LONG ABSENTEES: They’ll be going to the...

LONG ABSENTEES: They’ll be going to the polls in Irvine on April 26, but it takes exclusive qualifications to vote in this election. South Africa will let its citizens living in the U.S. vote in its intense general election that day. Irvine City Hall was selected locally for its centralized location. . . . The county’s South African population numbers about 3,000. Says one Irvine South African: “Everybody I know plans to be there. We’re quite excited.”

YOUNG & ITALIAN: If you’re at Carmelo’s Ristorante in Corona del Mar this afternoon, you’ll get a surprise at how young the waiters are. And the hostesses. And the cooks. . . . They’re all from nearby Corona del Mar High School, and owner Carmelo Manto will turn his dining room over to them. Manto says it’s so “the youngsters can do something fun and get a behind-the-scenes-look at the restaurant business.” The students see another bonus: The school gets to keep the profits from its two-hour stint.

IMAGINE TIME: If you think art means anything from finger painting to full orchestration, the county’s Department of Education and the Orange County Performing Arts Center say they’ve got the thing for you. They call it Imagination Celebration. It starts Saturday. After that it runs April 23-May 1, nearly 40 art-related events countywide. . . . You’ll see a lot of the poster by Heather Wilson, 17, of El Modena High, who won its contest with her idea that imagination is a world where “animals can fly a plane.”

STARTING EARLY: Would you go to a college student to help you with something as complicated as exports or real estate? Liang Meng, 21, a Chapman University senior, isn’t your average student. A straight A scholar, he’s built an impressive list of clients who pay for his investment advice--including some of the university’s own trustees. The past week he was named Chapman’s outstanding business and economics student. Says Meng, a native of Shanghai: “The faculty here really pays attention to the students.”