Los Angeles Times

Faced with rising newsprint costs, flat first-half revenue and an uncertain Southern California economy, the Los Angeles Times is intensifying cost-cutting efforts and will reduce the company's work force by about 700 positions in 1995, Times Publisher Richard T. Schlosberg III said Tuesday. The newspaper has already eliminated 230 of those jobs, Schlosberg said in a letter to be distributed to employees today.

Lawrence M. Higby, president of the Los Angeles Times Orange County edition and a vice president of The Times, and William A. Niese, vice president and general counsel, have been promoted to newly created positions of senior vice presidents. Higby, as senior vice president of consumer marketing, will oversee circulation, promotion and cable marketing programs at The Times, including marketing of the paper's Orange County, San Fernando Valley, Ventura and San Diego editions.

*--* Southern California Rating FICTION *--* *--* 1 DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD by Rebecca Wells (HarperPerennial: $14) Sisterhood in the South 2 EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class lives in Maine 3 FACE THE FIRE by Nora Roberts (Jove: $7.

PAPERBACKS Fiction -- Fiction weeks on list 1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $19.99) Bella 27 must choose between her lover and a friend, between life and death. 2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown: $22.99) 24 The final book in the "Twilight" saga finds Bella choosing immortality. 3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by 24 Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press: $22) A writer corresponds with islanders after German occupation.

GIRLS Name: Jennifer Dalton School: Glendale Year: Senior Height: 5-8 Avg.: 20.0 Name: Nancy Evans School: Hoover Year: Junior Height: 5-7 Avg.: 19.0 Name: Maria Fulay School: Marshall Year: Junior Height: 5-3 Avg.: 15.1 Name: Laurel Hitchin School: Eagle Rock Year: Senior Height: 5-7 Avg.: 10.0 Name: Karen Pindron School: Flintridge Sacred Heart Year: Senior Height: 5-9 Avg.: 12.0 Name: Shawna Sherburne School: Flintridge Prep Year: Senior Height: 5-6 Avg.: 13.

Total estimated damage: $250 million MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS: * I-5 and Highway 14: Rebuild interchange Phase 1: Total cost: $23.1 million Early completion bonus: $3.5 million Date of reopening: July 8 Phase 2: Total cost: $13.2 million Early completion bonus: none Open: November 4 * Gavin Canyon Bridges I-5: Rebuild Total Cost: $19.75 million Early completion bonus: $4.