was Doyle present, but a videotape about the 76-year-old Karcher, whose fast food company is based in Anaheim, included past kind words from Doyle and other company executives.

SIBLING FASHION: Holly Sharp has a national reputation for the femininity of her women’s line (E3), but she isn’t the only clothes expert in the family. Her brother is Shawn Stussy, known internationally for his surf and street wear designs. Both are from Corona del Mar. . . . Says Sharp: “I remember so vividly these outrageous outfits Shawn would make in high school. He was into glam and would disappear every weekend up to Hollywood. I wanted to make versions of his clothes for me.”