THIRD OF JULY: You working Monday? Not...

THIRD OF JULY: You working Monday? Not everyone is. It’s an odd day: smack in the middle of a four-day holiday weekend (D1). Banks, courts, government offices, post offices and many businesses will be open. The O.J. trial? Not. And even where offices are open, don’t expect much work to be done, said Philip H. Wynn, head deputy district attorney in Van Nuys. But Great Western Financial in Chatsworth will be open. A spokesman says it would be “unpatriotic” to celebrate the holiday on July 3.

SUE MY LANDLORD: The residents of an Encino apartment complex had a problem with the landlord’s timing. Just days before one of the worst rainstorms in L.A. history . . . off came their roof for repairs. Furniture afloat, some wound up in the street after city officials declared the complex uninhabitable. . . . The tenants got their revenge. A jury ordered the landlord to cough up almost half a million in damages (B1).

GOOD TIMING: Fighter Jesus Pimentel of North Hills, above, knew when to quit. He lost his first--and only--world bantamweight title fight in 1971, and that was that. “Punches I could easily take away when I was younger were catching up to me,” said Pimentel, who finished 81-7 with 72 KOs. . . . These days, he owns a landscaping and gardening business (C10).

GAY UNIONS: The nation’s largest Buddhist organization has approved marriage-like ceremonies for gay/lesbian couples. Bravo, says the Rev. Sarika Dharma, a female monk who grew up in Van Nuys as Renee Richmond. . . . “The Buddha said that all human beings have the capacity to become enlightened,” she says. “He didn’t say that if they were of a certain sexual orientation that they couldn’t” (B11).

TOUGH GAME: His name is Roger, and he’s got a great arm. No, not Clemens. . . . Roger Salkeld. The Saugus High alum was supposed to hit it big in the big leagues, but a shoulder injury took miles off his fastball, and he’s still in the minors (C10).