GOOD TIMING: Only hours after a downed...

GOOD TIMING: Only hours after a downed pole knocked out power to Ventura City Hall, council members voted to apply for a grant to buy a generator that will keep the building running all the time. . . . The Northridge earthquake, which hit at 4:31 a.m., “probably came at a time when we were not harmed by having services cut at City Hall,” Mayor Tom Buford says. “But during a significant emergency, it should be up and operating. . . . I figure we’ll get another earthquake one of these days.”

DREAM JOB: Gordon Whitcomb, former assistant principal of Buena High in Ventura, retired from a career in education for what many duffers would consider an ideal gig: He works part-time in the pro shop at the Buenaventura Golf Course. Not only does the 60-year-old play free golf three times a week, he gets ample time off. . . . For example, Whitcomb is spending this week in Kansas competing in the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. “I just want to be able to play well and have a good time,” he says of his chances.

VIRTUAL INTERN: Some 18-year-olds go off to college and pick up spending money working at McDonald’s. Rebecca Noonan of Camarillo will make hers telecommuting from Davis for Cyberspace Public Relations of Camarillo, thanks to a boss who didn’t want to lose her. . . . Rebecca, at 17, was four years younger than all the other candidates when she landed the summer internship, and she did an “unbelievable job,” agency owner Antonia Inman said. . . . Part of the fun, Rebecca said, was “talking to reporters and they think I’m an adult.”

NO VENDING: County supervisors want to ban tobacco vending machines from everywhere but bars in unincorporated areas (B1). Violators could face fines of up to $1,000. . . . The action, aimed at preventing sales to minors, comes in the wake of a study showing that more than 88% of all smokers take up the habit before they hit the legal age of 18.