MEAN FEATS: When Antonio Olmos of Van...

MEAN FEATS: When Antonio Olmos of Van Nuys awoke to find his truck and landscaping tools missing, he had to find them or go jobless. By the end of the day he had his truck . . . and police had a strange crime ring, which followed landscapers home to nab equipment (B1). Police called it especially cruel. . . depriving poor workers of a livelihood.

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HOT MOWER BIZ COOL: The report stunned Dennis C. Dix., head of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, which represents most manufacturers of mowers and lawn equipment. Because there is little demand for used mowers and such, fencing the loot would be “a dollar’s worth of effort chasing a dime,” he said. “Only in Southern California could that have happened.”

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JEWISH SCHOOL: Backers of a proposed Reform Jewish high school on Mulholland Drive say it would be the only U.S. school to offer a Jewish education free of the strict bonds of Orthodox schools. But it won’t be built without a fight. Neighbors complain it would add to the traffic jams of motorists taking a shortcut over the Santa Monica Mountains (B1) . . . That’s Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin above with a model.

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A CUT ABOVE: When ordered to get his hair trimmed 20 years ago, Greg Garrett of Valencia declined, walking away from a professional baseball career and into Santa Clarita Valley lore. Now a legendary softball player and power-lifting champion, at age 46 he’s becoming a pro bowler (C10). . . . Biggest accomplishment: Two gold medals in the National Transplant Olympics after a kidney transplant .