PUBLIC FETES: Slain civil rights leader Rev....

PUBLIC FETES: Slain civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is honored today with a federal holiday, and Orange County is celebrating with numerous events. . . . Saddleback College in Mission Viejo plans a lunch, discussion and 4:30 p.m. talk by Dr. Cecil L. Murray, of the First A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles. At the same time at Santa Ana’s Valley High School, the campus African American Student Alliance and the NAACP will co-sponsor “Where Do We Go From Here?” featuring civil rights activist Thomas N. Todd. Says Valley assistant principal Johnny Williams: “He’s superb. Once you hear him, you never forget him.”

ACTIVIST ROOTS: When James Tippins came as a Marine to Orange County in 1959, there were only 3,000 blacks, but there was a local chapter of the NAACP that had been started in 1945. . . . Tippins, who this month became chapter president, said many of its 200 members will dine today at the Santa Ana restaurant that bears his name: “It’s a day of reflection. I’m old enough to remember the marches. We’ve come a long way.”

PRINT HIATUS: Three years ago this month, the Jordans of Mission Viejo started publishing the Black Orange, the only regular collection of events and services aimed at the county’s nearly 50,000 African Americans. But the magazine didn’t print this month or last, due to time and money constraints. Says Joyce Jordan, above, who publishes it with husband Randall: “We had some life-changing events. We needed a rest. But we hope to have a February issue for Black History Month.”

START-UP STALLS: The only public building in the county to be named after King is a Santa Ana grade school being built at the corner of Bristol Street and McFadden Avenue. Construction has been delayed more than six months, but approval is expected Jan. 25 for construction to resume in March. . . . A delayed bidding process slowed things down, says district spokesman Mike Vail. “It would have had laser discs and VCRs in a central area of the school wired to monitors in classrooms . . . but all of the bids were over the allowable state budget.”