STRIKE AVERTED: With the DWP strike just...

STRIKE AVERTED: With the DWP strike just settled, county officials announced Friday that a potentially crippling walkout by thousands of county workers angered over threatened pay cuts has been avoided. (B1). . . . But after giving DWP workers 9% pay hikes, the city still faces tough negotiations with fire and police unions. (B1)

TWO FOR THE AIRPORT: One challenge to Burbank Airport expansion evaporated when the Los Angeles Unified School District accepted $2.5 million Friday to soundproof a school at the end of a runway, settling a lawsuit. (B4). . . . And the growing airport also announced it will add a new carrier, Reno Air, offering four flights daily between Burbank and San Francisco, on Oct. 15. Reno becomes the airport’s fifth commercial carrier, and follows Southwest Airlines’ 10% expansion earlier this year. (B3)

A FIELD DAY: Valley-area high school football moved into high gear on the first Friday night of the 1993 season . . . Grant and Verdugo Hills highs got the jump on their rivals by playing a day game. Above, Grant’s Ray Singleton carries the ball. Complete results can be found in Sports. (C12-17)

SMOG WATCH: While the foulest air of the year descended on much of the Southland Thursday and Friday, the San Fernando Valley was spared a first stage smog alert. (B1). . . . The episode marred a general improvement in air quality over the past decade. For instance, smoggy days in Reseda went from 87 between 1980 and 1982 to 40 for the period from 1990 to 1992, according to officials at the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

FALLOUT FROM B-2: Northrop Corp. will shut its B-2 bomber plant in Pico Rivera, a move expected to idle many of the 7,600 workers employed there by 1996. (D1). . . . The firm also announced Friday that most of its remaining B-2 work force will be at shared production facilities in Palmdale and at Edwards Air Force Base, where 4,200 additional workers now assemble and test the bombers.