ALL FOR ONE: One in four San...

ALL FOR ONE: One in four San Fernando Valley residents lives alone, with the highest concentrations seen in Sherman Oaks, Studio City and Toluca Lake, where nearly 42% of the residents are single-person households, according to the 1990 U. S. census. . . . On the other side of the coin, Granada Hills, Arleta-Pacoima, Sun Valley and Sylmar have the lowest percentage of single-person households, the national survey shows.

TOUGH AS NAILS: Don’t let his size fool you, at 5-feet-8, 150 pounds, LAPD Officer Art Tom is the nation’s toughest cop, and he has the medals to prove it. . . . Tom, who has worked on troubled Blythe Street in Van Nuys, finished second among 3,500 entrants at the International Toughest Cop Alive competition, an Olympic-like event held in Colorado Springs, Colo., last summer. On the street, his feats of physical prowess have amazed his partners and convinced criminals that physical confrontation with him is a losing proposition (B3).

MEDICINE JAZZ: The best cure for the boogie-woogie flu is a touch of jazz, say patients at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Hospital. Playing the music of the big bands for patients sometimes too ill to move, a group of veterans from the Swing Era take their instruments to the V.A. hospital every week (B5). . . . “I’d played bass for years, but I sold mine because I wasn’t using it,” said Jack Freeman of Reseda. He took it up again years ago--and the music therapy has been good for patients, the player and the hospital.

KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL: Although named for the president who was assassinated 30 years ago today, John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills will hold no special commemoration for the slain leader. . . . Assistant Principal Nancy Parks said the school, founded in 1971, simply puts a reminder in the daily bulletin each year. . . . JFK’s birthday receives slightly more fanfare, with a notice in the bulletin and an announcement over the school’s PA system, Parks said.

Going Solo

There are about 11,000 single-person households in the San Fernando Valley. Valley communities with the highest percentage. Sherman Oaks-Studio City-Toluca Lake: 41.7% North Hollywood: 32.4% Van Nuys-North Sherman Oaks: 31.3% Encino-Tarzana: 29.5% Reseda-West Van Nuys: 24.6% Source: 1990 U.S. Census