RAIN REDUX: It may have seemed a...

RAIN REDUX: It may have seemed a little early for wet weather Sunday, but in fact, the first rain of the season has fallen in October in three of the past five years. (And in 1989, it came as early as Sept. 16.) There’s a chance of more Wednesday (B1).

PLAYER BOOTED: Gerald Ponder, Cal State Northridge’s starting free safety, has been suspended indefinitely from the football team for “disciplinary reasons,” the school announced. . . . He missed the Matadors’ win Saturday over Nevada Las Vegas, protesting the one-game suspension of teammate Vincent Johnson. While Ponder issued a “no comment” on his suspension, Johnson was back at practice Monday (C8).

START YOUR ENGINES: Honda plans to enter Indy car races next year, becoming the first Japanese car maker to compete in the circuit. . . . The newly established Honda Performance Development Inc. in Santa Clarita will supply a new V-8, turbocharged engine. Honda will team with veteran race driver Bobby Rahal (Valley Business, page 3).

A HIT OR A MISS?: Brooklyn-born character actor Frank Christi was the consummate New York tough guy, but sometimes the lines blurred between his movie and TV roles and reality. . . . Now police are nearing an end to the investigation into his slaying 11 years ago (B1) . . . . Was it an underworld hit or romance gone bad?

ON THE EDGE: Set amid jagged hillsides are the communities of Box Canyon, Chatsworth Lake and Santa Susana Heights. Several hundred residents here straddle the Los Angeles and Ventura County borders, and inevitably there is some confusion because of the different governmental entities that intersect. “Ventura and Los Angeles county building requirements are as different as Kansas and Connecticut,” one realtor said. (Valley Business, page 14.)

Rainy Days

Rainfall figures for first autumn showers in Los Angeles, 1989 to 1993. Sept. 16, 1989: .07 Nov. 19, 1990: .13 Oct. 26, 1991: .37 Oct. 21, 1992: .10 Oct. 11, 1993: .16 Source: National Weather Service