BRIEFLY ONE MARINE DEAD, 2 INJURED IN CRASH.

SANTA PAULA - A 19-year-old Marine from Illinois was killed and two other Marines injured in a head-on collision north of Santa Paula, officials said Saturday.

The Marines were stationed at Camp Pendleton and were driving to Fresno to visit one of the young men's families, officials said.

The Marines were in a 1995 Chrysler Sebring that crossed into oncoming lanes of State Route 150 about 7:30 p.m. Friday and collided head-on with a 1982 Mercedes-Benz driven by a 59-year-old Santa Paula man, the CHP reported.

- Daily News

Board votes raise in Metrolink fares

Metrolink fares will increase 4 percent, following a vote Friday by the transit agency's board of directors.

Fares for the commuter train are based on travel zones, and the increase will be the fourth since the agency was formed 12 years ago. For information, go to www.metrolinktrains.com or call [phone] (LINK).

- Daily News

'Drowned' girl's family files suit

FULLERTON - The family of a toddler revived after she apparently had drowned has filed a negligence claim against the hospital where she was declared dead.

Mackayala Jespersen fell into a swimming pool at her family's Fullerton home on Nov. 7. The 20-month-old girl was rushed to Anaheim Memorial Medical Center, where efforts to revive her using CPR, breathing tubes and a heated blanket appeared to have failed.

A detective who was photographing the body in the emergency room discovered that she was breathing less than an hour after doctors had pronounced her dead.

The negligence claim, which must be made before a lawsuit can be filed, claims that the hospital left the girl unattended for more than an hour and that she suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. It seeks unspecified damages.

- Associated Press

Costs climbing in Jackson case

SANTA BARBARA - Financially strapped Santa Barbara County has spent $273,000 so far to prosecute Michael Jackson for child molestation - and the bill keeps growing.

The amount includes hundreds of court staff hours and overtime for sheriff's deputies, officials said.

Four months ago, county prosecutors charged Jackson with seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent, reportedly wine. Jackson pleaded innocent in January to those charges.

Costs were still being determined for grand jury proceedings that produced an indictment last week of Jackson. The indictment was ordered sealed until Friday, when the entertainer is scheduled to appear at a pretrial hearing in Santa Maria Superior Court.

- Associated Press

Boy, 13, struck, killed riding bike

A 13-year-old boy was killed when a vehicle driven by a suspected drunk driver hit him as he rode his bicycle in South Los Angeles, police said Saturday.

Uzziel Bahena was pronounced dead at a hospital after he was hit about 6:30 p.m. Friday, while riding his bike on Colden Avenue near Hoover Street, officials said.

Rene Hernandez, 27, allegedly left the scene and was chased down by a witness who cornered him at Vermont Avenue. The witness, who asked not to be identified, told KCBS (Channel 2) that Hernandez offered him $20 to allow him to leave.

- City News Service