WATCH YOUR BACK: With school back in...

WATCH YOUR BACK: With school back in session, it will only be a matter of days until those student backpacks are weighted down with books and other academic necessities. . . . How much weight is too much? It depends on the backpack and the kid, experts say. (E3) But if a loaded pack can’t be picked up easily with one hand, it’s probably too heavy.

GOOD COP: Simi Valley resident Darcie Kolar, a Los Angeles police officer assigned to the Van Nuys division, will be honored Wednesday during the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce’s Medal of Valor awards. . . . Kolar, who has been with the force since 1989, is being recognized for her actions after a July, 1993, accident. Although both she and her partner were injured when an alleged drunk driver hit their car, they pulled the other motorist from his burning vehicle. . . . “It happens so quickly, you just react and think about the consequences later,” Kolar says.

CULTURAL CRUSADER: Ricardo Melendez, self-styled cultural warrior, hopes to make a difference in the lives of some Ventura County Latinos by teaching them about their heritage (B1). . . . “People need to become aware of their past,” Melendez says. “Only then can they make smart decisions and get out of the cycle they’ve been in the past 200 years.” . . . Melendez decided to devote his life to the cause after a personal tragedy--he was struck by a drunk driver and lost his leg.

FIELDS OF GREEN: Sheriff’s deputies who cleared a marijuana plantation in a canyon near Lake Casitas were agog at the size and scope of the crop (B1). About 6,000 plants--some almost 15 feet high--were cut down and trucked away in what was said to be the county’s all-time biggest haul. . . . The rains of spring apparently made for phenomenal growth. “Some of the plants were so thick and lush,” Senior Deputy Chuck Buttell said, “that they looked like Christmas trees.”