BRIEFLY.

Spelling bee event set for Saturday

WOODLAND HILLS - The 19th annual Daily News Regional Spelling Bee will be held Saturday, with nearly 50 students competing for a chance to challenge the nation's best spellers in Washington, D.C.

The event will begin at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of Taft High School, 5461 Winnetka Ave. The event is open to the public.

The winner will represent the Daily News at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, held in May in the nation's capital.

The children, in fourth through eighth grades, already have won spelling bees at their schools. Participating schools include those from the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas.

- Daily News

L.A. cops union urges extraditions

The union that represents Los Angeles police Thursday urged President George W. Bush to push for the extradition of accused criminals from Mexico when he meets with Mexican President Vicente Fox later this month.

Bob Baker of the Los Angeles Police Protective League said Bush hasn't been pressuring Mexico to return accused killers.

A 2001 Mexican Supreme Court decision bars Mexico from returning criminal suspects to the United States if they could face life sentences or the death penalty.

``Bush is sending a dangerous message to criminals in the U.S. and abroad, and he cannot allow Mexico to proudly harbor dozens of criminals who have killed in America and fled to Mexico to escape prosecution and justice,'' Barker said.

He cited a case in which a Mexican national, Armando Garcia, fled to Mexico after allegedly killing Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy David March during a traffic stop in 2002.

- City News Service

Man to face trial in mom's slaying

A Burbank man accused of killing his mother and keeping her body in their home for about two weeks was ordered Thursday to stand trial for murder.

Pasadena Superior Court Judge Judson Morris found sufficient evidence to require David Riddell, 39, to stand trial.

The defendant was arrested after Diane Riddell's body was found last September in a rear bedroom of the single-family home in the 400 block of North California Street.

Police, who had been sent to the residence on a suspicious circumstances call, entered the home and found the 59-year-old woman's body, Burbank police Sgt. Jay Jette said.

Riddell remains jailed pending arraignment March 25 at the Pasadena courthouse.

- City News Service

2 who fired shots at police probed

Police were investigating whether two men who fired on police multiple times during a slow-speed chase early Thursday had set out to engage officers in a gunbattle.

The driver, 20-year-old Ryan Vargas, was wounded when police returned fire and was in critical condition at a local hospital, said Officer Kristi Sandoval, a police spokeswoman. His passenger, whose name has not been released, was found dead in the car after the shootout. No officers were injured.

The incident began around 2:30 a.m. when police tried to stop the driver of a dark-colored Chevy Blazer on suspicion of drunk driving, Sandoval said. Officers were led on a five-mile chase through South Los Angeles by the sport utility vehicle that made frequent U-turns. Shots were fired from the passenger window at officers, she said.

- Associated Press

Snowpack to cut DWP water bills

The first above-normal snowpack in the Eastern Sierra in six years means lower water bills in Los Angeles, the Department of Water and Power announced Thursday.

Customers should save nearly 9 percent on their water bills during the next quarterly billing period, which runs from April 1 to June 30, according to the LADWP.

- City News Service