DIFFERENT VOICES: Voters thumped Measure R by...

DIFFERENT VOICES: Voters thumped Measure R by a hefty margin, but two cities--Laguna Beach and Newport Beach--gave the half-cent sales tax increase a thumbs-up. In Laguna, it was Yes voters 3,106 to 2,794, and in Newport, the ayes had it 9,751 to 8,836, the registrar’s office reported Wednesday. . . . Says Laguna City Clerk Verna L. Rollinger: “I suspect residents here know that we’re going to pay for it one way or the other.”

FORBES-TYPE MONEY: The latest Forbes magazine lists the world’s billionaires, and Irvine Co. chairman Donald L. Bren remains in the $2-billion-plus group. Warren Buffett, with a second home in Laguna Beach’s Emerald Bay, is at $10.7 billion, second in the world to software czar Bill Gates. Other Orange County mentions: Rockwell International Corp. in Seal Beach and the Fluor Corp. in Irvine rank in the top 100 U.S. multinational firms.

ALOHA WAVES: A national student surfing team based in Huntington Beach has announced members for 1995-96, with Iain McPhillips, 17, of Capistrano Beach as captain. Janice Aragon, who will manage the team for the National Scholastic Surfing Assn., says the first major competition will be in February on the north shores of Hawaii. . . . “We’re a steppingstone to pro competition,” Aragon says. “You can’t turn pro if you haven’t ridden the waves of Hawaii.”

FAIR GAME? With so many events scheduled at the Orange County Fair, which opens Friday (OC Live!), you can excuse director Becky Bailey-Findley for worrying about possible hitches. . . . In the fair’s most recent publication, she recalls the time tap dancers were on stage after the cow-milking contest--with the cows not leaving the place as tidy as dancers usually like. Then there was last year’s cattle drive, when a group yelled in unison “Yahoo!” causing a mini stampede. But one guarantee each year, says Bailey-Findley: “The fair is fun.”