Student shot at football game speaks

Mercedes Hearn, the 12-year-old girl who was wounded two weeks ago after a football game at Washington Preparatory High School in the Athens neighborhood, spoke to the media for the first time this morning. She was shot three times and was released from the hospital on Thursday.

Hearn visited her campus, Audubon Middle School, then spoke to reporters from her wheelchair. She said it was her first football game. When asked if she would go to another game, she simply shook her head.

A story about today's football game with Washington Prep and Los Angeles High will be in Saturday's paper.

--Jason Song

Photo by Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Three Californians in spelling bee finals

And then there were three.

In the semifinal round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the pool was whittled down to 12 finalists, three of them from California: Austin Pineda of Perris, who correctly spelled torii; Justin Song of San Diego (trophallactic); and Tia Thomas of Coarsegold (canicular). Josephine Kao of Roseville got tripped up on sphendone. The round before, Easun Arunachalam of La Crescenta bowed out on cyathiform.

The finals are on ABC-7 tonight at 8 p.m.

The meaning of the words? Keep reading ...