CAPITOL NOTEBOOK: DAVIS LOOSENS A LITTLE ON HIKE TO HEADWATERS.

Byline: Terri Hardy and Dorothy Korber

GOV. Gray Davis has often been described as wooden. But woodsy? Definitely not.

The governor headed up to the Headwaters Forest Reserve last week to celebrate the state's hard-fought purchase of virgin old-growth forest from Pacific Lumber Co. Davis, attempting to dress the part, wore a plaid shirt. When he trekked into the woods, our meticulous governor threw all caution to the wind and actually unbuttoned his collar.

Well, it wasn't precisely a trek.

Though officials on past visits have made the rigorous, 5-mile hike into the heart of the redwood grove, Davis and crew drove up a gravel road and strolled 100 yards into the forest. Even so, the governor announced to reporters that he had made an ``emotional investment'' among the trees, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

Then Davis, befuddled perhaps by that loosened collar button, solemnly called Headwaters the ``Headwoods.''

Inquiring minds

During the plane trip to Headwaters, reporters quizzed Davis spokesman Michael Bustamante about a recent Globe magazine article. The story alleges that our governor, when he was a 26-year-old bachelor, had ``sizzling sex'' on a deserted Hawaiian beach with actress Cybill Shepherd. The blond star, now an Encino resident, was supposedly 19 at the time.

Bustamante told reporters he ``could not comment on the governor's many affairs before he met the love of his life.'' That would be the governor's wife, Sharon.

Last week, Davis read a book to San Francisco school kids: ``Where the Wild Things Are.'' The wild things, if we remember the story, also cavorted on a deserted beach.

But the Globe article doesn't seem to worry Davis staffers. On the contrary, they probably wish the story had broken during the governor's election campaign, in which he beat Republican Dan Lungren by 20 percentage points.

``If it had, Davis might have won by 30,'' a reporter quipped.

License to braid

One of our favorite new bills is AB 132, an effort by San Francisco Assemblywoman Carole Migden to allow hair braiders to ply their trade without a cosmetology license. The measure recently was passed by the Assembly Consumer Protection Committee.

Though the committee's final vote was 7-0, the hearing was hair-raising, according to a press release from Migden's office. It said the vote was taken ``amid a raucous demonstration of outraged hair braiders.'' No wonder it was unanimous.

Seeing stars

Assemblyman Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, has submitted requests asking for $10 million to renovate and expand the Griffith Observatory. The money would be added to $43 million in donations and local funds to complete the building's restoration.

Bills to watch

SB 501, introduced by state Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight, R-Palmdale, would allow a juvenile's name to be released to the public if the youth is charged with a serious felony or graffiti offense. Another of Knight's bills, SB 503, would require written proof to the DMV of good school attendance before a teen-ager could get a driver's license.

AB 800, introduced by Assemblyman Carl Washington, D-Compton, would require the state to shield the identity of public school pupils who report a gun on their campus.

SB 1219, introduced by state Sen. Adam B. Schiff, D-Pasadena, would require initiatives using paid signature gatherers to say so on their petitions.