BRIEFLY VETS CHARGED IN HEROIN CASE.

Two veterans are in federal custody, charged with intent to distribute heroin at a veteran's clinic in North Hills, FBI officials said Thursday.

The two men, under surveilance by the FBI since March, were arrested Wednesday outside the Sepulveda Veteran's Outpatient Clinic, said FBI spokeswoman Cheryl Mimura.

James Marshall Venti, 50, of Van Nuys and Luis Carrillo Rodriguez, 51, of Santa Paula were denied bail in federal court, Mimura said.

The outpatient facility has a methodone clinic for heroin addicts and the charges stem from three alleged incidents. According to the FBI the suspects are also heroin addicts.

``That's what makes this so disturbing,'' Mimura said. ``They're all there trying to get help and these guys are selling them drugs.''

If convicted, each could face up to 10 years in federal prison.

- Daily News

Fire cuts off some power

SYLMAR - A fire at a transformer in a Department of Water and Power substation Thursday caused a brief power outage for about 2,000 customers, with a longer outage for five industrial customers, DWP officials said.

Los Angeles city firefighters extinguished the fire at 5:08 p.m. about one hour after it was reported. Fire officials waited for DWP personnel to arrive at Fenton Aevnue and Hubbard Street so they could enter and de-energize the transformers, said fire spokesman Bob Collis.

No one was injured. DWP officials said it would take more than 24 hours for the transformer to cool so they could determine what caused the fire.

- Daily News

MTA, ACLU suit tentatively settled

Under a tentative settlement of a federal lawsuit, the MTA would have to meet minimum standards for wheelchair accessibility on Metro buses and trains, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California announced Thursday.

The settlement, which still needs to be approved by a federal judge, would resolve a case called Beauchamp vs. MTA filed in 1998.

The plaintiff claimed that mobility-impaired passengers were being routinely ignored by MTA bus drivers or stranded because wheelchair access devices were broken or inoperable.

MTA officials could not be reached.

- City News Service

Trespassing bill goes to Davis

The state Senate on Thursday approved a measure to strengthen California's trespassing laws, by making it a crime to enter any inhabited dwelling without the owner's consent.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Adam B. Schiff, D-Burbank, had already been approved by the Assembly. It now goes to Gov. Gray Davis for his signature.

The legislation comes in the wake of incidents investigated by the Glendale Police Department, including one in which a woman woke up to find her male co-worker trying to hide by her bed, Schiff said.

The man had made keys and entered the woman's home without her knowledge to get a better ``insight'' about her, the senator said.

The man could only be prosecuted on a simple trespassing charge, Schiff said. The measure creates an aggravated trespassing charge and would allow the court to issue a restraining order against the intruder.

- City News Service

Racism blamed for firing

An attorney for two county health department officials relieved of duty last week said Thursday their removal was racially motivated and predicted both would be cleared.

``I'm deeply disturbed by the racial ramifications of the accusation made by the director of the Department of Health Services,'' Mark Finucane, said Godfrey Isaac, who represents Drs. Donald Thomas and Janet Aiso.

Thomas is black. Aiso is a Japanese American.

According to a county audit, Thomas and Aiso allegedly were involved in ``informal agreements'' to discount prescription drugs under a federal reimbursement scheme and divert them to area facilities. County officials were not made aware of the informal agreements, a violation of county policy, according to supervisors.

Those agreements also may have violated federal law.

- City News Service