WATERS OF WOE: Mayor Riordan has apparently...

WATERS OF WOE: Mayor Riordan has apparently heard the screams of pain from the Valley over huge water bills. He put four more Valley residents on a committee to reconsider the rate change that hits the area especially hard (B5) . . . Two said they’re annoyed over their own bills. “Ridiculous,” one said.

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HAPPY RABBIS: Women rabbis elsewhere in the nation are complaining about sexual harassment and lack of respect. Those in the Valley are more satisfied with their work, however (B9). They report that synagogue members and male rabbis have come a long way toward accepting them and that they’re happy in their calling. . . . But “not necessarily just before Yom Kippur,” one joked of her High Holidays workload.

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EXODUS FORECAST: If the bitterly fought school voucher initiative wins, how many parents would actually switch the kids to a private school? It’s no academic question; opponents argue that the state saves no money unless at least 20% do. Former Education Secretary William J. Bennett (above) made a prediction in Woodland Hills: 25% statewide, up to half in L.A. (B4) . . . Opponents scoffed.

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MURDER DEAL: Robert Glen Jones, who stabbed a pregnant Sherri Foreman of Toluca Lake to death at a Sherman Oaks automated teller machine, may well have saved himself from the gas chamber. Jones pleaded guilty--avoiding a trial that could have led to a death sentence for the murder that roused Valley residents to demand more security at bank machines (B1) . . . The deal: He gets life without parole.

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ICEMEN COMETH: You can see the Los Angeles Kings, the defending Campbell Conference champions, without leaving the Valley. Not in competition, but in practice. Once again, the Kings are practicing at the Iceoplex at 8345 Hayvenhurst Place in North Hills, usually in the late morning or early afternoon. Fans can watch from Brandon’s, the arena’s restaurant. . . . On days the Kings are in town, that is.