CLEAN NEEDLES: The L. A. City Council...

CLEAN NEEDLES: The L. A. City Council wants to prevent police interference with activists who give clean needles to drug addicts (B1), but such “needle exchanges” have been taking place in the Valley for at least three years. . . . Clean Needles Now, an anti-AIDS group, estimates that it has distributed 50,000 needles to Valley addicts.

FREEWAY DELAY: Plans to complete repairs on the quake-damaged Simi Valley Freeway in Granada Hills have hit a roadblock. Instead of completion originally set for next week, the freeway won’t be finished until mid-September. . . . But, unlike the efforts to rebuild the Santa Monica and Golden State freeways, the $9.6-million project carries no bonus or penalty for early or late completion (B1).

TEEN TENNIS: The Little League boys aren’t the only Northridge athletes making big news. Also serving notice is Meilen Tu (above), 16, who was awarded a wild-card spot for next week’s U. S. Open. . . . Tu, who may play Steffi Graf, has no female tennis idols. In fact, she practices almost exclusively with men, and admires the work ethic of Jim Courier and the footwork of Michael Chang (C6).

DORM RADIO: On the air, and up in the air. That’s the current status of KCSN-FM (88.5), the radio station at Cal State Northridge. Displaced by the quake, KCSN operates from a dorm, but could be moved to another spot at any time. . . . The good news is programming has almost reached pre-quake levels. “Most of us have learned to accept things here,” said Jared Kliger, program director.

HOLY ROBBERY! This just in from Burbank: Someone has stolen 81 storyboards for an upcoming “Batman” movie. . . . Storyboards--drawings outlining scenes in the film--were ripped off from a locked room at Warner Bros. studios (B4). There was no early word on suspects. . . . But doesn’t this sound like the work of the Riddler? How else could he beat the Caped Crusaders?