NOT SO BORING: L.A.’s recent disasters have...

NOT SO BORING: L.A.’s recent disasters have caused trauma and, admit it, even some excitement. This hasn’t been lost on Mayor Richard Riordan, who made a joke (we think) the other day to drive home a point about L.A.’s job losses. . . . Speaking to a meeting of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, his honor noted that companies fleeing the Southland must assume some special burdens. First of all, he said, most incur costly worker-training programs. Then, in a reference to some of the states that have taken away L.A. jobs, he got off a line that drew laughter and applause: “Plus the fact, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee are boring as hell.”

RIVER AID: Head to the Sepulveda Dam near Balboa Lake this morning to help clean trash and recyclables out of the L.A. River (B2). . . . Sponsors say the Sixth Annual Great Los Angeles River Clean-up is being held at six locations throughout the city to help turn around America’s most endangered urban waterway.

LOCKOUT: Hundreds of aspiring paralegals and court reporters were out of luck and out of class Friday when Merit College in Van Nuys suddenly closed, one month before graduation (B1). Officials cited financial woes. . . . Students--many of whom had paid in advance--gathered at the college Friday, above, and listened to remarks from a college official.

CONTENDERS: The wonder kids from the Van Nuys High School Science Bowl team are angling for the national championship this weekend in Washington. . . . The two-day tournament tests the students’ knowledge of a range of science topics in game-show style.

TODAY: Four-hundred young musicians from across the Los Angeles Unified School District will perform at Walter Reed Middle School, 4525 Irvine Ave., North Hollywood in a daylong, free, public music festival. . . . Twelve orchestras from eight schools will be critiqued by a panel of professional musicians and instructors. “We encourage people to come so they can see the good things going on in schools,” said Dana Matcham, a Reed music teacher.