TRANSIENTS SHOT: Two transients evicted from a...
TRANSIENTS SHOT: Two transients evicted from a shanty near the railroad tracks in Winnetka were shot when they allegedly tried to burglarize the home of a man they thought had taken their belongings. . . . One of the transients died instantly, and the other was critically wounded. They apparently were trying to retrieve a wallet containing credit cards and a passport that Neighborhood Watch volunteers had turned over to police after they dismantled the hut (B1).
HOT ROCK: Such a deal. . . . Jewelry merchant Peter Morlock keeps an eye out for precious gems on the cheap. Last winter, he found a bargain he couldn’t resist: A group of men offered to sell him the same $1.2-million Burmese ruby that was stolen from him in 1990. So he called police--and in a sting operation last month, five men were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to sell the prized 6.76-carat stone. Now the case is providing a rare glimpse inside the nation’s second-largest jewelry district, a place where handshakes are the preferred way of doing business and where police are often loath to intercede (B1).
LIVIN’ IS EASY: The Valley, with its wide streets and malls, may look like an unfriendly place for growing things. . . . The truth, as any back-yard gardener can tell you, is far different. The weary, urbanized soil still rallies with a little coaxing, compost and, as always, water. Jerry Sims, above, shows off some of the apples grown on the trees in his garden (B1).
CARDBOARD JUNGLE: It’s the newest thing, but it’s nearly a century old. . . . It’s the world of milk-bottle cap collecting. You may not remember milk-bottle caps, but they were those little cardboard discs squeezed into the necks of dairy bottles in Grandma’s day. Now, they’re back, and the hobby’s hotblooded devotees think it could supplant baseball cards as one of America’s most popular leisure pursuits. The First National Milk Cap Show and Tournament came to Studio City on Sunday, and the hyperbole was flowing thick as cream (B4).