TIMELY NEWS: John Wayne Airport, already boasting...

TIMELY NEWS: John Wayne Airport, already boasting about record passenger numbers, now has more good news from the FAA: The on-time rate for its 10 commercial airlines in 1994 was 87.8%, slightly up from the year before. Who was best? Southwest Airlines, at 91.3%. It also ties with Alaska Airlines at John Wayne for fewest cancellations or diversions. . . . Why can’t airlines get closer to 100%? It’s mostly an unpredictable element, airport officials say: The weather.

WHALE OF A YEAR: Some winters the tour boats off Orange County’s coast find disappointingly few whales migrating south for warmer ports. Not this year: Whale watchers report the waters filled with both magnificent dolphins and huge California grays. . . . Great timing for Dana Point too. Its annual Whale Festival, which kicks off next Saturday, has been extended for the first time to four weeks.

LIVE SATURDAY: Maybe she hasn’t reached the stature of predecessors Eddie Murphy or Chevy Chase. But Julia Sweeney has her own following from her stint on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” especially her “It’s Pat” skits. Sweeney joins the comedy troupe Orange County Crazies for a special performance Feb. 25--a Saturday night--at its Santa Ana theater, 115 E. Santa Ana Blvd. She’s bringing “Pat.” . . . Turns out Sweeney and Cherie Kerr, the Crazies’ artistic director, are good friends.

PUZZLING: A lot of people who listen to National Public Radio (89.9 FM and 89.3 FM here) are getting hooked on its “Sunday Puzzle.” Contestants answer questions posed by a crossword puzzle expert. . . . Huntington Beach attorney Jonathan Woolf-Willis beat out 500 others to be on the show last Sunday. He did pretty well, too, getting nine out of 10 correct to win modest prizes. . . . The attorney, an unsuccessful Assembly candidate last November, finds games even more stimulating than politics. With games, he says, “the challenge is right in front of you.”