EASY ROCKING: Tragic as the numbers are,...

EASY ROCKING: Tragic as the numbers are, officials say that 40% of the newborn babies sent to the Orangewood Children’s Home show traces of drugs--usually heroin or cocaine--passed on from their mothers. But the Orange Blossom Volunteers, who help raise funds for the children’s home in Orange, have purchased a cradle built just for drug-addicted babies. Says spokeswoman Shelley Westmore: “It comforts newborns experiencing withdrawal symptoms by simulating life in the womb.” The volunteer group is trying to raise funds to buy 10 of the cradles.

ELEPHANT WALK: Here’s a chance for instant stardom for someone: Mike Fenton, casting director for “The Godfather” and “E.T.,” will hold a casting call Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Westminster’s Viet and World Magazine, 14922 Moran St. . . . He wants just one boy--between 11 and 14--for the movie “Operation Dumbo Drop,” to be filmed soon in Thailand. In the movie, the young actor would take control of an elephant in Vietnam. Says a spokeswoman: “We need a smart and brave young man.”

BOX OF MERCEDES? For years, Yvette Berke kept the Walt Disney Co. a leader in recycling. She once put on a Disneyland promotion handing out T-shirts recycled from its drinking cups. . . . Now a consultant based in Newport Beach, she’s spreading the recycling word on her own, even showing corporate leaders how they can help the environment by using paper clips recycled from used car steel. “The corporate world is catching on about recycling,” she says. “But there’s still so much more it could be doing.”

NEWPORT GREEN? It can pay to be environmentally correct. Newport Beach plans to honor local businesses who have a “green attitude”--meaning good environmental programs. . . . City spokesman Ed Hepner says he hopes the new commendations will help businesses learn from each other: “Anybody who has seen all the garbage in the Upper Back Bay knows that a beach city must be sensitive to this issue.”