CLEARING THE AIR: Six years ago Irvine...

CLEARING THE AIR: Six years ago Irvine became the world’s first city to restrict the release of synthetic chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere. One architect of its ordinance: UC Irvine scientist Sherwood Rowland, recent Nobel Prize winner for his warnings about how CFCs are eating away the earth’s protective ozone layer. . . . City leaders now plan to repeal the ordinance that brought them world attention. Reason: Rowland’s work has been so effective, new national laws on CFCs no longer make it necessary. Says Councilwoman Paula Werner: “It’s nice to be proved right.”

TOUGHER CHOICE: Is getting a job still tough? Laguna Niguel City Clerk Juanita Zarilla ran a newspaper ad recently in an attempt to replace a deputy clerk who quit. The reply surpassed anything she expected. Though the job only pays about $2,700 monthly, applications poured in. “The job market must still be rough out there,” says Zarilla. “We got applications from all over the state.”

WHO’S RETIRED? Former County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy didn’t just go back to the tennis courts when he got fed up with the county supervisors and quit in July. . . . The former bank executive is scheduled to make a Wednesday appearance at the Hall of Administration to endorse a 1996 political reform initiative. On Nov. 9, he’ll address a business forum at the Center Club in Costa Mesa. Forum topic: “Why So Many Businesses Are Staying in Orange County.”

SECOND TIME AROUND: The Angels’ decision to switch television stations next season should make sense to baseball historians. . . . KCAL (Channel 9), the Angels’ new station, televised 26 Angels games their first season in 1961 and continued through 1963. The station, then called KHJ, already had a link to the Angels--televising games of the old minor league Los Angeles Angels. Of course, there’s an added current connection: Disney now owns KCAL and is the prospective new owner of the Angels.