FLY BUYS: Major airlines followed Northwest’s lead...

FLY BUYS: Major airlines followed Northwest’s lead by slashing fares up to 30% (D1) to lure travelers remaining close to home this summer. . . But that sparked no fare war at Burbank Airport. Southwest, its largest carrier, is studying the move but doesn’t compete with Northwest. America West offered cuts earlier, slicing a Minneapolis round trip from $470 to $368.

WHERE’S THE MONEY?: Brokers Investment Corp. in Woodland Hills raised $109 million for ventures run by U.S. Fiberline Communications. But the Securities and Exchange Commission says at least $40 million is missing, and that Brokers Investment was a huge boiler-room scam. See Valley Business, Page 3.

BOY AND HIS PIG: TV’s “Beverly Hills 90210” was recently the epitome of the young and hip, but Luke Perry, its bad boy heartthrob, is a few steps behind the wave. (B1) Perry, above, recently bought a Tarzana home and appealed for permits to keep three Vietnamese potbellied pigs--fad pets that once commanded $10,000 prices but are lucky now to escape the barbecue. . . Said a neighbor: “We have peacocks in the neighborhood that are much more annoying.”

IF YOU BUILD IT . . . So how about actually converting a Woodland Hills intersection into a sort of Little League memorial, with statues of pitcher and batter--as has been seriously suggested? Columnist Scott Harris (B1) found that Danny Frydrychowski, whose Unocal station would be just off third base, loves the idea. . . . Most others echoed a waitress named Renee: “Get outta here.”

SCHOOL OF LIFE: They are native English speakers and immigrants, engineers and housecleaners, who have survived war, upheaval and poverty from Azerbaijan to Watts. This month they share a common distinction--they join more than 1,000 adults awarded an eighth-grade diploma, the most modest issued by the L.A. schools Adult Education Division (B1).