STARTING OVER: Celebrating the start of the...

STARTING OVER: Celebrating the start of the New Year is global. It’s the dates and the customs that vary. Take a look at New Year’s traditions in other cultures on B2. . . . See how they compare to our goofy party hats, noisemakers and magnums of cheap champagne.

LOCAL ANGELS: Need a year-end tonic? A reason to believe? Turn to the Angels of the City story on B4 and read about those folks who made Los Angeles a better place in 1995. Like the Burbank restaurateur who makes dinner and plays Cupid. . . . And the Northridge podiatrist who put shoes on bare feet.

SPORTS ‘95: The checkered flag at Saugus Speedway is down forever. Mike Scyphers resigned as baseball coach of Simi Valley High. And two local runners made good--one on the road and the other on the field. . . . It was a year of surprises. Details are in Valley Sports (C12, C13).

JUNKET: Sure, 280,000 nonessential federal employees are furloughed and school kids can’t visit the Smithsonian. But, hey, why should that darn budget impasse (A1) get in the way of junketing at taxpayer expense? Retiring Glendale Republican Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead and four other lawmakers plan a five-country South American tour. Visits to Inca ruins and Copacabana beach in Rio are on the itinerary, too, so they can work on their winter tans (B8).

LONGSHOT: At Friday’s 5 p.m. filing deadline, only Dan Cumas, who works in the county assessor’s office, had signed on to challenge four-term incumbent Supervisor Mike Antonovich in the March primary. Cumas, who couldn’t afford to pay for a ballot statement, knows that he’s probably in for a thrashing. “But you never know,” he said gamely, “longshots can win.”