SMOKE-BUSTERS: There’s good reason why the county’s...

SMOKE-BUSTERS: There’s good reason why the county’s anti-tobacco people want to target schools with their campaigns. Their statistics show that 90% of those who smoke began as teen-agers. . . . Last week, Santa Ana’s six high schools staged anti-smoking rallies. County tobacco prevention coordinator Marilyn Cowan also boasts about local Campfire Girls: They’re taking pictures to show how easy it is for youngsters to get cigarettes from vending machines without being seen. . . . Their goal: to get cities here to ban those machines.

HELPING THE HELPER: As part of a Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity project, Stanford University sophomore Edward Chen had been working diligently to set up bone marrow donor drives. Recently, Chen learned that he has leukemia--and needs a bone marrow donor himself. . . . His fraternity brothers are now combing the state for a donor for him. A blood test drive for a possible donor for Chen will be conducted at UC Irvine’s Student Center today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

TOP CAR COP: For four years, Buena Park Police Officer Gregory Pelton has been chasing vehicle thieves. Last year, he arrested nine suspects and recovered 39 stolen vehicles. Pelton will be honored Friday at ceremonies in Santa Ana as the county’s Officer of the Year in vehicle thefts. . . . Says the quiet, 29-year-old police officer: “It’s a combination of hard work and a lot of luck.” . . . Even the best cop isn’t immune from the problem: Pelton’s truck was stolen at a theater parking lot last year when he took his children to see “The Lion King.”

PROFITABLE CRIME? The county’s 1994 vehicle theft figures, compiled by the California Highway Patrol, may seem staggering: 19,139, which translates to 52 a day, or one vehicle every 27 minutes. The losses totaled more than $100 million. But not all the thieves were lucky: 168 were arrested by local police agencies, and nearly 70% of the vehicles were recovered.