SPENDING TIME: Elementary, Watson: the more time...

SPENDING TIME: Elementary, Watson: the more time in the mall, the more money you spend. . . . That’s all to the benefit of several Valley-area malls, especially the Glendale Galleria, where the average shopper spends 10 minutes longer than the national norm--using the time to drop almost twice as much money (A1, B4).

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PEEK-A-MOON: You swore and stamped your feet in June when those clouds hid the last lunar eclipse visible from the Valley? There, there, the cosmos makes amends. Barring a return of those inconsiderate clouds, there should be a good view Sunday night, lasting from 7:27 to almost 11 (B1). . . . But if you miss this eclipse, the next one is almost three years away.

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OH, IN THAT CASE: State officials have amended a report by the warden of the Lancaster state prison, who’s under pressure from local officials and residents over a murderer’s escape (he was recaptured). Untrue that the felon fled while a guard watching him was distracted, the warden said. There was no guard watching him (B3).

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LUCK: Despite strong winds and high brush, Santa Clarita has escaped fire disaster so far this year, which fire officials credit to an absence of arsonists. But authorities say there was a narrow escape Friday, when deputies alerted by witnesses arrested a woman they said torched a Val Verde canyon (B1). . . . The fire was held to 25 acres. It’s “too soon to tell” if she had anything to do with the disastrous fires elsewhere, investigators said, but they’re asking.

STORY TIME: It comes with the grandparent territory: storytelling. But for the Sylwesters of Granada Hills, that means coming out of puppeteer retirement with their whole menagerie of characters and 12-foot-high stage to tell the Christmas story for grandkids--and the public--at a Granada Hills Lutheran church (B1).

The Mall Scene

The national average for amount of time and money spent per visit at a shopping mall is exceeded by a few San Fernando Valley malls:

National average:

Spends: $54.10

Time: 72 minutes

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Fallbrook Mall:

Spends: $61

Time: 77 minutes

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Fashion Square Sherman Oaks:

Spends: $78

Time: 2 hours

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Glendale Galleria:

Spends: $99

Time: 82 minutes

Sources: International Council of Shopping Centers, Stillerman, Jones & Co.