FOR THE BOYS: Northridge can make history...

FOR THE BOYS: Northridge can make history again this year. Its Little League team plays tonight in the Western Regional finals--one win and it goes to the World Series. . . . Northridge, which sent teams to Williamsport in 1967 and 1975, could become the first league from the region to do it three times. “I still have the home plate and three bases from our 1975 team,” says former coach Barry Breen (C8).

USHERED AWAY: While wealthy ballplayers strike against wealthy owners, others suffer. Take Howard Levine of Sherman Oaks. As a result of the strike (C1), Levine, an usher at Dodger Stadium for 23 years, is missing about $50 a game. . . . “I need the money, especially at the end of the summer when I don’t get my teacher’s checks,” says Levine, who also coaches basketball at Grant High in Van Nuys.

SEX DOCTOR: Dr. Ruth, meet Dr. Deborah, a new sex expert for the ‘90s. She’s Deborah Cooper (above), an Encino relationship therapist who gives good sound bites on talk shows (Valley Life! Page 9). . . . But telling others how to conduct their sex lives can be a dangerous business. She was almost beaten up by a guy once. “He didn’t like what I’d said about his mother,” she says.

HIT OR MISS: The Palomino in North Hollywood, on a mission to recapture its glory years, has brought back Talent Night. Amateurs try to collect some bucks, and maybe get discovered. . . . But don’t always expect talent. “Sometimes it’s rough,” says bandleader Jeff Ross, who backs up the performers. “You just have to bear through it.” See Valley Life! Page 3.

CHECKBOOKS VANISH: If you have the feeling you don’t know where your money is going these days, you might be right. Postal officials believe a ring of thieves in the West Valley is hijacking boxes of blank checks and then cashing them (B1). . . . Wells Fargo, alone, has already lost tens of thousands of dollars due to the scheme.