BRIEFLY.

Labor authorities sue Glendale firm

U.S. labor officials have sued a Glendale janitorial firm for at least $900,000 in back wages and damages, alleging it improperly classified workers who cleaned movie theaters as independent contractors.

The federal lawsuit filed last month in Los Angeles accuses Janitorial Carpet's Maintenance Inc. of violating minimum wage and overtime laws, as well as record-keeping requirements.

In addition to misclassifying workers, officials say Labor Department investigators determined that the company was aware some employees had relatives help them complete their heavy workloads in the allotted time but were not paid.

No one at Janitorial Carpet's Maintenance could be reached immediately for comment.

- City News Service

Suspect in chase gets prison term

A man who police chased at high speeds through the San Fernando Valley - with the chase ending when he dumped what looked like methamphetamine into a park pond - has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Edwin Mejia, 31, of Canyon County was convicted in September of two counts of distributing methamphetamine and one count of possessing the drug with the intent to distribute.

On Oct. 27, 2004, after prosecutors say Mejia had sold one pound of methamphetamine to a confidential informant and agreed to sell two more pounds, he led authorities on a televised chase.

A news helicopter photographed Mejia driving his pickup truck onto the middle of a baseball field in Reseda Park, where he jumped out and ran toward a pond carrying a bag of what appeared to methamphetamine in each hand. Mejia got into the pond and dumped out the contents of the bags before surrendering.

On the floor of his truck, investigators found 35 grams of methamphetamine, authorities said.

- City News Service

LAUSD to go after Glassell Park land

The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted unanimously Tuesday to try to acquire 23 acres in Glassell Park owned by the largest individual donor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's election campaign.

The board authorized paying fair-market value for the property developer Richard Meruelo purchased last year, a site the school district had been interested in purchasing for a 2,300-student high school.

District officials, who want to acquire the property through eminent domain, expect a battle with Meruelo over agreeing on the parcel's fair- market value. Meruelo has estimated that value could be as much as $3 million an acre. Meruelo drew heat when it was first learned in 2004 that he had brought the property for $30 million, or $600,000 more than the district's offer.

He was proposing to partner with the district in a $700 million mixed-use project that would include housing and commercial space in addition to a high school.

- Daily News

Council approves 2 to commissions

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Paule Cruz Takash to the Human Relations Commission and Teresa Villegas to the Environmental Affairs Commission.

Takash, an ethic studies professor, will join an 11-member advisory panel that works with city officials on resolutions to racial, religious or ethic problems.

Villegas, president of MTV Environmental Consulting, joins a five-member commission that oversees the city's Environmental Affairs Department and reviews how proposed projects will affect the local environment.

- Daily News

EPA slaps local concern with fine

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a $25,000 fine to California Technical Plating Corp. in San Fernando for violating hazardous waste storage regulations.

The company has fixed the violations, which were found during an October 2002 inspection of the facility at 11533 Bradley Ave., officials said.

- Daily News

Shots fired into car, one man dies

An 18-year-old man was killed Tuesday and another critically wounded after seven to eight rounds were fired into a four-door car which then crashed into a building in South Los Angeles, police said.

The shooting and collision were reported at 4:27 p.m. at 60th and Hoover streets, said Kevin Maiberger of the Los Angeles Police Department's media relations section.

- City News Service