DISARMING IDEA: The trouble with those “tickets...

DISARMING IDEA: The trouble with those “tickets (or toys) for guns” programs that have erupted everywhere is that they get the wrong guns, figures L.A. Councilman Joel Wachs. So instead of the carrot, Wachs proposes using the stick--a $600 reward for reporting possessors of illegal guns (B4). . . . Those tickets and toys “go to a lot of people who may have a gun in the closet for 10 years,” he said. “That’s not the kind of gun that is likely to be used in a crime.”

HIKE TO SPAGO: MCA’s attempts to get a Metro Rail stop put next to its CityWalk in Universal City appear doomed. County transportation experts conclude that would delay already advanced plans for a stop nearby by 21 months and boost costs by as much as $41 million--more than the strained budget could tolerate (B1). . . . Final say goes to the MTA.

ICY FEAR: A Canoga Park skater, who was on the ice in a nearby arena when defending women’s champion Nancy Kerrigan was attacked at the U.S. Figure Skating championships in Detroit, says she won’t be looking over her shoulder during the finals today--although nobody would blame her (C10). . . . . “I’m not really worried,” said Natasha Kuchiki, 17 (above). “Some people are a little crazy in the head.”

GOOD EATS: Best restaurants in the Valley will always be a matter of dispute and (ahem) taste, but the 5,200 volunteer Zagat critics name two local spots in the list of Southern California’s 20 most popular: Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas made 16th and the Cheesecake Factory in Woodland Hills 18th.

DECEPTIVE GRACE: He makes it look simple, but very little has been easy for Brooklyn McLinn, CSUN’s basketball team leader and hot scorer (C10). . . . In CSUN’s last eight games, the fifth-year senior averaged 15.5 points, connecting on 24 of 46 shots from three-point range.