HACKER TRIAL: The next question: where to...

HACKER TRIAL: The next question: where to try alleged master computer hacker Kevin Mitnick. . . . Prosecutors in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver and Raleigh, N.C., all have a claim to stake. Next week, each will argue why Mitnick, a Valley native, should be tried in their districts.

GENDER BENDERS: Confused about the difference between a straight cross-dresser and a gay drag queen? Cal State Northridge can help. Beginning Thursday, CSUN will host an “International Congress on Gender, Cross Dressing, and Sex Issues.” “We’re trying to pool our knowledge,” said Prof. Vern Bullough. More in Life and Style, Page 1.

FRESH START: The Rev. Zedar E. Broadus, above, president of the San Fernando Valley branch of the NAACP, is back from New York, where the civil rights group ousted its veteran leader. Said Broadus: “The reports of the demise of the NAACP have been greatly exaggerated. . . . We haven’t missed a step.” On Tuesday, NAACP officials lobbied on Capitol Hill (A5).

ON THE NET: Fallout from a search last week at the Glendale home of a former Church of Scientology minister continues. In San Jose, a judge declined Tuesday to lift an order against the Glendale man (B1). And in Finland, of all places, a computer service that permits e-mail to be sent anonymously was confronted with a government search warrant. It then surrendered the name of a Scientology critic, reports columnist Dan Akst in his Postcard from Cyberspace (D1).

MCA ROCKS: MCA Inc. last week announced big plans to build a resort hotel complex at Universal City, and on Tuesday came news that money shouldn’t be a problem, at least for now. MCA’s corporate parent, Osaka-based Matsushita, said profits quadrupled last quarter as sales rose. Contributing was a 9.3% rise in revenues at MCA. . . . Major local factors: Strong music sales at Geffen Records and the box-office hit “The Flintstones.”