DEFENDING THE DOC: Veterinarian Edgar R. Folkers...

DEFENDING THE DOC: Veterinarian Edgar R. Folkers Jr. won’t be at his Mission Viejo Animal Hospital today, where Orange County People for Animals plans a demonstration to support two of his unhappy customers. Their dogs died during anesthesia there. But Folkers says some of his other customers do plan to be there--to support him. “These accusations are unfounded,� Folkers says.�And many of my regular customers wanted to help.�

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NOT SO NEIGHBORLY? The city of Cypress created the “Great Neighbor Program� in 1990 to award residents who did good deeds. But some folks may wonder if they haven’t been neighborly enough lately. Nobody has won the award the past two years. . . . City Manager Darrell Essex insists there are plenty of deserving neighbors: “It’s just that with the city’s pressing financial concerns, the award sort of got swept under the carpet.� Essex says he’ll resurrect it later this year.

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NOT JUST HOT AIR: Outnumbered House Republicans savor every victory, no matter how small. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) was delighted this week when the House approved 326-98 his swipe at the National Helium Reserve. Begun in the 1920s to ensure a supply of helium for military airships, the program is now $1 billion in debt to the Treasury. The Cox legislation would end the program’s monopoly on sales to NASA, which uses helium for non-blimp research. . . . Cox calls his victory “a nice way to cut down on the blimped-out federal budget.�

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ON THE LINKS: Koll International didn’t mind that a guest at the resort it’s developing in Baja’s San Jose del Cabo stayed on the tennis court this week long after everyone else had gone to bed. . . . He was Mexico president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, on hand for inauguration of a four-lane highway linking the town to Cabo San Lucas, where Koll, based in Newport Beach, is building a second resort. Golf courses at both resorts are being designd by Jack Nicklaus.