SHAFTED? The Valley was not a stop...

SHAFTED? The Valley was not a stop on federal AIDS czar Patricia Fleming’s fact-finding tour of Los Angeles on Thursday. And some say that was a mistake. . . . “The San Fernando Valley is the second largest geographic area with the highest number of full-blown AIDS cases in Los Angeles County,” said Sharon Mitsuyasu of the San Fernando Valley HIV Consortium. “There’s over 6,000 newly reported AIDS cases here in the last three years.” . . . Mitsuyasu’s group will air its concerns today at a news conference at Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar.

IN DEEP: Seven-year-old Tanya Byllatoro normally spends her summers sweating it out at the year-round Van Nuys Elementary School. But this week she got a break when a truck backed up . . . and dumped a 3-foot-deep swimming pool outside her classroom. It’s all part of the district’s “portable pool” program (B1).

PICKER-UPPER: Java isn’t just for night owls any more. . . . Offering everything from nonfat breakfasts to play areas for kids, Valley coffeehouses now host a burgeoning clientele of early risers. Other customers simply come in for a sip of serenity over the morning paper, like Joe Shapiro (above) at Priscilla’s in Toluca Lake. See Valley Life!, Page 16.

INTERACTIVE COMIC: If you’ve ever imagined yourself as a comic book hero, your time has come. . . . Sega Genesis’ new video game, Comix Zone, is the skull-cracking adventure of an artist pulled into the imaginary comic book world he creates. Times staff writer Aaron Curtiss calls this jump-hit-kick game “an experience that feels revolutionary.” See Valley Life!, Page 6.

WARMING UP: New Cal State Northridge football Coach Dave Baldwin took his team through its first practices Thursday (C8). . . . The Matadors are hoping to rebound from last year, when the team struggled through a 3-7 season and it took a spring fee referendum to save the entire football program.