Steve Morris

Cookie Koomprapun boarded the Woodman Avenue onramp to the Ventura Freeway one recent afternoon just as traffic slowed to a crawl--or, more accurately, a waddle. Ahead of her, a driver had jumped out of his pickup truck and managed to bring everyone to a stop so that a mother duck and her brood could march across to safety. "That's right," confirmed KFWB traffic reporter Robin Johnson. "We heard about it--a mother and her 12 ducklings. We get duck reports every once in a while on the Ventura.

Cookie Koomprapun boarded the Woodman Avenue onramp to the Ventura Freeway one recent afternoon just as traffic slowed to a crawl--or, more accurately, a waddle. Ahead of her, a driver had jumped out of his pickup truck and managed to bring everyone to a stop so that a mother duck and her brood could march across to safety. "That's right," confirmed KFWB traffic reporter Robin Johnson. "We heard about it--a mother and her 12 ducklings. We get duck reports every once in a while on the Ventura.

Memorial services were held Saturday for Steve Morris, the longtime San Pedro High School teacher and coach who died of a heart attack last week only minutes after jogging with members of the girls soccer team. The death Wednesday afternoon of Morris, 51, stunned his colleagues and the campus where he had taught science since 1968. "It was a complete shock," said Chris Nagle, chairman of the school's science department. "He had just run two laps, sat down on the bench and just collapsed."

Memorial services were held Saturday for Steve Morris, the longtime San Pedro High School teacher and coach who died of a heart attack last week only minutes after jogging with members of the girls soccer team. The death Wednesday afternoon of Morris, 51, stunned his colleagues and the campus where he had taught science since 1968. "It was a complete shock," said Chris Nagle, chairman of the school's science department. "He had just run two laps, sat down on the bench and just collapsed."

Twenty years ago this month, a small, hip-hop infused coming-of-age drama set in South-Central Los Angeles called "Boyz N the Hood" was causing extreme reactions from two very different audiences. Written and directed by John Singleton, a brash 23-year-old just months out of USC's film school, and made for a mere $5.7 million, largely with an unknown and untested cast of African American actors, the film had just played May's prestigious Cannes Film Festival where it received a 20-minute standing ovation.

Cable marketing executive David J. Auger will become publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News on Aug. 7, owner Jack Kent Cooke announced. Auger, 33, has been vice president of marketing for Cooke CableVision Inc., also owned by Cooke, for the past year. He was formerly a marketing executive with the cable division of Warner Communications Inc. "David Auger has proven himself as one of the best marketing executives in the communications business," Cooke said. Auger succeeds R.

Corona del Mar 73, University 62--Senior center Steve Morris scored 28 points on 11 of 13 shooting (85%) and had 15 rebounds to lead the Sea Kings. Junior forward Jeff Fryer added 16 points for Corona del Mar (7-2, 15-5). Forward Brad Arnold scored 27 points for University (0-9, 3-16). UNIVERSITY (62)--Paulson 4, Arnold 27, Stolzoff 16, Mask 2, Ferrell 3, Mehrtens 4, Drljevic 4, Pitchess 2.

Without help from a friend, James Mahan might never have become a Las Vegas state judge. Certainly he wouldn't have gotten one of the top judicial jobs in town: a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. Then again, without Mahan, his friend George Swarts would never have gotten to run an Internet porn business, a hotel-casino hair salon or a Southern California software company. Indeed, the careers of Judge James C. Mahan, 62, and his friend George C.

Don't expect to see Sammy Hagar scheduling a duet with George Michael anytime soon. The Van Halen crooner recently surveyed Michael thusly: "The guy looks like he walked into a beauty parlor and said, 'Make me look rough and tough like I hadn't slept for four days--but I have really.' ". . . Just how short was that Mike Tyson-Michael Spinks title fight? KRTH-FM morning deejay Steve Morris offered the most imaginative illustration of the spectacle's stunning brevity.

KRTH-FM staffers were still shaking their heads Thursday over the overwhelming response to their little April Fool's prank. As part of an elaborate 3 1/2-hour hoax, disc jockey Steve Morris told listeners that all Los Angeles freeways would be closed for a month starting April 8 for major repairs. "We wanted to do something special for April Fool's day," explained KRTH program director Phil Hall. "We thought that this was the most ludicrous thing we could say--so crazy that nobody would believe."

A season that began in tragedy could end in celebration Saturday when the San Pedro High girls' soccer team meets Chatsworth at noon in the L.A. City Section championship game at Birmingham High in Van Nuys. San Pedro dedicated its season to the memory of Coach Steve Morris, who collapsed and died Oct. 10 after running laps with the team. Morris, a San Pedro science teacher, started the girls' soccer program three years ago. Morris' daughter, Stephanie, plays on the team.