COMING HOME: Downtown L.A. is going back...

COMING HOME: Downtown L.A. is going back to neon. The City Council Wednesday approved a $415,000 grant for the Museum of Neon Art, which moved from downtown to Universal City last year, to establish a new, larger gallery in an apartment complex on Olympic Boulevard. It will also keep its current space. . . . “Downtown is where all the cultures meet,” said museum director Mary Carter.

FAIR HISTORY: The fair comes to the Valley today (B2), and it’s certainly a big event. . . . That, however, wasn’t exactly the case at the inaugural fair in November 1946. Among the top attractions back then were trampoline artists, square dancing, and a poultry show. But over the years, the fair has drawn performers such as Melissa Manchester, Dwight Yoakum and Freddy Fender.

SAYONARA: Japan has taken over yet another American commodity. This time, it’s ex-Pierce College and Cal State Northridge volleyball star Bob Samuelson (above), who will play for a Japanese professional league next season. He quit the U.S. national team last week. . . . “It’s a shorter season and more money, so it was kind of a no-brainer for me,” he said (C8).

FINANCIAL AID: It may not be loads of cash, but it sure is a load off some students’ minds. An earthquake relief scholarship fund will give $250 apiece to six CSUN students who suffered big losses (B3). . . . One lucky beneficiary is Stephen Haig, 39, a grad student who couldn’t finish his master’s thesis when his red-tagged apartment was ransacked, making a huge mess out of his notes and textbooks.

ANIMAL AID: Students aren’t the only ones getting bailed out. So are animals. In fact, Elise Kaplan, whose parents died in the Northridge Meadows disaster, will donate $900 from a memorial fund she started to the Pet Rescue Assn. in Sun Valley (B9). . . . “Rather than having people send flowers,” she said, “I thought it would be better to collect some money and do some good with it.”