BRIEFLY HOMES EVACUATED DURING CLEANUP.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - Chemicals believed to have been used to make methamphetamine were found in a La Canada Flintridge neighborhood Tuesday, and eight homes were evacuated as crews disposed of the stuff.

Sheriff's detectives, a county fire hazardous-materials team and state narcotics agents responded to the 4500 block of Vista Place after someone reported the dumping about 8:30 a.m., said sheriff's Sgt. Paul Patterson.

The cleanup could last until 9 p.m., a sheriff's lieutenant said. No immediate arrests were made in connection with the find, he said.

- Associated Press

District to go over impact of any cuts

GLENDALE - Starting tonight, the Glendale Unified School District will hold the first of three informational meetings to educate parents on the potential impacts of Gov. Gray Davis' proposed state budget cuts.

``The point of the meetings is to educate parents on what we know and what we are doing to prepare for the budget cuts, and to provide parents with information to contact their legislators,'' said school district spokesman Vic Pallos.

Superintendent Jim Brown is still uncertain of the specific impact of the budget cuts, but he will explain to parents the broader implications.

At a school board meeting Feb. 4, Brown will have a better idea of the specific cuts that GUSD will be forced to make this year and next, Pallos said.

The meetings will be tonight at 7 at Crescenta Valley High School; Thursday at 7 p.m. at Glendale High School; and next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Hoover High School.

- Daily News

Man to face trial in wife's slaying

A Granada Hills man accused of stabbing his wife, beating her and running over her with his van outside a San Fernando Valley post office last summer must stand trial on a murder charge, a Van Nuys judge ruled Tuesday.

Daniel Ruben Sada, 54, is accused of fatally wounding Sophie Jennie Rodriguez, 38, on July 2. She died the next day at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

- City News Service

Regulation sought for porn workers

Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke introduced a motion Tuesday to help regulate and educate workers in the pornography industry concerning health risks.

The motion passed by the Board of Supervisors, orders the director of health services and county counsel to ``determine the appropriate regulatory entity at either the state or county level to oversee this industry.''

And it calls on county staff to lobby for a state bill if necessary to ensure that the porn industry is regulated.

- Staff and Wire Reports

Man says taunts led to homicide

SANTA ANA - A man accused of beating his estranged wife to death with a tire iron told an Orange County jury Tuesday that her taunts about his manhood and her apparent infidelity sent him into a homicidal rage.

Miguel Leyva, 40, told the eight women and four men that he struck Maria Teresa Suarez three or four times on Nov. 20, 2001, after they had sex at the Travel Inn Motel in Santa Ana.

- City News Service

4-year-old shot but should survive

LONG BEACH - A gunman shot a woman and her 4-year-old son Tuesday on a Long Beach sidewalk, police said.

The attack in the 1100 block of East Hellman Street in central Long Beach was reported at 2:30 p.m., said Long Beach police Sgt. Paul LeBaron.

The two victims, whose names were withheld, suffered wounds to their legs that LeBaron said were not life-threatening.

Police recovered a gun at the scene, but the suspect remained at large this evening, he said.

The boy was at least the third youngster shot in past two days in Los Angeles County.

- City News Service