BALLS O’ FIRE: No, that wasn’t a...

BALLS O’ FIRE: No, that wasn’t a UFO flying across the Ventura County sky. Or a plane crash. It was a meteor, complete with green tail, streaking by about 8:15 Monday night, confirmed Patrick So, astronomy lecturer at Griffith Observatory. . . . He said the meteor was about the size of a tennis ball and appeared for about 10 seconds. But it drew a lot of attention. Ten pilots in planes from Las Vegas to Los Angeles called the FAA to report seeing the fireball. Ventura County fire crews were dispatched after reports that the meteor landed in Thousand Oaks. They found nothing, and scientists say any landing would come with a sonic boom.

ON THE REBOUND: After a promising start at Buena High, Lance Fay’s basketball career hit the skids when his Oxnard College team fell apart from internal strife. Not to worry. The 6-foot-2 guard transferred to Ventura College, sat out a year and is now co-captain of a team ranked No. 1 in the junior college state poll (C6). . . . “We have 10 guys that could start at any other JC,” Fay says. “We have so many offensive weapons. (Opponents) never know who is going to be hot or cold.”

BUNDLE OF JOY: Christmas was always extra special for David Sisemore of Ventura: It was his birthday. Now it’s his son’s birthday too. . . . Baby Grant wasn’t due until Jan. 4, but his parents had barely finished exchanging gifts when they rushed to the hospital for the 3:19 p.m. birth. For mother Terry, this means consolidating all her shopping for one big day. “I’ll just have to be creative on how to make their birthday special now,” she says.

CADAVER CLUB: High school students are always busy raising money--for proms, field trips, even band uniforms. But for cadavers? . . . That’s right, cadavers (B4). With no funding from the school system, Westlake High School’s advanced anatomy class has formed the Cadaver Club to come up with one-fifth of the $6,000 needed to run the program. Hospitals and mortuaries contribute money, body bags and plastic gloves too.