FOR SALE? Reports circulated Friday that Valley-based...

FOR SALE? Reports circulated Friday that Valley-based MCA, which owns Universal Pictures, may be on the block. There was no official comment on talk that parent Matsushita Electric Industrial wants to sell all or part of the entertainment conglomerate (D2). . . . Sources cite several scenarios, including a possible sale to Rupert Murdoch.

HIGH MARKS: Redbook Magazine has named Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima one of America’s best schools. Only one other L.A. district campus was on the nationwide list of 142 schools. Vaughn, a charter school, was a winner in the overall excellence category. . . . “We’ve received calls from Miami to Canada from people asking what we do,” said Principal Yvonne Chan.

HANDS OFF: At Paramount Ranch on Friday, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, above, declared war on Republican efforts to transfer ownership of some national parklands to states or localities (B1). . . . “As long as I am alive and breathing as the secretary of the Interior, they are not going to do this on my watch,” he said.

HEALTH WALK: You may have seen him in Health Net TV ads that endorse saving the whales and the redwoods. But Roger F. Greaves resigned unexpectedly Friday as head of Health Systems. That’s the Woodland Hills-based parent of the Health Net HMO. The move suggests that the takeover of Health Systems by rival WellPoint Health Networks is near (D1).

LION QUEEN: A 6-month-old lion cub that was found tied to a gate at the St. Louis Zoo will get a new home today . . . in Tujunga. Flown here Friday, the cub will get her own pen at the Wildlife Waystation. St. Louis Zoo officials believed the cub was an abandoned pet. But they couldn’t keep her: The zoo’s female lions would probably kill a newcomer.

TONIGHT: Saugus Speedway celebrates the opening of a new season with a new race. “Things That Go Bump in the Night” features fluorescent-painted cars zipping around a darkened track. Races begin at 5 p.m. Tickets: $9 adult, $4 children. 22500 Soledad Canyon Road. Info: 805-259-3886.