CLASS ACT: Russian ballet star Alexander Godunov,...

CLASS ACT: Russian ballet star Alexander Godunov, who died Thursday at age 45 (A3), defected to the U.S. in 1979. Five years later, he taught his first ballet class at an American university--a brief stay at UC Irvine. . . . Still struggling with his English, Godunov told the students he had accepted the invitation to help repay those who inspired him: “When I was a student and a star from Russian theater or dance would visit a class, we almost died of inspiration.”

DRINK UP: If water is something you take for granted, Mike Robinson has a bus ride for you. Once each quarter, the Yorba Linda Water District manager leads a free public tour showing how the water gets to your tap--filtration, treatment and test facilities--and how clean it is when it gets there. . . . It’s a seven-hour trip--the next one is Saturday--but there’s enough interest that the bus fills each time. . . . “Few people are aware how water actually gets to their home,” Robinson says. Free lunch is included.

FRONT BURNER: Newport Beach millionaire John Crean and partner Barbara Venezia’s zany cable cooking show, “At Home on the Range,” may be back on the fast track. Seen nationally on the now-canceled ABC “Home Show,” the pair have now signed a development deal with Fox Television. . . . A Fox production team will spend a year trying to shape and sell the show before it can air. Venezia is excited about the signing. So are Fox officials. . . . But Crean? “I really don’t care,” he says. “I just show up and cook.”