CLOSE QUARTERS: With jails overcrowded already, Sheriff...

CLOSE QUARTERS: With jails overcrowded already, Sheriff Brad Gates’ top aides warn that a new round of county budget cuts may mean slashing jail capacity and freeing even more inmates (B1). . . . Current efforts to reduce crowding by issuing citations only for some less-serious infractions have shown only limited success, says Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Olson. . . . The peak jail population still hovers far above its maximum capacity of 3,200, he reports. “We are simply not seeing decreases in jail population.”

CLOSING TIME: The fate of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station will be examined again today by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission in San Diego. . . . Expect angry testimony from San Diegans (A1) who are fighting to keep Miramar Naval Air Station from closing instead of El Toro. . . . And a Tustin group will make an unusual plea: Go ahead and shut down the Marine Corps base at Tustin as approved two years ago.

LIGHTS! CAMERA! Hollywood came to Santa Ana again Wednesday. . . . At the ornate old courthouse, director Rob Reiner filmed courtroom scenes for “North,” his fable about an 11-year-old boy who divorces his parents and searches for new ones. On the set were Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, two stars of TV’s “Seinfeld,” who play the child’s parents. . . . The old courthouse, built in 1900, has been used mainly for filming and weddings since the 11-story County Courthouse opened nearby in 1969.

ROCK ON: South African musician Johnny Clegg stops at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano tonight in an acoustic preview to his U.S. tour. . . . The deaths of band member Dudu Zulu and friend David Webster in the last three years nearly caused Clegg, 39, to quit music altogether. . . . But he says a prophet told him to carry on. And so he begins a 42-city tour on June 28. “It’s going to be very difficult without Dudu,” says Clegg.

Jailhouse Peaks

The most overcrowded days at Orange County Jail for each year since 1989: ‘93: 4,776* OC jail capacity: 3,200 * Year to date

Source: Orange County Sheriff’s Department