GOOD CATCH: Former Cal State Northridge wide...

GOOD CATCH: Former Cal State Northridge wide receiver Dave Baldwin has been offered the job of CSUN head football coach (C1). Although he has yet to sign a contract, Baldwin said goodby Thursday to his players at Santa Rosa College, where he posted a 9-3 record last year. . . . He’s considered a quick turnaround man: Santa Rosa College had a 1-19 record in the two years prior to Baldwin’s arrival.

SHUT DOWN: State officials Thursday closed a Studio City group home for the mentally disabled, saying that a lack of staffing allegedly contributed to the death of a resident . . . even though the coroner’s office has yet to determine the cause of death. But neighbors have long complained of problems at Ventura Villa (B1).

UNMARITAL BLISS: Sarah Brightman (above) is living proof that divorced couples can be friendly. . . . Of course, that’s not too difficult when your ex-husband is Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera.” “We work together well and we enjoy working together,” Brightman said of her ex. She sings hits from these and other Webber shows starting tonight at Universal Amphitheatre. See Valley Life, Page 3.

HEROIC GESTURE: What would you do if you saw someone trapped in a burning van? For Benito Medrano and Nelson Ruano, the answer was simple: Rescue him. . . . “We had to do it,” Medrano said of pulling the man from the blazing vehicle in Reseda. But not everyone could do the same: “I don’t know if I’d have done what they did,” said one police officer (B4).

ENTERTAINMENT EXPRESS: If you’ve only taken the Metrolink to work, you’ve missed an important connection . . . . The commuter train is also an excellent link to entertainment in and around the Valley, from tapings of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” to shopping at the Seventh Street Marketplace. One restriction: weekdays only, please. See Valley Life, Page 10.