BRIEFLY : L.A. SUES TO ENSURE FAIR CENSUS COUNT.

Arguing an undercount in the census in the year 2000 could cost Los Angeles millions of dollars, the City Attorney's Office joined Friday with a host of other groups to challenge plans for how the census will be carried out.

City Attorney James Hahn said the city has filed suit seeking to require the Bureau of the Census to do a post-enumeration survey to ensure that traditionally undercounted groups of minorities are included in the census.

``As a result, these censuses undercounted the states, cities and counties where these people live, including places like urban centers, with profound adverse consequences,'' the legal argument states. Hahn has estimated Los Angeles has lost up to $12 million per year because of the 1990 undercount.

- Daily News

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Panelist dismissed from Ngor trial jury

A juror on one of the three panels deliberating in the Haing Ngor murder trial was dismissed Friday for allegedly refusing to discuss the case with other jurors and saying he had already made up his mind.

The excused male juror on defendant Indra Lim's panel was replaced by a male alternate, Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum said.

Superior Court Judge J.D. Smith then dismissed Lim's panel for the day and ordered them to resume deliberations Monday. The panel had been deliberating since Wednesday morning.

- Associated Press

Charges say man shot, wounded girl

A gang member was charged Friday with shooting and critically wounding a 9-year-old girl as she scrambled to get inside her Highland Park home after hearing gunfire.

Juan Carlos Granados, 19, appeared briefly Friday in Los Angeles Municipal Court, but he did not enter a plea to the charges stemming from the Wednesday afternoon shooting.

His arraignment was reset for next Friday at his lawyer's request. Bail was set at $1.105 million.

- City News Service