STUDENT PROJECT: Vanessa Schwartz could teach other...

STUDENT PROJECT: Vanessa Schwartz could teach other CalArts students a thing or two. . . . The 25-year-old Newhall resident has been nominated for an Academy Award in the animated short film category for her first-ever venture. Her project: a 4 1/2-minute story called “God’s Janitor.” . . . It’s composed entirely of black and blue pencil drawings.

FOR SHAME: When major league baseball clubs decided to charge Little Leaguers $6 each to wear licensed team uniforms, the Chatsworth Junior Baseball League was ahead of the game. . . . The league’s 550 kids are phasing in their own uniforms this spring, still using major league nicknames. “We just said ‘The heck with it,’ ” league President Ken Paschal said. “I think the clubs are kind of shaming themselves because these kids look up to the major leaguers.”

BATTER UP: No, the strike isn’t over. But until it is, minor league players such as Pete Kuld (above) are filling in for the regulars in spring training (C1). . . . Kuld, an alumnus of Chatsworth High and College of the Canyons, is among the euphemistically named “non-roster invitees” this week in Winter Haven, Fla., who are preparing to substitute, if necessary, in the regular season. . . . “We do our job until they get their (expletive) together,” said Kuld, who is playing for the Cleveland Indians. “Then they take over.”

PLANT WISELY: The best protection for a slide-prone hillside is to plant it with deeply rooted natives such as California buckwheat (B2). Between winter rains, Valley Briefing offers a guide to preventing soil erosion and mudslides.

LEG WORK: While his colleagues cover the desert’s vast terrain via trucks and copters, a sheriff’s deputy in crime-ridden downtown Palmdale has returned to a foot patrol (B20). . . . Merchants like Deputy Paul Pfrehm’s visibility, and the ensuing rapport is producing good tips.