TRAGIC IRONY: Marsha Morse, who was the...

TRAGIC IRONY: Marsha Morse, who was the kind of person who took cabs home rather than ride with people who were intoxicated, died after being hit by an alleged drunk driver as she unloaded groceries outside her Sherman Oaks apartment. (B1) . . . Friends and relatives said they feel a special outrage because the man charged with her death had five convictions for driving under the influence.

SCHOOL REFORM: Panelists at a Woodland Hills symposium described the structure and goals of several school reform programs aimed at improving the learning process by bringing local control to campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District. (B3) . . . While voicing high hopes for the reform movement, panelists acknowledged the barriers to success in a state that in 15 years has plummeted from the top to near the bottom in per-pupil spending.

VALLEY ROYALS: Some Southland homeowners like Nancy Oliva and Robert Bond of Sherman Oaks, above, have eschewed today’s trendy high-tech homes by creating one-of-a-kind castles. (K1) . . . Bond and Oliva turned a 1,400-square-foot house into a much larger 11th-Century Scottish castle. Don Brownstein, who built a three-story medieval castle in Northridge, says he feels like the king of his block.

POOL PARTY: A former competitive swimmer, who heads the Glendale-based Adult Aquaphobic Swim Centers, teaches adults to overcome their fear of deep water by “learning the joy of being in the water” (Los Angeles Times Magazine) . . . Paul Lennon refers to water as “luscious” and “sensual” and keeps the pool at a womb-like 92 degrees.

JUSTICE SERVED: An estimated 500 home buyers and sellers involved with a Santa Clarita-based escrow company closed in June are expected to receive about 96% of the $2.75 million investigators say was embezzled by the company’s owners. (B6)