AIMING LOW: The local American Cancer Society...

AIMING LOW: The local American Cancer Society chapter says more than 80% of smokers start before age 18. No surprise, then, that teens are a primary target in this year’s anti-smoking campaign (E1). . . . The old health warnings have been jettisoned in favor of an attack on smoking’s “glamorous” advertising image. A survey recently released shows that a third of the county’s student-age smokers did so because they thought it was “cool.”

GOOD DAY FOR HER: Collene Campbell of San Juan Capistrano has known tragedy--her son Scott and her brother, racing entrepreneur Mickey Thompson, were murdered in separate incidents. She remembers her brother telling her 14 years ago: Someday you’ll be the first woman mayor in San Juan Capistrano’s history. She became the first at Tuesday’s council meeting. Campbell will think of Thompson when she takes the oath Dec. 7. That’s her brother’s birthday.

CHIEF PRIORITY: How many times do you get the chance to sit down face-to-face with your chief of police? In Fullerton, Police Chief Patrick McKinley is planning to make public forums a monthly event. The chief, who took over in February, will hold his first town hall to hear public concerns tonight at 7, at the Valencia Community Center. He will also take private appointments. . . . McKinley jokes he won’t be hard to spot. For convenience, he shaves his head bald: “I was before Michael Jordan and all of them.”

FAMOUS FACES: Supervisor Thomas F. Riley may be familiar to most in Orange County. But when a group of high school students were asked at Tuesday’s meeting to stand next to their own supervisor, one Newport Beach high school senior had to be nudged in Riley’s direction. “I thought your name sounded familiar,” the embarrassed senior said. . . . The supervisors praised the high school group for their participation in a national anti-drug, anti-gang forum.

Junior Smokers

Nearly one-fourth of the county’s fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders combined are already smoking:

5th* 8th** 11th** Male 10.3% 12.0% 18.4% Female 7.6% 9.5% 16.0%

* Have ever smoked at least one cigarette

** Smoked one or more cigarettes during the previous week

Source: Orange County Department of Education