Angels

LAUREN ROUSSEAU was a motherly type, yet didn't live long enough to become one. She knew she wanted to be a teacher before she entered kindergarten, and at the University of Connecticut, she was the surrogate mama of her dorm. She decorated her tiny room with Christmas lights and tucked "Have a Great Day" notes under doors of her college friends - just because. When Danielle Stein, her new college friend, had roommate troubles and was homesick, Rousseau insisted that she stay with her. "It made sense she wanted to be a teacher and be around kids because she was kind of like a big kid herself," Stein, a speech therapist and Bucks County native, told the Daily News last night.

In perhaps the biggest move in free agency this year, the Los Angeles Angels and slugger Josh Hamilton agreed on Thursday to a $125 million, five-year deal. Hamilton's $25 million average salary matches Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard for the second-highest in baseball, trailing only Alex Rodriguez's $27.5 million yearly average with the Yankees. The Rangers had hoped to re-sign the 2010 American League MVP, who led Texas to consecutive World Series appearances, in 2010 and 2011.

   Angels centerfielder Mike Trout, the American League's rookie of the year and the pride of Millville High, will be honored by the Philadelphia Sports Writers' Association as the pro athlete of the year at its 109th annual banquet next month.    The PSWA also announced Thursday it will honor Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, Eagles offensive tackle Todd Herremans, ex-76ers forward Bobby Jones, and Larry Bowa, a former player, coach, and manager with the Phillies.

NEW YORK - Police on Thursday continued an aggressive manhunt for a gunman and a getaway driver who ambushed and killed a Los Angeles man in midtown Manhattan, saying they're following multiple leads and have searched the victim's home for clues. The push came amid published reports that the New York Police Department had identified the driver. Officials dismissed the reports, saying they consider the driver a possible witness who has run the risk of working with a stone-cold triggerman.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, Evy and Ted Inoue advertising their new business by customizing their $25,000 Ford van to resemble their beloved dog. Kudos was a basset hound-cocker spaniel mix, whose personality was so bright he inspired a business plan: a start-up that would let people share online thanks to everyone from good Samaritans to great contractors. The New Hope couple named their business after the pooch, OurKudos.com. "That was supposed to be our promotional vehicle," Evy says in her kitchen, looking out the window at her creation - brown and white, with soft eyes, arched eyebrows, furry black ears that droop over the rear doors, a red tongue that sticks out of the grill and a white, adjustable tail.

The Los Angeles Angels added two more new arms to their retooled pitching staff by agreeing to a $15 million, two-year contract with former Phillies righthander Joe Blanton and an $8 million, two-year deal with lefthanded reliever Sean Burnett. Blanton's deal includes a team option for 2015, a person familiar with the negotiations said at the baseball winter meeting in Nashville on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical. Burnett's agreement also is pending a physical.

The Braves traded Tommy Hanson to the Los Angeles Angels for former closer Jordan Walden, clearing a spot in the Atlanta rotation for Julio Teheran, Randal Delgado or another young starter. Hanson has seen a decrease in his velocity as he battled rotator cuff tendinitis in 2011 and a lower back strain in 2012. Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said the 26-year-old was a consistent winner in four seasons with the Braves and had no arm troubles this year. "It's a good risk on a pitcher we really believe in," Dipoto said.

OVER THE YEARS, Angel Morris has prepared Thanksgiving dinner for her twin sons, Markieff and Marcus, who both starred for Prep Charter. When they played at the University of Kansas, Angel lived out there and would cook for the whole team. Last year was the twins' rookie NBA season and because of the lockout they were home for Thanksgiving. But this year, with Marcus playing for Houston and Markieff for Phoenix, maintaining the tradition wasn't so easy. But Angel caught a break: "Keef" and his Suns teammates were in town for the holidays.

More than three decades of accumulated family possessions and mementos lay in curbside mounds Saturday outside the ochre-colored home of Gloria Woody, 72, and her son, Frank, 48, just two blocks from a small boatyard in Atlantic City. Church volunteers had come that morning and continued willingly into the afternoon to remove sodden belongings and still-damp drywall from the Woodys' basement and garage, which had been invaded by the floodwaters of Hurricane Sandy. Only with their removal could repairs begin.

Cleve Duncan, 78, whose soaring tenor voice as lead singer for the Penguins helped propel the 1954 doo-wop ballad "Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)" to rock 'n' roll immortality, died Nov. 7 in Los Angeles. "Earth Angel," which has sold more than 10 million copies, was the Penguins' only hit. But its rhythmic, wailing plea to an idealized young woman captured the spirit of the just-emerging rock generation. Rolling Stone magazine placed it on its list of the 500 greatest songs ever, and films like Back to the Future have used it to conjure an era. Cleveland Duncan was born July 23 of either 1934 or 1935 in Los Angeles, and learned to sing in his church choir and glee clubs.