* Send AROUND TOWN items to the...

* Send AROUND TOWN items to the Daily Pilot, 330 W. Bay St., Costa

Mesa, CA 92627; by e-mail to jeff.benson@latimes.com; by fax to (949)

646-4170; or by calling (949) 574-4298. Include the time, date and

location of the event, as well as a contact phone number.

TODAY

A free bone-density screening is held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at

Mother’s, 225 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa. Information: (949) 631-4741.

A book-discussion group, “We Want Fiction!,” will meet to talk

about Edith Wharton’s “Ethan Frome” at 7 p.m. at Book Soup South

Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Suite 2400, Costa Mesa. Participants

in the group receive 20% off the purchase of the book. Information:

(714) 689-2665.

WEDNESDAY

Toddler Time “Mud and Muck!” is a parent-child learning experience

that has a park ranger teaching, telling stories and employing

hands-on fun for children 2 to 4, beginning at 9 or 10:30 a.m. The

cost is $5 per child, and registration is required. Information:

(949) 923-2275.

The Newport Beach Newcomers Club meets the third Wednesday of

every month. This month’s meeting is at 11 a.m. at the Back Bay Cafe,

1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach. Additional activities at the club

include bridge, canasta, home and garden, tea ladies, brunch, movies,

golf and tennis. Information: (949) 673-7601.

National security expert Jonathan Adelman of the University of

Denver Graduate School of International Studies will host a dessert

reception at 7:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel, 690 Newport Center

Drive, Newport Beach. Adelman served as Doctoral Dissertation Advisor

to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. The reception is $36

per person. Information: (714) 957-4540.

Charles Zender, assistant professor of Earth system science at UC

Irvine, will lecture on “The Threat of Global Warming” from 7:30 to 9

p.m. at Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church, 1259 Victoria

St., Costa Mesa. The event is free. Information: (949) 646-4652.

THURSDAY

J.Jill will celebrate its grand opening with a fashion show,

featuring Anaheim Angels wives and girlfriends, hors d’oeuvres and

cocktails, from 5 to 9 p.m. at South Coast Plaza, second floor in the

Macy’s Home Store wing, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa. Information: (714)

540-5355.

Author Brian Doherty will sign “The Burning Man” at 7 p.m. at Book

Soup South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Suite 2400, Costa Mesa.

Information: (714) 689-2665.

SATURDAY

Marine biologists age 8 and

older are invited to join the marine discovery expedition in

Newport Bay from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Children under 16 must be

accompanied by an adult. The cost is $10 per person, and reservations

are required. Information: (949) 642-5031.

The Friends of the Newport Beach Library will hold a used-book

sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Friends Meeting Room at the Central

Library, 1000 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach. Information: (949)

759-9667.

A two-hour walking tour of the Back Bay will be given by a trained

naturalist beginning at 9:30 a.m. There is no cost, and there are no

reservations needed. Information: (949) 923-2269.

A two-hour electric boat tour of the Back Bay will be given by a

trained naturalist beginning at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $10 per

person, and reservations are required. Information: (949) 923-2269.

Randy Myers will sign his book, “Jesus, The Computer and New York

City,” at noon at Barnes & Noble, Metro Pointe, 901 South Coast

Drive, Costa Mesa. Information: (714) 444-0226.

Tigers of the Sky is a course that teaches the habit and methods

of various airborne predators of the Southern California skies,

including the owl. It includes a live-bird presentation from the

Orange County Birds of Prey Center and an owl-pellet dissection.

Beginning at 1 p.m., the cost is $5 per person. Information: (949)

923-2275.

Author John DePuy will discuss and sign his new book, “Building

Business in the 21st century,” at 2 p.m. at Borders, South Coast

Plaza, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa. Information: (949) 631-8661.