SLOW GROWTH: Property values keep taking a...

SLOW GROWTH: Property values keep taking a battering in Orange County. Newly released figures by the State Board of Equalization show that of California’s 58 counties, only one--tiny Lassen--had a worse percentage-growth rate in assessed property values for the current fiscal year. . . . Lassen, at minus 2.4%, was the state’s only county with a decrease. Orange County, with a minuscule 0.1% growth rate, was next from the bottom.

MAD NOW: The Bayview chapter of the National Organization for Women is upset with last week’s acquittal of Virginia’s John Bobbitt. He was charged with sexually assaulting his wife, who soon will be tried for cutting off his penis. The local NOW group fired off a press release: “We don’t want to talk to anyone except women, we’re so mad. . . . We are sick of hearing about women hating men when it is clearly men who hate women in this society. We are disgusted that men are not ashamed.”

DANCING IN 3-D: Sylvia Turner, chair of Rancho Santiago College’s dance department, had a big role in the splashy, three-dimensional, laser-infused film visitors can see in Las Vegas’ new Luxor Hotel. Turner provided the choreography and some of the dance steps needed by the computer animators who put together “In Search of the Obelisk,” a fantasy show. . . . Says Turner: “I loved doing it. You had to draw on all kinds of dance experiences.” One of the producers was a Chapman University graduate familiar with her work.

WET SAFES: Some pool sellers are quick to use the Laguna Beach fire in their latest promotions. Many homes were saved by firefighters using pool water to pour on houses. Aquanetic Pools & Spas in Laguna Hills suggests another use for pools: Throw valuables in the pool when you don’t have time to pack them as the fire approaches. “They’ll sink to the bottom,” a spokesman says, “and when the fire comes and goes, you can retrieve the irreplaceable, precious items.”