WINNERS AGAIN: Taft High School of Woodland...

WINNERS AGAIN: Taft High School of Woodland Hills, which placed second in the last national Academic Decathlon, tied for first place in Saturday’s Super Quiz portion of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s decathlon. That’s the College Bowl-type brain-buster that’s a key part of the annual competition. . . . William S. Hart High School of Santa Clarita tied for first in the Super Quiz for schools outside the LAUSD (B1). Final results for both decathlons will be announced Nov. 30.

BUNGLED ROBBERY: Things didn’t go as planned for two robbers in Glendale the other night. Their first victim, a pedestrian near Glendale Avenue and Chevy Chase Drive, had only $2 when confronted with a sawed-off shotgun Friday. . . . They then accosted a second man on North Brand Boulevard, but he shouted “Get out of here!” when they demanded his wallet. The man, described by Glendale Police Sgt. Terry Jones only as a 27-year-old Riverside resident, then grabbed the shotgun. The robbers fled.

FALLOUT ZONE: High rolling lobbyist Clayton R. Jackson is the sole defendant facing corruption charges in a Sacramento courtroom, but some of the disclosures in the trial might make it rough going for several elected officials planning to move up the political ladder. . . . Among those mentioned has been state Sen. David Roberti (D-Van Nuys). (A3).

A FIRE RUNS OVER IT: Gawkers can’t see it, and fire, it seems, can’t hurt it. . . . Mary Ellen Strote’s 4,000-square-foot underground home, built into a hillside in the Santa Monica Mountains, withstood the recent wildfires (B1). The Calabasas-Malibu fire went through homes on Saddle Peak faster than kids eat candy, but her steel and concrete home was only singed on the outside. Firefighters praised the 51-year-old woman’s foresight for sensing the inevitability of a firestorm.