Area CodeAs the debate continues over whether...

Area Code

As the debate continues over whether the San Fernando Valley or the San Gabriel Valley must change to a new telephone area code, Pacific Bell is warning that the switch needs to be made sooner than previously thought. . . . “We’re facing a real crunch here,” a phone company attorney testified Monday (D1).

Fare Game

A Burbank cabby was the somewhat amazed recipient of a $600-plus tip early Monday, the fruit of a nine-day jaunt with a Pasadena woman who spent $4,100 on cab fare for a spur-of-the-moment trip to Victoria, B.C. (B1). . . . Cabdriver Steve Baird initially drove the woman to Santa Barbara, then on up the coast. They bought toothbrushes on the way.

Wild Music

Care for some lions with your lunch? Or would a boa constrictor be more appropriate? . . . Visitors to the Wilshire Chamber of Commerce’s annual lunchtime concert program have been treated to special emissaries from the Wildlife Waystation in Tujunga. The animals have so far included baby tigers, a coyote, fox, eagle and a tortoise. . . . The program helps raise the profile of the Waystation and, said organizer Jennifer Snider, “it really adds a different feel to the whole concert.”