Daily Report

Jamil Al-Agba of Camarillo, a U.S. Tennis Assn. junior-circuit standout who is being schooled through an Ojai-based independent-study program, has signed a letter of intent with USC.

It was a good, commonsense idea that simply didn't work out. Researchers thought that having heart failure patients who were freshly released from the hospital call their doctors' offices daily to report their weight and symptoms might catch relapses earlier, allowing physicians to intervene quickly and save lives. Unfortunately, that's not what happened. Patients who called in regularly were just as likely to be readmitted to the hospital or to suffer a heart attack or die as were those who received normal care, according to a six-month clinical trial of 1,653 patients by Yale University.

UCLA, which opens its season Sept. 12 against Texas at the Rose Bowl, will begin fall drills Aug. 22.

For car thieves working the streets of Los Angeles County, few stretches of pavement are more attractive than the two blocks of Alondra Boulevard that run from the 605 Freeway to Studebaker Road. At least 20 vehicles were stolen there in a recent six-month period. Across town, a block of Wilcox Avenue just north of Hollywood Boulevard has been the scene of more than a dozen burglaries. And the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood , which typically sees three violent crimes a week, had a recent spike of nine assaults and robberies.

Smog, shmog. Exercising outdoors is a way of life in Southern California, and die-hard runners, walkers, cyclists and skaters aren't going to let a brown layer of air stop them. But maybe they should. The Southland is heading into its roughest air quality season, when heat, sun, air pollution and smoke from wildfires can cause lung irritation and shortness of breath in even healthy people.

The United States and Mexico won their semifinal matches Wednesday at the CONCACAF women's Olympic qualifying tournament in San Jose, Costa Rica, to clinch their spots for the Athens Games. The Americans got first-half goals from Aly Wagner, Abby Wambach and Kristine Lilly and were never threatened in a 4-0 victory over Costa Rica. The U.S.

Manchester United's eight-month, 21-game unbeaten streak in the English Premier League came to an end Sunday when the defending champions were upset, 1-0, on the road at Southampton, the loss also being the first in United colors for American goalkeeper Tim Howard. An 87th-minute headed goal by James Beattie was the difference. As Britain's Press Assn. put it: "Howard had to take the blame for letting a Graeme Le Saux corner sail over his head and giving Beattie a goal on a plate."