SUPERSTAR SEARCH: The Michael Jackson case bubbles...

SUPERSTAR SEARCH: The Michael Jackson case bubbles quietly along--witness the search of the Jackson family’s Encino compound Monday by LAPD officers with a warrant. No word on whether they seized anything pertinent to accusations that the pop superstar sexually molested a 13-year-old boy. . . . Jackson’s entourage calls it extortion and no charges have been filed.

FOR LOVE OF ELSA: “A lot of people would think, ‘What an idiot.’ But other people fully understand.” That’s a Pasadena psychologist’s comment on rival reactions to the death of Duncan Gibbins from trying to rescue his cat in the Topanga fire (E1). . . . Animal lovers worldwide praised Gibbins’ courage, the ASPCA naming an award for him. Those less devoted to pets are amazed, but many animal lovers say they’d die for a furry friend.

HONKERS HOME: Any day now, they’ll come honking over the Santa Susannas by the thousands, that prime symbol of autumn in the Valley--Canada geese. The geese, which winter here, can weigh 15 pounds each, fly 45 m.p.h., cover 300 miles a day and mate for life. A flock of colorful goose facts (B5).

NO ESCAPE: Greg Denels almost made it. Nine more hours and he would have been in a new home in a small desert town. Why? Because he saw the violence he faces as a Baldwin Park cop creeping into his Canoga Park neighborhood. Then he happened onto a robbery at a local liquor store, tried to halt it . . . and when the shooting stopped his leg bone was shattered (B1). . . . Reaction: “I wanted to live as far away as I could from this stuff.”

HOME GROWN: As Cal State Northridge grows into Division I play in NCAA basketball, it’s an increasingly attractive alternative for home-grown talent. Time was, few top Valley high school players wound up at CSUN. But as the early signing period begins today, Reseda and Thousand Oaks players join up (C6).