SPACE ON BOARD: Metrolink is losing passengers,...

SPACE ON BOARD: Metrolink is losing passengers, but not patience. Although ridership in August on the Santa Clarita line has fallen to a daily average of 2,900, compared to 3,600 in July, board member Jan Heidt says it’s too early to blame solely on last month’s reopening of the Golden State-Antelope Valley freeway interchange. . . . “All the other lines are down, too,” she said. “People go on vacation.”

BAILING OUT: If the show, indeed, must go on at Glendale’s Alex Theatre, someone else will have to raise the curtains. The Theatre Corp. of America says it can’t afford to produce two future musicals (F10). . . . The Alex, which opened in 1925, is no stranger to making drama off stage, either. It survived a fire in 1948, and there was talk of demolition in the 1980s.

HANDICAP: Golfers, of course, aren’t known as fashion models, but the latest addition to their wardrobe is a little strange, even by their standards. It’s a white hood (above), which many buy at Griffith Park courses to fight off the gnats that seem to come from everywhere (B1). . . . Golfers are usually pretty obsessed, but business at Griffith Park is down 10% to 15% recently.

HANDY LADY: Mayling Wu deserves a hand. After all, she did so well with the last one she got. Actually, it was a human cadaver’s hand, which the Studio City teen-ager dissected at the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia (B2). . . . Although worried that it might be a “nerd camp,” she said, it turned out to be a lot of fun.

BACK IN THE BAY: Russell White, a standout tailback at Crespi High and Cal, went right to the pros as a Rams’ third-round pick last season. But he gained only 10 yards in two carries and was inactive the last 10 games of the season. This year, he was cut the day he reported to camp (C6). . . . . Now he may be back on track: Reports from San Francisco indicate the 49ers may invite him to a tryout next week.