MENENDEZ SCORE CARD: With a choice of...

MENENDEZ SCORE CARD: With a choice of six different verdicts for each of the brothers, jurors deciding the fate of Lyle and Erik Menendez, on trial for the shotgun slayings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, face a bewildering array of possibilities. (B2) . . . The penalties range from two years in prison to death. Separate juries in Van Nuys are considering the cases against the brothers, who claim they acted out of fear of continuing abuse.

MAKING THEIR MARKS: With less than six months in office, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick has emerged as a champion of public safety issues and a critic of City Hall perks and conventions. Chick has had her share of media successes, blasting a bureaucracy she calls wasteful, and which she contends often takes more in taxes than it gives back in services to the Valley. (B1) . . . Richard Alarcon, the Valley’s first Latino council member, has pushed his campaign to rebuild his 7th District, proposing a redevelopment project for Pacoima. He also has pursued a coalition-building strategy largely unheard of in the time of his predecessor. (B1)

ONE GOOD TURN: It had been a slow start for a campaign offering events tickets in exchange for guns, with just one person turning in a firearm Saturday morning at Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Pacoima. (B1) . . . Suddenly, as a car being pursued by police whizzed by, someone threw a shotgun out the window, which came to rest 100 feet from the church. The weapon was retrieved by LAPD Officer Gene Sur.

SANTA’S HELPERS: Woodland Hills-based Health Net got right into the spirit of the season by canceling the annual Christmas party and instead throwing a party for 250 needy children Saturday. (B1) . . . Employees of the firm pitched in at the Warner Center Marriott by appearing as toy soldiers, magicians and carolers.