Rate Strategy20th Century Insurance Co. has cut...

Rate Strategy

20th Century Insurance Co. has cut car rates 5.5% in an effort to win back some 97,000 policies lost since the Northridge earthquake (D1). . . . Angered when 20th Century quit carrying homeowners insurance, some customers took their business elsewhere. Many seem to have gone to rival Mercury General, which cut rates by 15% to 20% last year.

Starring Roles

Well, it’s not The Show . . . but four of the Lancaster JetHawks have made the California League’s all-star team. The Class A players--outfielders Jose Cruz Jr. and Marcus Sturdivant, second baseman Jason Cook and pitcher Ken Cloude--will take on the best of the Carolina League at the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga at 6:05 tonight. . . . It may be the last time in a JetHawk uniform for Cruz and Sturdivant, who are moving up to double-A.

Better Late . . .

And you thought negotiating with Iraq was tough. . . . Madeleine Albright, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, above, will face 500 graduating seniors from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills on Thursday. She’s giving the keynote speech in honor of the school’s academic decathlon team. In April the team placed second at the U. S. Academic Decathlon, where the theme was the U.N. Albright was going to come to the local contest in November, but couldn’t travel because of the federal government shutdown.

‘Hunchback’ Payback

A benefit screening of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” brought in $900,000 for CalArts on Sunday--half from the benefit and half from a Disney matching grant. The grant is a contribution to the Santa Clarita school’s endowment. . . . Seems only fair since 68 CalArts alumni worked on the film, including directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise.

Tonight

Jazz at 9 at Chadney’s in Burbank. Details: (818) 843-5333.

Weather

Mostly clear with highs from the mid-80s to mid-90s. B9

* The Top of Today’s News is on A2