OBSERVING KWANZAA: Today marks the start of...

OBSERVING KWANZAA: Today marks the start of the African American holiday that celebrates culture, family and community. Growing numbers of African Americans are observing Kwanzaa, a time to dedicate oneself to seven guiding principles that embody unity, creativity and faith (B2). . . . There are about 73,000 African Americans in the Valley, out of a total of 990,000 in Los Angeles County.

NO SWEAT: The smiling juggler casually keeping three apples in the air on that new Toyota television commercial is a local boy, Mark Nizer of Sylmar. But three apples is a bit below what Nizer, holder of the 1990 International Juggling Assn. individual title, usually juggles. . . . He’s one of the regulars at the weekly juggling session at Valley College, where several of the world’s best practitioners of the art, as well as dozens of others who come to learn from the best, come to polish their skills. His specialty is rings and he regularly does runs with eight, just short of the world record of nine.

QUEEN OF STING: A Granada Hills woman known as “Sure Sting Shirley” uses a highly controversial sting therapy on people with multiple sclerosis. She believes that the stings--applied up to 25 times a session, three times a week--alleviate the symptoms of the degenerative nerve disease. (B1) . . . Her regular clients swear by the treatments administered from bees Shirley keeps in jars, but medical experts say there is no scientific evidence the stings offer a beneficial effect. In some cases, the experts say, the stings might even be dangerous.

DANCE HALL BLUES: There was almost trouble right here in Santa Clarita city, but local residents got a pool hall/dance club promoter to abandon plans for such an establishment in a Newhall neighborhood. (B1) . . . The promoter still has hopes that a site can be found in the area for his business that he plans to call Spurs-N-Ques.

African Americans

Valley communities with the largest African American populations: Arleta-Pacoima: 11,109 Mission Hills-Panorama City-Sepulveda: 7,900 Van Nuys-North Sherman Oaks: 7,150 North Hollywood: 5,537 Sunland-Tujunga: 4,343 Source: 1990 U.S. Census