STREET SMARTS: For the first time since...

STREET SMARTS: For the first time since 1933, the state has some surprises in its driver’s test. Prepare to take a spin on the freeway, or properly navigate your car into a space in a parking lot. . . . Although the DMV is giving the new test across much of Southern California, it’ll be another year before it pops up in Ventura County. With heavy traffic and more wackos on the road, the DMV hopes it’ll improve safety. “We are trying to make the test more relative to current conditions,” says regional manager John Raymond.

UNITED THEY BUY: To pare costs, United Airlines is being sold to its employees (A1). Pilots, ground crews and office workers will give up billions of dollars in wages and benefits for a majority share of the company. . . . The purchase should not affect United Express, one of the two airlines that service Oxnard Airport. United Express is owned by Mesa Airlines, which has a contract to fly into Oxnard. “Nothing is going to change,” said John Reber, a United Express agent. “Seven flights daily to Los Angeles.”

HIT THE TRAIL: Ron Blakemore has a plan to preserve at least a sliver of Ventura County’s natural splendor: He’s developed a latticework of more than 200 miles of off-road trails that would crisscross the county (B4). . . . Even if urban sprawl gobbles up most of the remaining open space, hikers, bikers and equestrians could trek from Simi Valley to the Santa Barbara County line. . . . Blakemore publicly unveils his plans tonight in Simi Valley.

RISKY BUSINESS: Sheriff Larry Carpenter gets lots of money from the county supervisors, including most of the windfall from the Proposition 172 half-cent sales tax. . . . But on Tuesday, Carpenter threw his support behind the cities’ demands for a portion of the tax windfall (B1). “I cannot believe Carpenter is doing this,” said Supervisor Maggie Kildee. Five of those cities pay the sheriff millions to provide police protection. But he has yet to nail down this year’s budget from the county. He goes before the supervisors today.