DOUBLE UP: Here’s an idea from the...

DOUBLE UP: Here’s an idea from the Orange County Fire Chiefs Assn. that it hopes will catch on: When you change your clocks tonight (set them back an hour), also change the batteries in your smoke detectors. You do have smoke detectors, right? . . . . Fire officials say 12% of homes here are still without detectors--and one of three with detectors has dead batteries. Detectors, the fire chiefs say, cut by half the risk of dying in a home fire.

DON’S PLAZA: The late Donald F. Karcher, once president of Carl Karcher Enterprises, was a favorite at Cal State Fullerton. He led athletic fund-raising efforts there for more than two decades. The university has named the concessions area of the new Titan Stadium the Donald F. Karcher Plaza. It was fitting that the dedication took place at halftime of the Servite-Saddleback football game Friday: Karcher’s grandson, Joe LeVecke, plays defense for Servite High.

FAREWELL PARTY: Their plant is closing and their jobs are in limbo, but for some 200 Hughes workers in Fullerton, this is the weekend to cast away their worries. . . . Eight busloads of them headed to the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas--all on the company tab. It’s a bonus to union employees for their hard work on a Navy display system project. Says David Ramirez, a 13-year crater and packer: “I’m gonna try to win a million bucks so I don’t have to worry about my future.”

LOVE & HEART: There’s no shortage of places to exercise for a cause today. In Huntington Beach, there’s the “Walk of Love” at Lake Park near Main Street, to raise money primarily for single-parent families. In Irvine, more than 7,000 are expected to walk, run or ride bicycles in the annual “Heart & Sole Classic.” Money raised will go toward fighting heart disease. . . . There’s a race Sunday afternoon that may be different from anything you’ve ever seen: Twenty dachshunds will belly up to the finish line at Old World Village in Huntington Beach.

New Dawn

Standard Time begins tomorrow at 2 a.m. Set your clocks back one hour.