For Sale? Great Western bank refuses to...

For Sale? Great Western bank refuses to comment on reports that it is entertaining a buyout offer from an out-of-state bank. . . . A story in this week’s Los Angeles Business Journal reports the rumors, but Tim McGarry, spokesman for Chatsworth-based Great Western said only that “it is not on our agenda to be acquired.” The company is considered by analysts to be ripe for a takeover.

Still Counting: With election results hanging in several races, including district attorney and the Glendale-Burbank assembly seat, county clerks on Friday face their toughest job--tabulating 30,000 provisional ballots. Those are the ones cast by voters whose names were missing from the list of registered voters or who misplaced an absentee ballot. “We have to slog through and research every one of those,” said Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack.

Toy Story: Where does a boy go who wants to grow up to be an animator? CalArts in Valencia, of course. . . . When John Lasseter was in high school, he sent some drawings to the Walt Disney Co., which urged him to attend the well-known school. Lasseter, profiled today in Calendar (F1), directed “Toy Story.”

Drug Drivers: Drivers heading out of town might be surprised to find that their cars are searched for drugs during routine traffic stops. . . . Thousands of pounds of drugs are driven out of the L.A. Basin each year, said CHP Officer Sean McEnulty, who patrols the Golden State Freeway, so the CHP has decided to check everyone they stop (B3).