BRIEFLY GUNSHOT VICTIM STABLE IN HOSPITAL.

VAN NUYS - A victim suffered a gunshot to the neck after being fired upon Friday afternoon, police said.

Police said the unidentified victim was in stable condition at a local hospital after being shot about 4 p.m. while at Roscoe and Balboa boulevards.

- Daily News

LAUSD loses bid to drop verdict

A judge on Friday rejected an effort by the LAUSD to overturn a $4.35 million verdict a jury awarded a Palisades Charter High School teacher in March.

Janis Adams said the Los Angeles Unified School District failed to protect her from repeated written attacks in a sexually explicit and threatening underground student newspaper.

The district challenged the verdict on the grounds that Adams' attorneys failed to show there were reasonable steps the district should have taken to protect her.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth Freeman found that it appeared there was enough evidence to support the jury's decision.

- City News Service

Slain teen named in Valley drive-by

WINNETKA - The teen killed in a drive-by shooting was identified as Brandon Andrea Garmendez of Winnetka, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said.

Garmendez was standing outside an apartment complex in the 19900 block of Roscoe Boulevard on Thursday night, authorities said. He died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, authorities said.

- City News Service

Council earmarks parking lot funds

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a plan to move money set aside for reopening the Los Angeles Mall parking lot to a trust fund for threat-preparedness efforts.

Under the plan proposed by Councilman Jack Weiss, revenue from the city-operated parking lot - about $20,000 each month - would be earmarked for beefing up the city's defenses.

- City News Service

Deadline nearing for county taxes

Wednesday is the last day to pay the second installment on county property taxes without incurring a penalty, the Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector said.

To avoid a late fee, payments must be made by 5 p.m. in person or be postmarked before midnight.

Under a pilot program, property owners can pay their bills in person at the assessor's office, 251 East Ave. K-6, Lancaster. Payments must be made by check or money order. Cash cannot be accepted at the assessor's office.

A substitute bill can be obtained at the Lancaster office or by calling the 24-hour tax-information line at [phone].

- City News Service

Company plans terminal for gas

OXNARD - An energy firm wants to build a $250 million liquefied natural gas terminal next to the Ormond Beach power plant.

Oxy Energy Services, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., said the receiving terminal would be built on a 261 acres, and that a pier or underwater pipeline would connect the terminal with a docking station 4,000 feet offshore. The facility would help California import more natural gas to fuel its power plants.

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez and Port Hueneme Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan Sharkey predicted opposition to the project because of safety concerns and the potential for spills or other environmental accidents.

- Associated Press

Hospital blasts school-clinic plan

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles on Friday denounced an LAUSD cost-cutting proposal to close several school-based health clinics.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to continue its six school-based clinics, three run by CHLA.

The CHLA clinics handle about 10,000 student visits each year, and to cut them would drastically affect adolescent health in Los Angeles, said Dr. Michele Roland, CHLA's director of clinics.

- City News Service