BRIEFLY.

Brothel building owners pay fines

The owners of a building that once housed a Tarzana brothel paid nearly $146,000 in fines last week, city officials said Wednesday.

Pacific Landmark LLC. paid the city a $50,000 fine and nearly $100,000 to cover investigative and legal fees on Friday - the last business day of the year, officials said.

Victoria's Health Care opened in July 2001 at 19327 Ventura Blvd. as a massage and therapy business. By December 2002, authorities say, the center was operating as a brothel, and the Los Angeles Police Department began a crackdown.

A total of 34 people were arrested over the next year, and the city filed a civil suit against Pacific Landmark, the building's owner, as well as the lessee and Victoria Health's chiropractor.

The lessee and chiropractor settled their cases, and the center closed in July 2003. Pacific Landmark won its lawsuit in trial, but lost on appeal, officials said.

- Daily News

Trial moves ahead minus defendant

Testimony continued Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of shooting and wounding an attorney outside the Van Nuys courthouse complex in 2003, despite the defendant's refusal to come to court.

William Strier, 66, of Thousand Oaks, was cleared to come to court by doctors who treated him in the county jail, but he refused to leave his cell, said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rand Rubin.

Strier is accused of attempted murder for allegedly shooting attorney Gerald Curry five times on Oct. 31, 2003.

Curry represented a woman who supervised a trust on behalf of Strier, and the shooting was captured by a Court TV cameraman awaiting a news conference in the Robert Blake murder case.

- City News Service

Hollywood Hills hosts MLK tribute

The life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated at 4 p.m. Sunday, with a tribute at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive.

The event will feature performances by the Lula Washington Dance Theater and the Greater Los Angeles Cathedral Choir, as well as appearances by newscaster Chris Schauble and actor James Reynolds.

For information, call [phone] or see www.forestlawn.com.

- Daily News

Methane issues at Ambassador site

Soil studies at the Ambassador Hotel site, where Los Angeles Unified is planning to build three schools, indicate extra measures are needed to prevent exposure to methane gas, the district announced Wednesday.

Testing by the Office of Environmental Health and Safety was completed last month as part of ``the routine environmental review process'' conducted by the district at prospective new school sites, according to the LAUSD.

Testing is used to determine whether any corrective measures are needed prior to the design and construction of a school, said LAUSD representative Stephanie Brady.

The OEHS soil studies showed that a gas-mitigation system, which includes an impermeable membrane beneath the buildings and a network of pipes that will vent any sub-surface gases, will need to be installed, she said.

- City News Service