BAT TEST: Valley residents may hear a...

BAT TEST: Valley residents may hear a familiar sound in “Batman Forever.” . . . To help create the Batmobile’s roar, the movie’s sound engineers recorded Rocketdyne’s test of an Atlas MA-5A booster in the Santa Susana Hills above Chatsworth. Despite the rocket’s 423,000 pounds of thrust, you may need to listen closely: 60 other noises are included in the car’s sound effects.

BICKER, BICKER: Watch for Valley Republicans to keep up the pressure as long as Doris Allen (R-Cypress) is state Assembly speaker--courtesy of the Democrats. . . . Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland of Granada Hills has made her displeasure known and James E. Rogan of Glendale is using biblical imagery. His opinion of Allen’s power grab: “I believe it was Esau in the Bible who sold his birthright for a bowl of pottage. Doris has traded her birthright of the Republican majority for a title.”

WITH HONOR: Fareed Elcott is one of the many graduating seniors who have earned the honor of being a valedictorian. Fareed, above, is a student at Birmingham High School and holds a 4.0 grade-point average. Valley Briefing lists valedictorians from 62 schools in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys . . . the best and the brightest (B2).

COMPUTER AGE: She’s 84 years old, but Ruth Newhall has no intention of being left behind while the rest of the world goes high-tech. . . . Newhall, a former reporter and publisher, is learning desktop publishing in a continuing education program. Her classmates are young enough to be her grandchildren, but that doesn’t bother her one bit (B1).

AFTERSHOCK: A 2.9-magnitude quake rattled through the Valley early Saturday. Caltech officials said the temblor was an aftershock of the 1994 Northridge quake. It was centered two miles west of San Fernando.