LIQUID ASSETS: Saving water in Southern California...

LIQUID ASSETS: Saving water in Southern California is the same as saving money. . . . . That’s one of the ideas behind Calleguas Municipal Water District’s new water reclamation project, which will take treated sewage water from Oak Park and use it to water parks in the east Ventura County community (B4). Said Calleguas manager Don Kendall: “Drought-proofing counts for a lot economically, but it’s also the right thing to do.”. . . Total cost of the Oak Park project: $1.1 million.

GOOD WILL: The Oxnard Peace Officers Assn. has donated the nearly $13,000 raised from its 1993 Christmas tree lot to the families of four people killed during a shooting rampage last year at the local unemployment office. One of the victims was Police Detective James E. O’Brien. . . . Proceeds usually go to help pay for youth programs, Officer Bill Lewis said. “But this year, the membership decided to tighten its belt and donate the profits to the victims’ families.”

COMEBACK KID: Softball slugger Tricia Polhert of the Royal High School Highlanders was batting a team high .415 when she suffered a broken ankle in April, causing her to miss the final eight games (C8). . . . But Polhert is better now and will be among 30 seniors featured in an all-star softball game at Cal State Northridge today. Polhert said she is determined to make a strong showing. “It’s . . . my last chance to show I’m a good player.”

DOING TIME: Actress Mary Steenburgen and Democratic Assembly candidate Mindy Lorenz will both play jail birds at the Ojai Valley Inn on Thursday. The two are among a group of volunteers who have agreed to do time as part of a mock lockup to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.’s summer camps program. Each of the volunteers will be asked to raise $500 “bail money.” Coordinator Sanford Fox said the fund-raisers have proven very successful: “As of April, lockup programs have raised $2.5 million nationwide.”. . . In March, a similar effort in Ventura raised $5,000.