Agoura

Half a century later, a motorist's kindness to a hitchhiker is remembered beneath a shady grove of oaks, alders and sycamores next to a rock-strewn streambed and roaring waterfall. The tiny slice of wilderness in Agoura Hills is marked with a hand-hewn wooden sign that proclaims it to be the "Lee Haines Garden of Native Plants of the Santa Monica Mountains." "Lee changed my life," says Edward Gripp. "I owe so much to him."

As Agoura players, fans and coaches came onto the field Friday night to celebrate their apparent victory, Jeff Rapoport of Westlake Village Westlake ran through them -- at one time brushing the jacket of Charger Coach Charlie Wegher -- for the winning touchdown in a 30-27 Marmonte League stunner. Twenty-two years after a Stanford trombone player was bowled over by a California ballcarrier, the Bay Area college classic and highlight reel favorite has a high school cousin.

If Pheidippides did indeed live, these must have been the conditions that killed him. Ninety-five degrees and 65% humidity at 6 p.m., when the running began. According to the legend, Pheidippides covered 26 miles on foot in 490 BC, carrying the news from Marathon to Athens that Greece had defeated Persia in the Battle of Marathon. As the story goes, Pheidippides delivered the bulletin -- "Rejoice! We conquer!" -- and keeled on the spot.

There's the one about the teenage couple parked on lovers lane who hear a radio report that a killer with an arm hook has escaped from prison. Spooked, the girl insists on going home. After dropping her off and returning to his car, the boy finds a bloody hook hanging from the passenger door handle. True story? Or timeless fodder for sleepovers and campfires? How about the man who ate some bad sushi and ended up with maggots crawling around inside his head?

The way Eric Weir was anticipating receipt of a $25 check, it could have been $25,000. The 14-year-old Calabasas middle school student had taken weeks to figure out how he would spend the money. He researched, he pondered, he debated. In the end, the seventh-grader gave his check away to the American Heart Assn., because "my grandpa had a stroke and they help people like him with recovery and operations."

A 2-year-old black bear ambled casually through the manicured lawns and rose gardens of Agoura Hills for several hours Tuesday, startling residents but apparently causing little trouble before animal control agents shot it with a tranquilizer dart and loaded it into a truck for a ride out of suburbia. The mild disposition of the 175-pound male prompted California Fish and Game officials to spare it the fate of some bears who wander into residential areas: euthanasia.

There's only so much that parental encouragement can do to motivate a young athlete to succeed. In the end, passion must come from within. It's clear that 16-year-old Meghan Corso of Agoura has made the choice to devote almost every day to becoming a water polo standout. The sport was introduced to her at an early age. As a first-grader, she'd sit in the pool-side bleachers with crayons and a coloring book, waiting for her father, Rich, coach of the U.S. Olympic men's team, to finish practice.

The historic Reyes Adobe in Agoura Hills has survived earthquakes, centuries of exposure to the elements and extensive remodeling, yet there never seemed to be enough money to make it accessible to the community -- until now. Despite the state's financial crisis and the city's tight budget, officials have found $1.2 million to prepare the old house and barn for public tours. Citrus and oak trees, shrubs and a creek will be added to the 4.

Bryan Walker of Agoura High didn't win the starting quarterback position until late in the summer. After two games, he's so entrenched that if the son of John Elway suddenly showed up, the only duty available would be benchwarmer. In the season opener against Ventura Buena, Walker passed for 393 yards and two touchdowns. In the second game against Camarillo, he completed all 11 of his passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns.

A man accused of providing marijuana and alcohol to teenage boys at his Agoura Hills home and of molesting some of the youngsters while filming others in pornographic videos, pleaded not guilty Friday to scores of felony and misdemeanor counts. Peter Richard Castillo, 50, was arraigned on 92 counts in Malibu Superior Court, including felony charges of using a minor for sex acts, oral copulation of a person younger than 18 and furnishing marijuana to a minor.