N Christian Anderson

Citing a shortfall of more than $20 million in advertising revenue, the Orange County Register said Friday that it would offer voluntary buyouts to employees to help reduce its workforce. If enough people do not accept buyouts, layoffs will be likely, said N. Christian Anderson III, publisher and chief executive of the Santa Ana-based newspaper. He declined to specify the target savings and denied staff members' reports of $5 million to $8 million.

Municipal Judge Calvin Schmidt, who is targeted in a corruption probe, filed a libel suit against the Orange County Register on Tuesday, contending the newspaper printed unfounded allegations that he gave lenient treatment to two prostitutes in exchange for sex.

R. David Threshie, publisher of the Orange County Register for nearly 20 years, said Tuesday he will leave that post Jan. 1 and be succeeded by former Register editor N. Christian Anderson III. Threshie, 67, will become chairman of the board of Irvine-based Freedom Communications, the parent company of the Register. Threshie replaces Robert C. Hardie, 77, who had held the position since 1982. Threshie became publisher of the Santa Ana-based newspaper in 1979.

Newly released documents in the divorce proceedings of Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III reveal harsh battles with his former wife, Stacey, over how to divide the couple's $1 billion in community property, his alleged drug use and her relationship with the family's former security chief. The documents show that Stacey Nicholas' recent efforts to force a trial to divide the estate have been complicated by the pending criminal prosecution of Henry Nicholas. Federal indictments have accused Nicholas of distributing illegal drugs to friends and business associates, and of manipulating Broadcom stock options to secretly provide $2.2 billion in benefits to employees of the Irvine microchip company.

The Los Angeles Newspaper Guild has launched a signature drive among the 1,200 non-management employees at the Orange County Register, calling for a vote on union representation throughout the newspaper. James Smith, administrative officer for the Los Angeles Guild, said Thursday that the yearlong organizing campaign for Register employees has become more intense in recent weeks.

To local Democrats, it sounded like a great idea--an April Fool's Day dinner at which community leaders would pay $1,000 each for the privilege of "roasting" Democratic financier and developer David Stein. It was supposed to be fun, said organizer Howard Adler, and money raised at this "black-tie optional dinner" at the Ritz-Carlton hotel would go toward the Orange County Democratic Party's voter-registration drive. But when the invitations went out this week, the fund-raiser hit a snag.

A group of Cal State Fullerton professors and students plan to rally at noon today in support of a Vietnam War veteran who has gone without food since Sept. 1 to protest U.S. policy in Central America. Orange County supporters of veteran Charles Liteky said Tuesday that they are using the rally, petitions and an information table at the campus to overcome what they called "a news blackout" of his fast, which began in Washington.

The Orange County Register is on the verge of slashing circulation of its weekly community edition by more than 50%, abandoning direct mail of the tabloid to about 370,000 residences because of insufficient advertising, sources said Friday. If approved by the paper's management, the circulation cut will end an ambitious 4-year-old program to build the Register's circulation by blanketing 80% of Orange County households with the localized tabloid.

The recent Times article on declining newspaper readership among the young, and now middle-aged "baby boom" generation was a sad and discouraging account ("For Papers, Generation Is Missing," March 15). As one of those baby boomers, whose reading habits have fluctuated between rabid and decidedly lackadaisical, I recognized the attitude: "Why should I read the paper--other than the sports' page? It takes too long, and I don't have the time. It costs too much now. Most of it doesn't mean anything to me anyway--it's boring.

When the South Orange County YWCA held its "Celebrate Excellence" awards dinner at the Irvine Hilton recently, 330 guests were on hand to applaud nine women chosen for outstanding work in their professional fields. Sheila P. Sonenshine, presiding judge of the 4th District Court of Appeal, called the gathering a "Who's Who" of Orange County women. Sonenshine presented the religion award to Hinda Beral, director of the American Jewish Committee in Orange County.