WATCH THE SUNSET: Unless you know the...

WATCH THE SUNSET: Unless you know the turf well, chances are you’ve passed through Sunset Beach--a coastal strand just north of Pacific Coast Highway--and didn’t even know it. But no more. . . . New Caltrans signs are now posted telling you when you’re in Sunset Beach--population 1,200. Longtime Sunset Beach resident Russ Godin was the primary lobbyist for markers. Says Godin: “It’s an unincorporated city. We kind of get lost in the maze.”

NO LYNCH MOB: Investment firm Merrill Lynch may be getting a black eye over some of its dealings leading to Orange County’s bond crisis, but it still has lots of fans. . . . In a new national survey of bank executives, they predicted Merrill Lynch would be their biggest competitor in three years. Says survey spokesman David Partridge: “With a minimal cost burden, Merrill Lynch has established a national franchise based on customer needs-focused retailing.” . . . Note: The survey was taken pre-crisis.

KIDS FIRST: Peter Keller wasn’t school-age yet when his grandmother started taking him to museums. Now Keller, executive director of the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, is making his own impact on youth. . . . He’s a major force behind Bowers’ new Kidseum, which opens for youngsters Sunday (OC Live!). “If people don’t get kid interested in museums at a young age, they may never go,” he says. “That would be pretty bleak.”

G-RATED SANTA: People upset because adult cable channels unexpectedly pop up on their TV screens brought new recruits to their cause before the Orange City Council Tuesday--Santa Claus and small children (B3). Santa didn’t speak, but the children did. . . . Among them, Jonathan Davis, 10, who said he hasn’t seen any of the adult movies himself, but “my little 4-year-old sister was not so lucky. She now has pornography in her vocabulary. She will never forget this, the rest of her life, thanks to Cablevision of Orange.”. . . It helped: The council fined Cablevision.