DRIVE-BY I.D.: The two men driving through...

DRIVE-BY I.D.: The two men driving through a quiet Oxnard neighborhood Thursday morning seemed to fit the description of bank robbers who had just made off with bags of cash from a Camarillo bank. (B1) So sheriff’s deputies pulled them over and handcuffed them right there at 4th and G streets. Then--in an impromptu lineup--deputies drove witnesses past the pair to see if anyone recognized them. . . . No one did. Deputies released the two men.

BACK IN THE GAME: After losing a playoff berth on a coin toss, Simi Valley High’s baseball team on Thursday won a chance to compete when a division committee agreed the school should play in the tournament. (C6) . . . Earlier, the Marmonte League resolved a tie between Simi Valley and Westlake High by tossing a coin. But a protest from Simi Coach Mike Scyphers knocked Westlake out and put the Pioneers back into play--starting today at 3 p.m. against Alemany High in Mission Hills.

WIT AND WISDOM: Ronald Reagan had just finished quoting one of Ben Franklin’s famous lines when he quipped to the luncheon audience: “And ever since he told me that, I’ve been doing just fine.” . . . Reagan’s words may never have the staying power of that 18th-Century sage, but his admirers want them remembered. A new book, “The Wisdom and Humor of the Great Communicator,” offers quotes and photographs of the former President. . . . It hits the bookstores May 30, but the Reagan library near Simi Valley has already sold 130 copies signed by Nancy.

WRITER’S CORNER: Decades ago, Erle Stanley Gardner practiced law in a third-floor office at California and Main. Then, he put down his law books to write fiction. Eventually, he wrote 82 books about his alter ego, Perry Mason. . . . Today, Ventura’s Historic Preservation Committee will designate his building a Historic Point of Interest. A 2 p.m. ceremony at the Phantom Bookshop on Main Street will include a tribute to the writer, who spent 15 years in Ventura.