PASTEL POLITICS: City Clerk Barbara Howard wanted...

PASTEL POLITICS: City Clerk Barbara Howard wanted to make sure Lancaster’s voters knew about the local election Tuesday. So she got permission from the state to replace the red, white and blue sample ballots with her favorite color--lavender. It’s “spring-y” and the ballots stand out, she said. . . . A fellow lavender lover, Santa Clarita City Clerk Donna Grindery, is also using the pastel ballots.

PIZZA BOOTH: Santa Clarita also invested in its own voting booths: 109 of them at a cost of $70 each. “They’re cute,” says Grindery. “They come in sort of a large pizza box.” The booths, however, are all-American red, white and blue.

EGGED ON: Who puts the egg in Easter? Almost everyone, says the American Book of Days. Eggs, an ancient symbol of life, were a symbol of rebirth and renewal for most Easter celebrants. Eastern Orthodox Russians crack the shells for luck after church services, then kiss one another three times. Closer to home, the Easter egg hunt at a Topanga Canyon day-care center was preceded Saturday by a parade, above, led by a bunny-suited Dr. Arnold Bresky (B3).

HAPPY ENDING: It was one of those nasty urban tales, except this one has a tail-wagging ending. When someone dropped Ranger over the side of a flood control channel, the Husky’s prospects were anything but rosy. But an Animal Regulation officer rescued the dog and took it to the East Valley Animal shelter, where they cared for Ranger’s fractured leg. On Saturday, Ranger was reunited with its owner.

TIES THAT BIND: The railroad lines that cross the Valley no longer connect the wilderness with encroaching civilization. Now, the long tendons of steel track lie mostly unused. But that doesn’t mean they are useless. To historians, the rails bind modern, harried man with his more rugged, slower-paced ancestors (B1).