COUNTING PENNIES: When county officials agreed this...

COUNTING PENNIES: When county officials agreed this week to cut funding for the Aid to Refugees program, its office was flooded with worried callers. But no worry needed: True, the federally funded program costs $8 million. But program director Larry Leaman explains that, as a bookkeeping matter, the county only pays $73 a year of that--about $6 a month. . . . With the bond crisis forcing cuts almost everywhere, the county supervisors figure, hey, $73 is $73.

WHALE OF A FLIGHT: You don’t have to go to a museum to see historic whales. The skeleton of “Baby Huey” is now on display near Gate 7 at John Wayne Airport. It took about 2,000 hours of work to reconstruct the 5-million-year-old fossil, found two years ago during excavation in Laguna Niguel. . . . He’s on loan from the county Natural History Assn. and is the latest exhibit from the Airport Arts Commission. Its job is to make the airport more interesting for travelers.

THEY’LL BE BACK: Why does Tom Arnold need Roseanne when he’s best buddies with Arnold Schwarzenegger? The two actors will lead an expected 1,000 motorcycle riders today on a ride from Planet Hollywood in Santa Ana--Schwarzenegger helps own the place--to groundbreaking for a new Planet Hollywood in San Diego. . . . Anybody with a motorcycle is invited to join--for a $50 minimum contribution. Money raised goes for Children’s Hospital of Orange County and a similar hospital in San Diego.

FLOOR SEATS: For those who have always sat in the high seats for sporting events and wondered how good the view is from the floor, The Pond of Anaheim is giving them a chance to find out. Tonight’s Flying U Rodeo at The Pond will be followed by a line-dance contest--pitting winners from local country-Western dance club competitions against each other. After the contest, the audience is invited to join them on the arena floor. . . . The rodeo, which continues Sunday afternoon, drew 18,000 there last year.