Geiger

Christian Jensen and Jason Geiger each scored four goals to lead Laguna Beach to an 11-4 victory over La Verne Bonita in the championship of the Valencia water polo tournament Saturday at Valencia High. John Rootlieb added a goal and Mike Marriner recorded 11 saves for Laguna Beach (4-0). Jensen, tournament MVP, scored 16 goals in four games, including four in Laguna Beach's 9-7 victory over Encino Crespi (2-1) in the semifinals.

Charlotte reserve center Matt Geiger scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, helped hold New York's Patrick Ewing to one basket in the second half and the Charlotte Hornets won their fourth consecutive game, 115-105, Wednesday night at Charlotte. Rookie center George Zidek got off to a good start against Ewing, making three hook shots and helping the Hornets to a 27-24 lead after the first quarter.

Philadelphia 76er center Matt Geiger had arthroscopic surgery Friday on his left knee. Jack McPhilemy, the team physician, performed the surgery at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia. Geiger, expected to be sidelined four to six weeks, suffered torn cartilage and a sprained ligament after stepping on Toni Kukoc's foot during practice Tuesday. Geiger sat out the first 17 games of last season because of an injury to the same knee. Geiger averaged 9.7 points and 6.0 rebounds in 65 games last season.

Laguna Beach, ranked eighth in Orange County, beat third-ranked Los Alamitos, 8-7, in overtime in the South Coast water polo tournament. Johnny Geiger scored the winning goal for the Artists in their second-round game. Tyler Wawrzynski scored two goals for the Griffins (6-2). In other tournament games: Foothill 11, University 8--Matt McPherson scored two goals in the second-round victory over University (6-3) and four in a 17-5 victory over Long Beach Poly for top-ranked Foothill (4-0).

Taking aim at California's pioneering efforts to bolster animal safety, the House Agriculture Committee has moved to block states from imposing their own standards for agriculture products on producers from other states. That could jeopardize California laws to protect chickens as well as one to ban foie gras, which took effect this month.  The panel's amendment to the farm bill was a response to a California law, which will take effect in 2015, that requires that all eggs sold in the state be produced by hens held in cages big enough to allow the chickens to stand and spread their wings.

As part of President Obama's push to streamline regulations on businesses, the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to let chicken slaughterhouses run production lines faster and with fewer federal inspectors, angering food safety advocates and poultry plant workers. Under the proposal, production lines would be allowed to move 25% faster, while the government would cut by as much as 75% the number of line inspectors eyeing chicken bodies for defects before they are packaged for consumption.

A new era in the NBA dawned Friday, when center Alonzo Mourning, a 25-year-old, two-time all-star considered by the Charlotte Hornets as their cornerstone, turned down their $11-million-a-year offer and forced a trade. That set up the first skirmish in a year that will see stars such as Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal eligible for free agency. Miami's Pat Riley won it, sending Glen Rice, two more starters and a No. 1 pick to Charlotte for Mourning.

Along with being radioactive, the atomic kittens of the San Onofre nuclear power plant are now learning to cope with yet another modern invention: fame. After a Times story about how the cats were born inside the perimeter of the heavily guarded plant and tested positive for radioactive cesium and cobalt, offers of adoption began to arrive, and news outlets, including the BBC in London, began asking for pictures (of the cats) and interviews (with Southern California Edison officials).

It's no surprise George Zidek is struggling in his first season out of UCLA, that his playing time is going down and his frustration level is rising. The surprise is that it's happening in the NBA, rather than the Continental Basketball Assn., the U.S. Basketball League or pickup games at the YMCA.