Government Agencies

Filling a job that has been vacant for three years, Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday narrowly approved the hiring of an attorney to investigate the cases of children who die while in the county's care. To take the post, Rosemarie Belda will leave the Office of County Counsel, where she has represented the Department of Children and Family Services, the agency that will now be a central target of her reports. In addition to investigating child deaths, she has been asked to recommend reforms that might prevent future fatalities.

In a surprising reversal, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday moved to void the corruption conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and ordered an internal review of the prosecutors, saying their case was riddled with impropriety. The high-profile prosecution of Stevens, who at the time was the Senate's senior Republican, has been criticized by the presiding federal judge. Holder said he was reserving judgment on whether lawyers in the Justice Department's public integrity section had committed misconduct.

In a stinging repudiation of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's "poor record," the Assembly overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday that will create another agency to finish the job of building a trolley-like rail line between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena. The so-called rescue bill to establish the Metro Blue Line Construction Authority was passed on a 62-7 vote and sent back to the Senate, which is expected to approve it as early as today.

Twenty service agencies that help find employment for disabled residents of the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys recognized 36 companies and government agencies Friday for providing work to those who are mentally and physically handicapped.

A few years ago, Irvine-based Cardiac Science Inc. was like a lot of small firms itching to break into international markets. The manufacturer and distributor of cardiac medical devices had products it knew foreign customers would like. But where in the world to begin? "Figuring out how to export is a daunting task for a lot of small businesses because they simply don't know where to start," said Raymond Cohen, president and chief executive of the publicly traded company. "We were no exception."

The Agriculture Department has set a goal of resolving the snafu expected to derail its computers when the calendar reaches 2000--but it does not expect to have its plan ready until 2002. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to measure its success in protecting wetlands on the basis of how many acres of land it can set aside as federal sanctuaries each year--with virtually no consideration of how many of those parcels may actually be at risk.

PREVENTION Some child protection agencies are working to monitor potentially abusive parents before problems start. One such program has been underway in Elmira, N.Y., for nearly 20 years. Targeting young women pregnant for the first time, a specially trained nurse visits their homes an average of nine times, with two dozen more trips in the first two years after the child's birth.

Columbus Day will be observed Monday. The following schedules will be in effect: * Closed: Los Angeles city and county offices, state and federal offices, courts, banks, post offices and libraries. * Open: Most businesses, Los Angeles city and county schools. MTA buses will follow regular schedules. * Trash: Trash will be collected on a regular schedule for all Los Angeles city residents.

In a victory for environmentalists and state and local governments, a divided California Supreme Court held Thursday that private property owners are not entitled to compensation for improper development delays caused by regulatory agencies.