A WIDE NET: The effort to wire...

A WIDE NET: The effort to wire all California schools into the Internet gets a boost Saturday with NetDay 96 (A1, B1). Some Ventura County school districts are less than eager to participate, but technophiles say they hope that naysayers will see the light. . . . NetDay volunteer Seth Brandes of Sun Microsystems sees Saturday as just “Day 1 of NetDay” and the beginning of an era that can give even poor districts a new educational resource.

SIGNING OFF: Simi Valley’s new sign ordinance, which went into effect late last month, is resulting in cleaner streets. City workers collected 293 signs during a sweep the first day that the ordinance, which bans many signs on public property, was in effect. The signs--which touted everything from garage sales to gun shows to politicians--were recycled after a week in storage. . . . Oxnard council members hope that a similar crackdown will pay off there. The city, which just logged its seventh homicide, is considering a ban on gun-show ads (B4).

GREAT STUFF: The Buena High girls’ basketball team opened state tournament play Tuesday against Palisades High (C6). The Bulldogs qualified by defeating perennial Orange County power Mater Dei in the Southern Section Division I-A championship. . . . Nicole Greathouse, Buena’s 6-foot-2 junior center, blocked two shots in the final minute of that game and led the team with 23 points and 14 rebounds. “It was my time to step up and do what it took to win,” Greathouse said.

BRAIN TRUST: Are students at Simi Valley High School working hard to prepare for the state’s Academic Decathlon, which begins Friday in Fresno (B1)? Maybe too hard. Says team member Greg Ishimoto: “I have no memory of a different time in my life.” . . . The nine team members have been preparing for the competition for months, spending much of their after-school and weekend time adding to their store of knowledge.