FEWER DROPOUTS: The good news is that...

FEWER DROPOUTS: The good news is that the state high school dropout rate has gone down quite a bit in recent years--38% since 1986 (A3). And, in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the same pattern has held. . . . Meanwhile, in Glendale, the rate has fallen 82%. But there is some bad news. The 1993 dropout rate in Los Angeles Unified, the county’s largest district, still was 29.1%.

SECURE TOWN: Not only do kids stay in school in Glendale, but it’s also a pretty safe place to live--15th safest in the whole United States in fact, Money magazine says. “There’s a spirit here that doesn’t tolerate violent crime,” said Sgt. Lief Nicolaisen, a city public information officer. . . . Los Angeles, to nobody’s surprise, was ranked the 17th most dangerous city (B1).

D-DAY: They went over as boys and now are senior citizens. But for many D-Day veterans, memories of the historic Normandy landing 50 years ago have certainly not faded (B5). Not when ex-soldiers, such as Jack Stephenson (above), of Studio City, keep them alive with annual reunions. . . . “The first battle we fought,” he said, “we broke through the German lines like it was a football game.”

GAY OLE TIME: Everybody will get a chance to meet the Flintstones again when the family from Bedrock finally visits the big screen Friday. But many admirers already got a glimpse of Fred, Wilma and the gang last spring when the film was shot at Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce. . . . Universal, in fact, added security to make sure that people stayed off the sets.

PRICE IS WRONG: Haircuts, laundry, dry cleaning. You name it, and women have probably paid more for the same service than men. Well, a bill in the state Assembly might change that. It’s called the Equal Pricing Act, and it would make gender-biased pricing illegal. . . . “It’s discrimination,” said Tricia Oeser, NOW coordinator in the Valley, “and we’re the ones who can least afford it.”