WIDE-EYED: Details of the county bankruptcy revealed...

WIDE-EYED: Details of the county bankruptcy revealed in grand jury transcripts this week provided the League of Women Voters with one more reason to keep a sharp eye on county government (A30). Over the last few months, the league has tried to send observers to all county public meetings, not just Board of Supervisors sessions. The transcripts “make us even more interested in closely following what’s going on,” league official Jean Askham said. “It’s so important to understand how the system works.” . . . Or, in the case of the bankruptcy, how it doesn’t work.

GROUP SUCCESS: Is there any drawback in the work world to have been raised in an orphanage? UC Irvine economics professor Richard McKenzie has done a study of 600 orphans now adults, with some positive results. . . . Their employment rate is far greater than the national average, they have lower divorce and poverty rates. Also, the vast majority preferred their orphanage to foster homes, or living with their relatives. . . . McKenzie has a special interest in the subject: He too was an orphan.

FUNNY ROADS: If you do stand-up for a living, you can’t pass up a New Year’s Eve gig. Brian Regan, who’s been making career breakthroughs with TV appearances on Leno and Letterman, will be at the Irvine Improv Sunday night. His opening there Tuesday was jammed. . . . “It’s nice to play in front of a crowd that’s doing their part,” says Regan. “They’ll go down any road you take them.”

HOME LIFELINES: The AIDS Services Foundation is expecting its number of clients to increase about 15% in 1996. That means more volunteers will be needed, to make monthly telephone contacts to assure that AIDS victims have whatever they need. So it’s turning to senior citizens for help. . . . “It may seem an unusual match,” says Jeanette Wood, director of the Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County. “But we’ve seen in previous projects that seniors are dedicated and thorough. These calls are a lifeline for some of these AIDS victims.”