MORE WOES: What’s in store for Los...

MORE WOES: What’s in store for Los Angeles County government this year? . . . The county’s 1996-97 budget could be as austere as last year’s, but it depends on two big factors. One is federal spending; the other: the extent to which local governments have to pay to tend to the poor and the sick. . . . One early projection lists a potential deficit of $1.1 billion--about the same as last year’s.

ZEV PLEDGE: With a year on the Board of Supervisors under his belt, Zev Yaroslavsky can no longer excuse himself from the county’s fiscal morass by saying, “I wasn’t here.” Among his priorities: repairing the quake-damaged San Fernando courthouse and the Mid-Valley Comprehensive Health Center, and continuing to restructure the county health system. . . . Yaroslavsky is one of two supervisors representing parts of the San Fernando Valley.

SHOO-IN: Facing only one, little-known, underfinanced opponent, Supervisor Mike Antonovich, above, should coast to an easy reelection victory in the March primary. Antonovich, 56, is seeking his fifth, four-year term to represent the sprawling 5th District that stretches from Glendale to the Antelope Valley.

HUNKER DOWN: Antonovich, the new board chairman, says he will focus this year on a four-year strategic plan called “Vision 2000,” a method he hopes will compel county departments to develop their own strategies and outline goals. . . . “We need to avoid what happened last year by preparing,” he said.

COURT ORDER: The designs for two courthouses planned for the San Fernando and Antelope valleys are expected to move along this year despite long delays and empty coffers, thanks to state funds set aside for the projects. . . . The first priority is redesigning the proposed Chatsworth courthouse to meet new seismic safety standards. A new courthouse in Lancaster is on a slower funding track, said Antonovich aide Lori Howard, but contrary to popular belief “is not dead.”