BRIEFLY.

MTA to pursue funds for depot

The MTA will try to get additional funds to help cover the $3.6 million cost of restoring the historic Lankershim train depot after the price tripled, officials said Thursday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board's decision disappointed preservationists who have been trying to save the 19th-century depot that was a center of San Fernando Valley life. It is now shuttered and in disrepair.

Transit advocates also back the preservation and hope to turn the depot into an MTA customer center near the Orange and Red lines.

- Daily News

Deputy is killed in traffic crash

LANCASTER - A Los Angeles County's Sheriff's Department motorcycle deputy was killed Thursday in a traffic collision in Lancaster, authorities said.

Pierre Bain, 45, of the Lancaster sheriff's station, was westbound on Avenue K near 20th Street East at 5:50 p.m. when he maneuvered around another vehicle and lost control of his motorcycle, said Sgt. Diane Hecht of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

Bain, a 15-year veteran of the department, was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital, where he died, Hecht said.

- City News Service

Body identified as missing man's

SANTA CLARITA - The body of a missing Canyon Country man was found Thursday in his pickup truck, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Raymond ``Ray'' Castro, 43, was reported missing about 11:20 p.m. Wednesday after his family returned to their home in the 27500 block of Evron Avenue and found blood outside and inside their residence, said Sgt. Diane Hecht of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

Castro's pickup truck also was missing.

About 10:30 a.m. Thursday, the pickup was found with a body inside, near the juncture of the Antelope Valley (14) and Golden State (5) freeways, a few miles south of Castro's home.

Castro was in the midst of a difficult divorce, sources said.

- Daily News

Remains at site spark MTA probe

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday began an investigation to determine why it had no prior knowledge of the human remains found during the construction of a new transit line.

Crew members working on the Gold Line Eastside Extension project discovered human remains last summer as they built a retaining wall at First and Lorena streets in Boyle Heights.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, an MTA board member, asked agency officials to determine why the remains were not discovered before construction.

Metro officials will conduct a meeting at the Boyle Heights Senior Citizen Center at 6:30 p.m. today to discuss plans for re-interment and a memorial for the remains.

Officials have found the remains of about 108 people, believed to have been Chinese immigrant laborers. Authorities are still trying to identify the bodies, said MTA spokesman Jose Ubaldo.

``These Chinese immigrant laborers helped build the rail infrastructure that allowed Los Angeles County to prosper economically, and they were interred in a manner that lacked the proper dignity and respect that should have been accorded to these workers,'' Antonovich said last week.

- City News Service

Orange Line run placed on hold

Citing financial and logistical concerns, MTA board members delayed a vote Thursday on whether to host a half-marathon on the Metro Orange Line right-of-way later this fall.

The Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley and Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, have proposed hosting the San Fernando Valley Great Pumpkin Half-Marathon on Oct. 29.

However, staff at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority expressed concern the event would cost at least $50,000 and interrupt service for most of the day.

Board members also noted that several city, county and state agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and Caltrans, would have to coordinate such an event.

Supervisor and MTA board member Zev Yaroslavsky remained open to the idea.

``This is not rocket science,'' he said. ``All of these things are legitimate concerns, but they're all solvable.''

Levine maintains that a half-marathon would bring attention and money to the Orange Line.

``The newly launched Metro Orange Line, a convenient 14-mile distance, is one of the greatest assets to the San Fernando Valley,'' Levine wrote in a letter to the MTA board. ``We anticipate this event to generate huge amounts of publicity and revenue for the valley, from both visitor and community participants.''

The MTA board will revisit the issue at its April board meeting.

- City News Service

Six-year-old dies in crash of van

A 6-year-old girl died Thursday and a woman was seriously injured when a van overturned on the eastbound Santa Monica (10) Freeway at Crenshaw Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The rollover crash was reported at 12:21 p.m., said CHP Officer Patrick Kimball.

He said the driver of the 1998 Toyota, a woman in her 20s, was taken to California Hospital Medical Center with major injuries.

The identity of the girl was not immediately available.

- City News Service

Pedestrian dies in hit, run crash

INGLEWOOD - A 75-year-old man was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver Thursday as he was trying to cross an Inglewood street, a police lieutenant said.

Inglewood resident Jose Trujillo died at the scene of the 3:10 a.m. crash at Prairie Avenue and Queen Street, said Lt. Mike McBride of the Inglewood Police Department.

Based on physical evidence obtained at the scene, the vehicle that struck Trujillo was a 1987 to 1990 model, burgundy-colored Jeep Cherokee, McBride said.

The vehicle sustained front-end damage, he said, noting that the front grill was found at the scene. Witnesses or anyone else with information about the collision was asked to call Inglewood police traffic investigator Ed Ridens at [phone], or call the 24-hour anonymous hotline number [phone].

- City News Service

Choir watches as church burns

FULLERTON - Firefighters quickly extinguished flames Thursday night in an unoccupied Fullerton church, as parishioners who had been scheduled for choir practice arrived and watched in dismay, a fire official said.

The fire was reported at 6:13 p.m. at CrossRoad Church, 1601 W. Malvern Ave., by someone who dialed 911, said Fullerton Fire Department Division Chief Gary Dominguez.

The fire, largely confined to the rear sanctuary, was brought under control at 6:33 p.m., Dominguez said.

Estimated damage was $200,000, he said.

Roofers were doing work on the church earlier, but it is too early to say if that was the cause, Dominguez said.

``There's no reason to think (the origin) is suspicious,'' he said.

- City News Service

Judge approves development site

The city's creation of a redevelopment area in the downtown industrial district was approved by a Superior Court judge, Community Redevelopment Agency officials said Thursday.

Superior Court Judge Andria K. Richey upheld the creation of the district, ruling in the city's favor in a lawsuit filed by Los Angeles County, CRA officials said.

County officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

Adopted in November 2002, the Central Industrial Redevelopment Project Area is generally bounded by Third Street on the north, the Amtrak railroad tracks near the Los Angeles River on the east, Washington Boulevard and the Santa Monica (10) Freeway on the south and San Pedro and Griffith streets on the west.

- City News Service