BRIEFLY : 5 ROAD DEATHS SO FAR IN AREA FOR WEEKEND.

At least five people died in traffic crashes in Los Angeles County in the first 60 hours of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the California Highway Patrol said Saturday.

Last year, there were six road fatalities during the same period, said CHP Officer Shirley Gaines.

The reporting period was from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Saturday, and included collisions in the CHP's jurisdiction, as well as crashes investigated by other police agencies, said Gaines.

In San Diego County, two people were killed during the same 60-hour period, up from the one fatality last year, she said.

Statewide, there were 32 traffic fatalities, Gaines said, down from the 37 deaths in 1996.

CHP officers also arrested 206 people in the Los Angeles County for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, down from 211 arrests last year, she said.

There were 60 DUI arrests in San Diego County, up from 76 arrests last year, Gaines said, and statewide, officers made 886 DUI arrests, down from 943 arrests in 1996.

?13-City News Service

Quake near Banning not widely noticed

BANNING - A small earthquake struck a rural area east of San Bernardino early Saturday, but it apparently wasn't felt by residents.

The magnitude-2.8 quake hit at 5:51 a.m. and was centered 5 miles west-northwest of Banning, a community about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, said seismologist Doug Given of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

``I didn't feel a thing. We didn't have one call,'' Banning police dispatcher Karen Rodriquez said.

The quake wasn't an aftershock to any previous quake, Given said.

?13-Associated Press

Funeral escort killed in Inglewood area

A motorcycle escort leading a funeral procession near Inglewood was hit and killed Saturday by a car that pulled out of the procession and hit him, a police spokesman said.

The incident occurred about 3 p.m. near the intersection of Vermont Avenue and 92nd Street, said LAPD motor Sgt. Ron Leanderts.

The civilian escort was speeding up to the intersection to clear the way for the procession when the collision occurred, he said.

Additional information was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

?13- City News Service

Anti-fur protesters go on hunger strike

BEVERLY HILLS - Six anti-fur protesters arrested for blocking the doors to an upscale Rodeo Drive store declared Saturday they are on a hunger strike.

The demonstrators arrested Friday include Drs. Rich McLellan and Jerry Vlasak, both physicians in Los Angeles. The doctors said in addition to going without solid food, they would also go without water.

Vlasak's wife, Pam, a nurse; Alison Lance, of Los Angeles; Patrick Thames and Michael Welton, both of San Diego; also remained in the Los Angeles County jail in Los Angeles in lieu of bail Saturday.

The six adults were arrested and booked on one count each of felony child endangerment because two of the protesters in their group were minors from San Diego who were released to an adult at the protest scene; and one count each of misdemeanor trespass. Bail was set at $50,000 apiece.

?13- Associated Press

Man drives van into Pacific Ocean

A man drove a van into the ocean at Venice Beach on Saturday and would not come out until police shattered the vehicle's back windows and shot the man with beanbags, a police spokesman said.

The incident occurred about 10 a.m., said Los Angeles police Sgt. Rick Wall.

Police hooked a tractor to the van to pull it from the water.

The man, whose name was not released, is being held for a psychiatric evaluation, Wall said.