NIXON TRIBUTE: While President Clinton eulogizes his...

NIXON TRIBUTE: While President Clinton eulogizes his predecessor at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda today, sympathizers can sign a condolence book at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (B1). The Reagan library will be closed today like other federal offices. But the lobby remains open for those who want to join the 2,500 well-wishers who have penned missives in the book to be sent to Nixon’s family. “Your father did make a difference,” a Camarillo woman wrote.

HUNGRY PICKETS: Ventura County Teamsters are planning a food drive for truck drivers who have spent three weeks on the picket line. . . . About 110 local Teamsters have joined the nationwide strike over freight companies’ plans to hand more work to part-timers and ship more by rail. Strikers get $200 a week from the union, but lose health benefits this weekend. “We’re preparing for the long term,” said the union’s Dennis Shaw. “We’re going to start collecting foods to sustain our picketers.”

CERAMIC SENTRY: Sea gulls used to mob McAuliffe School, an elementary school near the beach in Oxnard. . . . They’d deposit their droppings on parked cars, the school’s roof, the sidewalk. Parents complained of guano gumming up stroller wheels. Students were squeamish about sticky shoes. “We were desperate,” said Principal Paul Kirk. So he turned to psychological warfare. He bought some ceramic owls, feared hunters in the bird world, and placed them strategically on light poles. Says Kirk: “The problem has dropped dramatically.”

LESSON PLAN: Promoters of “Take Our Daughters to Work” day expect millions of participants tomorrow (D1). . . . The core idea is simple: Advance the cause of women in the workplace by expanding the horizons of young girls. Now Metrolink wants to add a message. It’s offering a free ride to children of paying adults as a way to teach good commuting habits. Says Metrolink Chairman Larry Walker: “Kids need to understand that driving to work alone is not an example we should perpetuate.”