FLYING SOLO: In the San Fernando Valley,...
FLYING SOLO: In the San Fernando Valley, there are nearly 39,000 families headed by single mothers. That compares to only about 14,000 families that are headed by single fathers. . . . In both cases, the Arleta-Pacoima area leads the rest of the Valley in the percentage of homes headed by single parents.
NOT MAKING IT: Foster care veteran Jason Barnett is getting a dose of reality. . . . Like most wards of the court, Barnett’s government support was terminated on his 18th birthday. Facing homelessness, Barnett settled uneasily into one of a handful of housing slots in Los Angeles County for former foster kids: the Independent Living Program apartments at Rancho San Antonio in Chatsworth. Barnett and friends share a world of $400 cars, video games and the endless pursuit of jobs offering more than minimum wage. As more college-educated twentysomethings move back home, advocates say it is cruel to toss kids without families onto the streets so young (B1).
HONORABLE KILLERS: Northridge historian Roger McGrath can quote from the letters of Black Bart, and he is conversant in the deeds of the young Jesse James and the Earp boys. . . . Sure, they were killers. But their violence was tempered by a code of honor that brought death mainly to those who deserved it. The senseless mayhem that has visited Los Angeles and the nation convinces McGrath that the code of the Old West still has something to teach us (B1).
SUCH A DEAL: Lancaster offered a fat subsidy to a pet supplies chain that was hesitating about setting up shop in town. . . . It worked. So everybody is smiling, right? Wrong. . . . Competing businesses are howling that the city is giving them a raw deal by favoring the newcomer. The fairness of such subsidies is becoming an increasingly sensitive issue as communities across the state compete to lure businesses (B1).
Single Moms
Highest percentage of San Fernando Valley households headed by single mothers: Arleta-Pacoima: 22% Mission Hills*: 19% North Hollywood: 17% Sylmar: 16% Van Nuys-north Sherman Oaks: 16% * Includes Panorama City and North Hills
Source: 1990 U.S. Census
