Base closing day *

Today is when localities learn which military bases are proposed for closure. The talk that has regional economic officials the most nervous is rumblings that Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo will be on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's list. The base has no runways or aircraft, but it does support 4,500 military and civilian jobs and may pump as much as $8 billion a year into the local economy.

* Update: The El Segundo base was spared. The main local installations to be targeted are Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Centers in Encino and L.A.