Bond Squad: A hardy band of reverse...

Bond Squad: A hardy band of reverse pioneers set out from Ventura County on Thursday for New York City, where they will stake a claim for a good county bond rating. . . . Last year, county Treasurer Harold Pittman feared a mauling from the bond-rating agencies because of the Orange County financial crisis. “We were afraid they would . . . group all of California as being like Orange. Fortunately, they didn’t,” Pittman said. This year, “I think that’s died down considerably.”

Do the Met: Joining Pittman in the journey east are county Auditor Tom Mahon, CAO Lin Koester and Supervisors Frank Schillo and John K. Flynn. They’ll come back Sunday. “You have to stay over Saturday night to get a good [airline] rate,” Pittman said. . . . Somehow, the crew will find a way to kill time. “We usually go check out the Metropolitan Museum,” Pittman said.

Fish Story: It’s out there, they say. A great white shark. At Ventura Harbor. Only trouble is, nobody’s actually seen it (B1). . . . Deputy Harbor Master Dave Shapiro thinks tale-telling Ahabs may have been staring at the sea too long. “I don’t ever remember one [at the harbor] and I’ve been here for 10 years,” he says. . . . A recent sighting in Santa Barbara could have roiled imaginations. Once that happens, he says, “it’s like a feeding frenzy.”

No Charges: Navy investigators have decided not to press sexual harassment charges against four male officers at Point Mugu (B1). The case rocked the squadron involved. . . . Known as the VX-9, the squadron is a combination of the old VX-4 from Point Mugu and VX-5 from China Lake. . . . VX-4 once displayed a distinctive symbol on the tail of its flagship F-14: a Playboy bunny.