BRIEFLY : RECYCLING PROGRAM REDUCING JUNK MAIL.

THOUSAND OAKS - The city hopes to reduce the amount of paper going to landfills by expanding its recycling program to help eliminate junk mail, which makes up nearly 25 percent of residential waste.

Residents can get free postcards and information on how to have their names removed from mailing lists that are rented or sold by marketing firms. Residents also can stop flyers and handbills from being distributed at their homes by registering with the City Clerk's office and purchasing decals to put on their property by calling [phone].

For more information about the Junk Mail Reduction Program, call Gail Kaufman at [phone].

- Daily News

Auto Mall donates $50,000 to schools

THOUSAND OAKS - The Thousand Oaks Auto Mall will donate $50,000 to local elementary schools for literacy programs during tonight's Conejo Valley Unified School District meeting.

The auto mall began supporting literacy programs in January, with participating dealers donating $5 for each vehicle sold this year. The year-end goal is $100,000.

Today's donation brings the auto mall's total donations to $75,000.

Auto mall employees also are paid their hourly wage to volunteer at local schools on a variety of projects, from reading to assisting with homework.

The elementary schools to receive funding are Walnut, Conejo, Park Oaks, Manzanita and Glenwood.

The school board will meet at 7 p.m. at the district office, 1400 E. Janss Road.

- Daily News

Bridge replacement set for next week

BUELLTON - Demolition of a collapsed steel truss bridge on Highway 246 is complete and a similar temporary bridge linking Lompoc and Buellton will be completed next week.

The new bridge over Santa Rosa Bridge could be completed by Nov. 5, said Lauren Wonder of the California Department of Transportation.

The new 24-foot-wide span will replace the 30-foot wide model made by the same manufacturer, Acrow Corp., of New Jersey, Wonder said.

No one was hurt in last week's collapse and investigators are still trying to determine the cause.

The new bridge frame will be constructed in its entirety, then set into place by two cranes on Sunday, Wonder said. The 220-ton bridge will have a lower speed limit and a reduced permit load.

The bridge that collapsed was originally put in place almost a month ago while construction continued on a permanent Santa Rosa Creek Bridge, which was damaged during the El Nino flooding of 1998.

- Associated Press

What a difference one letter makes

OXNARD - The newest high school in Ventura County's largest city won't likely bear the name of a popular Mexican beer after all.

Oxnard Union High School District trustees were expected to vote this week to change the name of Pacifico High School to Pacifica High School. The letter change would avoid any comparisons to a brand of beer.

The name was chosen more than two years ago, but school officials only recently learned there is a popular beer named Pacifico, district board member Nancy Koch said.

The future $40 million school at Gonzales Road at Entrada Drive is expected to open in summer 2001. It will be the seventh high school in the district. Oxnard has about 160,000 residents.

A committee of parents, students and teachers decided on the name in 1997, selecting Mar Pacifico, which means Pacific Ocean, from 52 possible names. The board shortened it to Pacifico, which in Spanish means easy or calm.

``Actually, when we had the groundbreaking at the school, people said, `You're naming it after a beer?' '' Koch said.

Several ministers had expressed some reservations about the name, she said, and a handful of district teachers agree it's best to change it to Pacifica, she said.

I think their suggestions were positive,'' Koch said. ``I think we all want kids to refrain from alcohol.''

- Associated Press