THREE STRIKES: The state Senate has approved...

THREE STRIKES: The state Senate has approved a version of the “three strikes and you’re out” bill aimed at imprisoning repeat offenders (A1). . . . The bill proposes mandatory life sentences for third-time felons who have committed two prior serious crimes. It goes next to Gov. Pete Wilson, who has said he will sign it. . . . Some prosecutors, including Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, prefer a different bill that does not count juvenile convictions. The Senate-approved bill “has some potential flaws,” Bradbury said. “But it’s certainly better than nothing.”

DETAILS, DETAILS: Carpentry students from Newbury Park High School have been hammering away on a replica of the first school in the area (B4). . . . They’re just about done with the one-room remake of Timber School. To make sure that they have it right, they asked former student Margaret Bartel, now 78, to take a look. Good thing they did. . . . Bartel, who graduated in the 1920s, suggested a change: a wall dividing the cloakroom into boy-girl sections. “I’m pretty sure that’s the way it was,” she said.

GAME PLAN: Buena High School senior Michelle Giordano will lead the Bulldogs tonight when the team takes on Mater Dei in the Southern Section Division I-A final at Ventura College (C8). . . . Last year, Giordano sank the winning free throws at the buzzer in the division championship against Thousand Oaks. She’s up for the challenge again. . . . “I love big games like this,” she said.

ON A CURVE: In a new design trend, cars, furniture and other items that once were boxy now are curved (E1). . . . Rounded corners grace everything from boomboxes to TV remote controls. But not everyone is going for the look. . . . “Rectilinear shapes are still very strong in architecture,” said Catherine Wilson, president of the Ventura County chapter of the American Institute of Architects. “Trendiness tends not to be as popular with forms of design that will be in the community for years to come.”