SPECIAL OCCASIONS: With Valentine’s Day looming, it’s...

SPECIAL OCCASIONS: With Valentine’s Day looming, it’s time to come up with a romantic game plan (F1A). For many couples, that includes wining and dining. But which wine? . . . Everyone knows the usual red-with-beef-and-white-with-fish rule, but some experts are willing to go even further. “If you like Kentucky Fried Chicken and you like sweet wine, then maybe you want a blush wine,” says Chuck Brigham, owner of Leeward Winery in Ventura. “If it’s hamburger with Hamburger Helper, a nice Zinfandel might work.”

HOT SEAT: Supervisor Susan K. Lacey, who represented the county on the Ventura County Transportation Commission, was nominated to head the panel last week. But Lacey not only didn’t get the job, she’s off the panel. Frank Schillo, the other supervisor on the commission, accused Lacey of engineering “a power play” to get the nomination and recommended that Supervisor John K. Flynn replace her on the panel. Lacey, who said she was surprised at her nomination, did not object, and the supervisors voted Flynn in Tuesday.

STILL SEARCHING: Tiny Blayke LaRue today begins undergoing a transplant that doctors hope will save his life (B1). But the need for bone-marrow donors continues, said Lynnette Chandler of Children for Tomorrow, which recruits and registers donors. . . . Although Blayke’s 3-year-old brother, who suffers from the same immune disorder, may have found a match, testing is inconclusive, she said. And there are nearly 90 other county children who also need matches. . . . A marrow drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 18 at Tommy’s Drive-In in Camarillo. Call 987-6935 for information.