CHILD RESCUE: One county government property recently...

CHILD RESCUE: One county government property recently sold at auction to raise bankruptcy cash: a Figueroa Street child care center in Santa Ana. Some bidders wanted to convert the place--an old firehouse--into residential units. Fortunately for its children, the winning bidders cared about keeping them there. . . . The property--valued by the county at $80,000--was sold to the Community Development Council, a nonprofit agency to help the poor, for $51,000. Says council director Buddy Ray: “It’s a much-needed community resource that’s already in short supply.”

NOT SO LITTLE: Four years ago, when the youngsters now on the Yorba Hills Little League All-Star team were 8, “we knew that when they reached 12 we’d have a special team,” says assistant coach Marv Shappi. . . . Talk about a special team. Yorba Hills is the team to beat in the Western regional finals in San Bernardino this week. It’s undefeated so far in the double-elimination tournament. If it wins, it would be the first team from Orange County to make it to the Little League World Series since Irvine Northwood in 1987.

ICON HELP: Even statues don’t live forever. After 81 years, Father Junipero Serra, pointing to the frontier, has a left ear missing. And an arm has fallen off the Native American boy hugging him. . . . But there’s nothing wrong with the famous statue in the courtyard of Mission San Juan Capistrano that three months of restoration won’t fix. Sculptor Tom Gillenwater of Huntington Beach, above, has been commissioned to start the task today. Spokesman Jim Graves says the mission is proud of the piece: “It’s an icon, the coming of Western civilization to California.”

RELUCTANT HERO: Antonio Valadez, 24, didn’t want the $150 left in a wallet he found last week at Laguna Beach’s Tortilla Flats, where he is a waiter. He didn’t even want credit for finding it. . . . Valadez paid $3 postage to mail it anonymously to the owner. But Marie Kontos, whose daughter lost the wallet, tracked him down to thank him. . . . Says Kontos: “This restores my feeling about how neat most people really are.”