BABY-SITTING FEES: Huntington Beach wants to strike...

BABY-SITTING FEES: Huntington Beach wants to strike back at parents who let their youngsters hang around downtown past the city’s 10 p.m. juvenile curfew. The Police Department is researching a possible “baby-sitting fee” for parents whose children are detained during curfew sweeps. . . . Says Councilman Ralph Bauer: “It appears (the city) is being asked to do baby-sitting, so we should charge a fee for that service.”

GROWING PAINLESS: You’ve got until June 16 to browse at Newport Beach’s Center Library. After that, it becomes a part of the Newport Harbor Art Museum complex. Then it’s almost a month of moving time before the new Central Library opens at 1000 Avocado Ave. . . . Some comparisons: The old library was 14,000 square feet; the new one 54,000. The old library has 135,000 books and other items--the new one will have room for 260,000. “We won’t have that many for a long time,” says spokesman Tom Johnson. “But at least we’ll have room to grow.”

NEW TURF: His campaign to legalize drugs has made Superior Court Judge James P. Gray unpopular with some colleagues. But it’s spurred community interest in him. . . . He’s commencement speaker today for the law class graduation at Western State University in Fullerton. . . . But Gray has already said he won’t make his drug campaign his subject. Instead, he plans to advise graduates to get involved in social issues as they pursue their legal careers.

POST-PARTRIDGE: Nickleodeon is still showing reruns with singer-actress Shirley Jones as the “Partridge Family” mom. Since those days, she’s spent much of her time on the concert stage. But it’s not the Orange County Performing Arts Center that’s bringing her here today. . . . . It’s a truck show. Jones is top celebrity at the “Keep on Trucking” working truck show at Anaheim Stadium today. Her props: Nearly one thousand big rigs will be on display.