IMMIGRATION: What about a counterfeit-proof Social Security...

IMMIGRATION: What about a counterfeit-proof Social Security card to deter illegal immigration? Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) has made just such a proposal, and he said Friday that the idea--which may be combined with a proposal for a national work eligibility registry--could be before the full House by August. “Immigration has finally become a national issue in Congress,” he said.

CAT’S MEOW: The suites have color television and couches and cost slightly more than a room at Motel 6. The catch? Guests have to be cats. . . . The Cat Hotel in Burbank, which opened Friday, is a 3,000-square-foot kennel with 24 individual suites costing up to $35 per night. Other accommodations include piped-in music of croaking frogs and a 1,500-gallon aquarium. What next? Said one hotel spokesman: “We’re trying to get the Nature Channel.”

REVEALING: The Dead Sea Scrolls are getting a closer look by religious experts, thanks to Gregory Bearman, above. The Jet Propulsion Lab physicist has developed space-age imaging technology that is now being used to better decipher the oldest discovered biblical texts. . . . Bearman explained the new techniques this week at Adat Ari El Synagogue in North Hollywood (B1).

DUCK, DONALD: The entertainment industry took another shot Friday when Elizabeth Dole said she’d sell more than $15,000 in Walt Disney Co. stock. . . . Dole had just learned that Miramax, a subsidiary of Burbank-based Disney, had made “Priest,” a film that was panned by her husband, presidential candidate Bob Dole (A18).

TRAIL FIX: As part of National Trails Day, Valley volunteers are needed today to repair Cold Creek Canyon Trail in Calabasas. Fire and flood damage during the past two years has eroded the 1 1/2-mile path alongside waterfalls and fern-lined hillsides. . . . Volunteers are asked to meet at 9:30 a.m. at Cold Creek Canyon Preserve on Stunt Road, one mile from Mulholland Highway.