JAIL BIRDS: Federal wildlife biologists have adopted...

JAIL BIRDS: Federal wildlife biologists have adopted their own law: One strike and you’re out. Biologists have decided to capture the three California condors that recently returned to Ventura County and cage them at the Los Angeles Zoo (B1). . . . Biologists say it’s for their own good. They moved the giant vultures from the Sespe Condor Sanctuary to a more remote spot in Santa Barbara County after four others died of man-made causes. The truant trio, given to perching on power lines, will be held in isolation away from the other 71 condors in captivity.

STABLE SKIES: The death toll continues to mount from the deadly twisters that ripped across the Southeast on Palm Sunday (A22). . . . Local meteorologists said that Ventura County gets an occasional report of a mild tornado, but the moist, cool air from the chilly Pacific dominates our weather and prevents the extreme temperature changes that trigger thunderstorms and tornadoes. “Sometimes we curse the marine layer for all of the fog it brings,” said Rea Strange of Pacific Weather Analysis. “But it also protects us.”

LIVING TREASURE: She is well known as Ojai’s romantic free spirit with wrinkles. Now, Beatrice Wood, the 101-year-old artist and pottery designer, is being honored across the state as a California Living Treasure. . . . Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday awarded Wood for her artistry and her unquenchable spirit. Wood continues her practice of working at least 4 1/2 hours each day with clay. “When you get really old,” Wood said, “the ability to work is a great gift.”

CHANGING TIDE: Clamshell Buildings Inc., which provided movable shelters for U. S. helicopters during the Gulf War, has brought in a new top executive so the co-founders of the Ventura company can go their own ways (Valley Business, Page 12). . . . One co-founder is headed off to Europe, and the other will stay on as a consultant. The company’s new chief executive, Sanford Waddell, is, of course, as happy as a mollusk: “It is the most fun in an office setting I can recall.”