As airlines continue to grapple with skyrocketing costs and packed airplanes, many are looking to cut down on how long planes are on the ground by instituting crafty ways of loading and unloading passengers at the gate. Read about it in The New York Times .

The Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association holds its community meeting to discuss the state of crime in the Valley with special guest, LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Moore. 7:30 p.m. 14130 Riverside Dr. Sherman Oaks (818) 377-4590 shermanoaks914.com

Antelope Valley Hospital today opened its new Women and Infants Pavilion, a $24.3 million complex on the southwest corner of the hospital’s Lancaster campus. The facility is an integrated birth and maternity center, with three modern operating suites, decorated patient rooms and a state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit. It will also offer on-site classes and other resources for new families. The Pavilion will also utilize “couplet care,” in which a newborn is not separated from mother or taken to a nursery after birth. The project was developed in response to the region’s rapidly growing population, which has put increasing pressure on medical institutions. The 379-bed Antelope Valley Hospital has delivered 5,000 babies each year for the past several years.

Chatsworth-based cancer diagnostics and treatment product company North American Scientific Inc. received Food and Drug Administration approval to market a radiation design of the breast cancer treatment it development. ClearPath uses radioactive seeds placed in the breast using needles, catheters or other devices. The FDA approved the internal radiation, called breast brachytherapy, and the specific design of ClearPath. North American Scientific received approval to market the low-dose version in April.

Test systems provider Ixia will restate financial statements for four fiscal years because customer support and maintenance obligations had not been properly accounted for, the company announced. The Calabasas firm also notified the Securities and Exchange Commission of a late filing of its financial report for the quarter ending Sept. 30. A review of accounting practices found that the company may have implied post-contract support and maintenance obligations extending beyond the company’s standard post-contract support period. The financial reporting periods to be restated are the year ended Dec. 31, 2003; the year ended Dec. 31, 2004 and each quarter for that year; the year ended Dec. 31, 2005 and each quarter for that year; and the quarters ended March 31, 2006 and June 30, 2006. Because of the restatement, the financial numbers reported for those years and quarters should no longer be relied upon, the company said.

CalHFA-Sunrise Lancaster, a 152-unit apartment community in the Antelope Valley, was sold for $14.5 million. The buyer was L.A. Darts Properties LLC. The complex is part of a six-property portfolio that California Housing Financing Agency has owned as a result of foreclosures in the mid-1990s. Four of the properties in the portfolio have already sold, and the remaining two properties are set to close escrow early next year. Robin D. Ossenbeck and Karoline Sauls, both of Hendricks & Partners, negotiated the deal.

Countrywide Financial Corp. has opened its 21st Southern California location in Calabasas. The financial center, located across from The Commons at Calabasas, offers CDs, IRA CDs, money market and savings accounts. Since it launched in 2001, Countrywide Bank has grown to assets of $88 billion and now ranks as the 11th largest bank in the nation based on assets. Calabasas-based Countrywide in recent days announced plans to convert its banks to savings and loans.

Glendale Adventist Medical Center has upgraded a system to treat inoperable tumors in the spine. The hospital acquired the latest Varian/Zmed Cone Beam and floorstand system upgrade to its Linear Accelerator technology, allowing stereotactic radiosurgery to eliminate the tumors. It also makes treating lesions near critical structures, such as the optic nerve, safer. The facility is one of only a handful of sites in the country capable of providing SRS treatment for spine disorders.

Biopharmaceutical company Amgen Inc. will pay licensing partner Biopharmaceutical Medarex Inc. an unspecified payment after an antibody moved into clinical trials. Amgen created the antibody using Medarex’s UltiMab technology. Medarex said it could receive future milestone payments and some royalties if the antibody receives approval and moves to the market.

The Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce holds its membership development committee meeting. 8:30 a.m. 40 W. Cochran, Ste 100 Simi Valley (805) 526-3900 simivalleychamber.org