BRIEFLY.

Officials identify shooting victim

VAN NUYS - A man found shot near a Van Nuys bus stop bench and who later died at a local hospital was identified Thursday as 41-year-old Rory Fontanelle.

``The investigation is still ongoing,'' said Los Angeles Police Detective Luis Alarcon, who added that clues are still being pieced together.

Officers on Saturday responded to reports of a shooting in Van Nuys and found Fontanelle lying in the 6600 block of Sepulveda Boulevard.

Fontanelle, a Van Nuys resident, had been shot in the chest and died later at a local hospital, police said.

-Daily News

Sheep owner gets time behind bars

SUNLAND - A Sunland man was sentenced this week to a month in jail for neglect of a bleeding sheep, Animal Services Department officials said.

Michael McKenzie was found guilty on Wednesday of animal cruelty and neglect following an Animal Services investigation that found he failed to provide medical care to a sheep that bled and suffered seizures for more than 24 hours, Capt. Karen Knipscheer said.

After a jury trial, Superior Court Judge Frank Johnson sentenced McKenzie to 30 days in jail, 36 months of probation, 100 hours of community service and psychological counseling. In addition, McKenzie was barred from owning or possessing animals for three years.

-Daily News

CSUN gets annual anti-gang grant

NORTHRIDGE - California State University, Northridge's Center for Community Service-Learning has received a $125,000 grant to help combat the lure of gang life in the San Fernando Valley.

The gift will fund the Mentoring to Overcome Struggles and Inspire Courage program, which partners with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Jeopardy Foundation to support after-school gang prevention programs in the San Fernando Valley.

The money will fund such things as field trips for youths in the program, materials and instruments. The award is the third annual renewal of an initial $175,000 Learn and Serve America Program grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

-Daily News

Janitorial firm owes back wages

SUN VALLEY - A Sun Valley-based janitorial firm must pay 284 workers a total of $113,500 in back wages for failing to pay overtime, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The Labor Department determined that when Professional Building Maintenance had two pay periods within a work week, the company failed to pay overtime for hours worked during the later of the two periods.

Because the company kept separate schedules for each work site, it also often failed to account for the total hours worked at each site by individual employees, according to the Labor Department. In addition, some workers were paid under assumed names, authorities said.

- City News Service

Jackson sued, but fails to show up

Neither Michael Jackson nor his lawyers showed up at a New Orleans court Wednesday for a hearing in a lawsuit filed against M.J. by Joseph T. Bartucci Jr., who says the singer sexually assaulted him in 1984.

Bartucci, who was 18 at the time, contends he repressed his memories of the incident until he saw coverage of the star's recent child-molestation trial, in which Jackson was found not guilty.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon has set a Aug. 17 catch-up date, saying he will enter a default judgment against Jackson if he doesn't show up.

A Jackson spokesman says the charges are false.

- Knight Ridder Newspapers

Would-be robber killed by victims

SANTA MONICA - A gunman who tried to rob two other men in the drive-through area of a fast-food restaurant in Santa Monica Thursday was shot and killed during a confrontation with his intended victims, police said.

The violence occurred about 4:45 a.m. outside a 24-hour Jack in the Box at Lincoln Boulevard and Grant Street, said Santa Monica police Lt. Frank Fabrega. The man, who was about 25, died at the scene. Authorities withheld his name pending notification of his relatives.

- City News Service