Nixon Footnote: The older brother of the...

Nixon Footnote: The older brother of the late first lady Pat Nixon, William Ryan, died last week at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills. The retired lighting prop manager, the eldest of his siblings and a young family patriarch, gave his sister his blessing to marry Richard Nixon, one of Ryan’s sons said Saturday. He was 87 (B3).

* SECRET WEAPON: L.A. County’s newest tool in firefighting, the Erickson Air-Crane Helitanker, arrives at Van Nuys Airport this week, where it will remain on call through fire season. The fancy helicopter is capable of sucking up more than 2,000 gallons of water and then spraying it over flames. The county and federal governments are sharing the $70,000 lease for two of the aircraft.