UNCHAINED HEART: It was a match made...

UNCHAINED HEART: It was a match made in prison. . . . Barry Minkow was set free Wednesday after serving 87 months for swindling investors of his ZZZZ Best company in Reseda. Upon leaving the Echo Park halfway house, Minkow, 29, flew to Phoenix, where he planned to propose late Wednesday to Teresa Barker, 22, an Arizona State senior. Minkow said he met Barker through the wife of an inmate convicted in the Lincoln Savings & Loan scam.

ADD MINKOW: Expect Minkow to plan a working honeymoon. . . . Still owing $26 million to his victims, Minkow will travel the United States making speeches, promoting his book and filming three anti-scam videos. The majority of profits will go to his victims, he said. “I’m not allowed to touch money,” said Minkow, who has hired a Probation Department-approved accountant. “That’s the best way to stay out of trouble.”

THICK OR THIN? Many Valley students this week are pensively waiting for college acceptance or rejection letters. Among them: Birmingham High’s Arash Yaghoobian, above, who is appealing a rejection from UCLA, which didn’t get his SAT scores in time. He says he’s “on pins and needles.” Hint: a thick envelope is probably good news (B1).

GROUNDED: The latest plan to expand Burbank Airport’s terminal was effectively shot down Wednesday by the Burbank City Council, which cited noise and traffic concerns. . . . Expansion supporters charged council members with playing “political football” with the airport (B1).

CHOICE CUT: Prosecutor Marcia Clark’s new shag hairstyle--courtesy of celebrity hairdresser Allen Edwards--has created a stir at Edwards’ Studio City salon. “The phones have been ringing off the hook,” manager Kim Donoho reported Wednesday. “They want the Marcia cut.” . . . But don’t lose your head if you can’t get a reservation: Edwards will offer the haircuts for an Earth Day fund-raiser at his Studio City and Woodland Hills shops April 30.