News Roundup – Dec. 4, 2008

Here are some of the stories in the Southland on Thursday...

LA LIVE

A grand-opening ceremony will be held Thursday night for LA Live -- the $2.5 billion entertainment district that developers have hailed as a West Coast version of New York's Times Square.

WE-HO STRIP CLUB BURNS

A fire burned through the roof of a West Hollywood strip club Thursday morning. The fire at The Body Shop in the 8200 block of Sunset Boulevard was reported shortly after 6:30 a.m. The fire disrupted traffic, but no injuries were reported. The Body Shop's Web site describes itself as "the longest running strip club in L.A." (NBCLA)

MAN FATALLY SHOT OUTSIDE POPULAR LONG BEACH BAR

A man was shot and killed overnight outside of Yankee Doodles, a restaurant, sports bar and pool hall on East Ocean Boulevard in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach. The Long Beach Police Department says the customer was shot in the head around 2 a.m. No suspect was arrested, and no motive was apparent.

WITNESS ACCOUNTS PAINT NASTY PICTURE OF ESTEBAN NUNEZ

Witnesses to the fatal stabbing of a college student and its aftermath give a horrible portrait of the 19-year-old son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. One told police how furious Esteban Nunez and his friends were about getting kicked out of a fraternity party and how they vowed revenge. Nunez and three others were scheduled to be arrainged Thursday in San Diego Superior Court. Each is charged with one count of murder and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
 
WHO VOTED FOR, AGAINST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BAN

A new poll in California shows who voted for the ban on same-sex marriage -- and who didn't. The survey finds that income level and religious convictions were bigger factors than race or age. Sixty-three percent of those making less than $40,000 a year voted for the ban, as did 85 percent of evangelical Christians. Among other religious groups, 66 percent of Protestants supported the ban, plus 60 percent of Roman Catholics.
 
WOMAN'S E.R. DEATH BLAMED ON MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE

A report on the death of a homeless woman last year at a Los Angeles hospital calls it "a case of medical negligence." The report was done for Los Angeles County and obtained by the Los Angeles Times when it was inadvertently made public in a court filing. It concerns the death of Edith Rodriguez at Martin Luther King-Harbor Hospital in May 2007. She lay writhing in pain for almost an hour on a floor before dying. Security cameras showed a janitor mopping around her.

GUARD WHO SHOT MAN AT SCIENTOLOGY BUILDING WON'T BE CHARGED

Prosecutors in Los Angeles say a security guard won't face criminal charges for fatally shooting a sword-wielding man at a Hollywood Scientology building. Investigators determined after last month's shooting that the guard was defending himself and others. Authorities say a 48-year-old former Scientologist from Oregon, Mario Majorski, had threatened the Scientology Celebrity Centre for years. They say he arrived at the center, pulled out two swords and tried to attack security guards. (NBCLA)
 
PAY NO MIND TO THAT STINKY SMELL

A hazardous-materials team investigated a sulfur-like smell coming from a chemistry lab at Los Angeles Mission College in Slymar overnight but said there was "no evidence of an acute or escalating hazard." An overnight construction worker at the school, at 13356 Eldridge Ave., noticed the smell at about 3 a.m. Firefighters responding to the scene also noted a sulfur-like smell coming from a chemistry lab on the second floor of a three-story building. But no hazards were found, and the construction worker who first reported the smell was not injured.

WALGREENS ROBBERY

A gunman robbed a 24-hour Walgreens drug store in the South Robertson area overnight and got away with about $200. An LAPD
officer says the robbery occurred at about 2:30 a.m. when a man wearing a black sweatshirt and a bandana over his face entered the business at 8770 West Pico Boulevard. No one was hurt.

GRAMMY NOMINATIONS

Nominations for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced Wednesday night. Lil Wayne leads the field with eight nominations, while Coldplay is second with seven, including nominations for album, record and song of the year. Lil Wayne's album "Tha Carter III" earned him a spot among the top album nominees, along with Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends." Also nominated for best album: Ne Yo's "Year of the Gentleman," Radiohead's "In Rainbows," and "Raising Sand" from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. The 51st annual Grammy Awards will be presented Feb. 8 at Staples Center.
  
WEATHER
 
We'll have low clouds and patchy fog this morning on an otherwise partly cloudy day. Highs will be in the mid to upper 60s. Air quality will range from good to moderate.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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