BRIEFLY MAN SUSPECTED OF FLEEING OFFICERS.

BURBANK - Nearly 20 police officers converged on a home near Orange Grove Avenue and Kenneth Road on Friday evening to arrest a man suspected of evading arrest and injuring an officer, police said.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, was caught attempting to scale a wall at his home after 9 p.m., Burbank Lt. Chris Welker said.

A policeman was injured while attempting to apprehend the fleeing suspect, he said.

- Daily News

Spelling bee today for local champs

The Los Angeles Daily News today will sponsor the 16th annual Regional Spelling Bee, drawing seventh- and eighth-grade champions from public and private schools across the area to the competition at Taft High School.

Daily News columnist Dennis McCarthy will welcome the participants.

The winner will go on to represent the region at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

- Daily News

Swingers' club host convicted

VAN NUYS - A man prosecutors say ran a swingers' club at a Van Nuys house was convicted Friday of misdemeanor criminal charges.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury found John Lynch, 50, guilty of five counts of operating a sex-encounters business within 500 feet of a residential area.

Lynch is scheduled to be sentenced Monday and faces a maximum of three years in county jail and a $5,000 fine.

Lynch had contended that no one was paying money to perform or watch sex acts, Deputy City Attorney Michael Pizzuti said.

The business was raided by undercover police officers who videotaped some of the sex acts occurring in the house, Pizzuti said.

- City News Service

Donations mount for clinic's move

An East Los Angeles community group made a $650,000 loan to the Valley Community Clinic to assist with its expansion and relocation, it was announced Friday.

The loan from the East Los Angeles Community Union matches another gift from the Valley Economic Development Center, giving the clinic $1.3 million for its relocation efforts.

The clinic, which an official said is the Valley's largest health care provider for uninsured residents, is moving to a bigger site in North Hollywood.

- City News Service

United Way to aid 9-11 unemployed

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles plans to help people who lost their jobs and are in jeopardy of becoming homeless after Sept. 11, officials said Friday.

The Help the Homeless Program, funded partly with a $600,000 grant from the California Endowment, will provide rental and mortgage assistance and other services, said Joe Haggerty of the United Way.

The Fannie Mae Foundation also gave $179,000 to the effort to target families who are at risk of losing their homes because of the economic impact of the attacks.

- City News Service

Restrictions sought near city schools

Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss introduced a motion Friday to outlaw stores selling tobacco or drug paraphernalia within 500 feet of a school.

Weiss said he was driven to act after receiving complaints from parents of students at Fairfax High, where a store selling such merchandise opened across the street on trendy Melrose Avenue.

- City News Service

6 indicted in meth lab investigation

LANCASTER - Authorities on Friday announced the indictments of six suspects in connection with a High Desert methamphetamine manufacturing ring.

Those arrested are Christopher Chapman, Jesse Chapman, Armcello Castellano, Deena Beatty and Bobby Bear, all of Lancaster, said sheriff's Lt. R.W. Shreves.

A sixth suspect, who has not been publicly identified, remained at large.

The five were arraigned in federal court Friday and held without bail, Shreves said.

The indictments are part of a two-year, Lancaster-area meth ring investigation, dubbed Operation Silent Thunder, he said.

- City News Service