DISASTER: Nearly 70 years after the St....

DISASTER: Nearly 70 years after the St. Francis Dam collapse killed 450 people, computer simulations and other modern techniques have led to a new view on why the dam failed. . . . UC Berkeley geological engineer J. David Rogers concludes that the dam, northeast of Castaic, broke because it sat on an ancient landslide (B1). The calamity killed about as many people as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

SHOE-IN: The ‘60s had their love-ins. And now the ‘90s have their shoe-ins. . . . Hundreds of party-goers recently carried everything from penny loafers to brogans to the Northridge home of podiatrist Pamela Leavitt, culminating her summer-long effort to find shoes for the needy (B1).

UNLUCKY BREAK: Ani Celik and husband Hayrabet, who lost two businesses in the Northridge earthquake, decided it was time for a vacation. A Caribbean vacation. It was here that they met Luis. Hurricane Luis. . . . The owners of Mirage Cleaners in Northridge, above, spent their first vacation in five years in a shelter on Anguilla Island, where the hurricane pounded them last week for two days. “The hotel told us before we left that they hadn’t had a hurricane there in 35 years,” Hayrabet said. “Next time, I’ll call the weather service.”

LONG ROAD: James (Scoody) Woods emerged from a single-parent home to grow up on the tough streets of Pacoima. . . . Now he’s the most experienced player on the CSUN football squad, where he’s bucking the odds even further by working toward medical school (C10).

HEALTH HAZARD: Dozens of health care advocates demonstrated outside the office of Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) Friday to protest Republican proposals to cut Medicare and Medicaid funding (B4). . . . The group targeted Moorhead because “he’s also of Medicare age, so he should understand the issue,” said one protester.