UPS AND DOWNS: The good news: Violent...

UPS AND DOWNS: The good news: Violent crime in the San Fernando Valley is down a bit. The bad news: Murders continue to rise. . . . Violent crime dipped nearly 3% through Aug. 21, compared to the same period last year, police reported Thursday. But the five Valley police stations reported 62 homicides through Aug. 21, up from 50 last year.

WHEN DUTY CALLS: Who says retirement is dull? Not Dan Jordan, a retired Glendale firefighter who plucked a woman from a blazing mobile home Thursday in San Juan Capistrano (A37). . . . Jordan, 76, threw on a shirt and shoes and went in after another neighbor broke open the door. The victim was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

DISH IT OUT: When the Northridge earthquake forced him to seek shelter in a Winnetka park, Raul Saldivar knew he had to feed his family. And another family. And another. . . . Saldivar, 42, fed hundreds of homeless quake victims at the park with food supplied by Weber’s Place in Reseda, where he works as a cook. The effort recently won Saldivar the California Restaurant Assn.’s 1995 Food Service Employee of the Year award. . . . Saldivar, above, said the families’ thanks were enough: “I feel happy because I made some families happy.”

DEADLOCKED: A federal jury failed to reach a verdict Thursday in a $10-million wrongful-death case accusing an off-duty sheriff’s deputy of killing a Van Nuys woman (B1). . . . An attorney for the victim’s family vowed to file a new lawsuit.

HEAVY BURDEN?: Zoltan Nagy has a lot riding on his shoulders. And his hands, legs and feet. . . . Cal State Northridge soccer coaches believe the 18-year-old rookie goalie will carry the Matadors into the playoffs (C10). The first real test comes Saturday, when Nagy--and as many as seven other freshmen--tackle Cal in the season opener.