The following stories are being followed by the Channel 4 news staff.
SWAT MEMBERS TAKE FLAG WAVING GUNMAN INTO CUSTODY
A masked gunman waving an American flag on a 101 Freeway overpass shut down the freeway for hours just west of downtown on Monday as police negotiated with him. Authorities took the gunman into custody at about 10:30 a.m. The freeway remained closed at 10:54 a.m. Police Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte said the unidentified man, wearing a ski mask and brown fatigues, was waving the flag with one hand and had a handgun in the other when officers arrived on the La Cumbre Avenue overpass just after 7:10 a.m. (NBCLA)
BALLOT WORRIES?
Election officials in LA County say they have printed enough ballots to handle an expected record turnout for Tuesday's presidential election. This was in response to a warning by an election watchdog group that some LA precincts won't have enough ballots. Work the Vote LA says a "looming crisis" is brewing because the county registrar printed up only enough ballots for half the registered voters, even though an 80 percent turnout is expected. The county registrar said many people voted early, so there are indeed enough ballots. (NBC4LA.com 2008 Election Guide)
"BRUNO" CRASHES RALLY OUTSIDE CITY HALL
"Borat" actor Sacha Baron Cohen used one of his undercover alter egos to crash a campaign rally in Los Angeles. In the guise of Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion reporter featured on his HBO "Da Ali G Show," Cohen showed up at an event outside City Hall backing Proposition 8. That's the measure that would change California's constitution to outlaw gay marriages. Cohen, dressed up as Bruno complete with preppy outfit and a blond wig, was trailed by his camera crew. When real news reporters and photographers realized who he was, members of his crew moved in to shield him and he was eventually whisked away in a van. Cohen's best known spoof is the foreign journalist he portrayed in his hit movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." (NBCLA.com)
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KILLER/S SOUGHT IN LONG BEACH HOMELESS MURDERS
Authorities are asking for the public's in their search for the killer or killers of three men and two women at a homeless encampment in Long Beach. The victims' bodies were found Sunday morning at the makeshift camp near the Santa Fe Avenue offramp of the San Diego Freeway. Some of the victims were shot several times. (NBCLA.com)
CRENSHAW DISTRICT DRIVE-BY
One man was killed and another wounded in an apparent drive-by shooting in the Crenshaw District. The shooting occurred Sunday night in the 4000 block of Muirfield Road. One man died at the scene. The other was hospitalized. Police are looking for two young men who fled in a vehicle.
CUPCAKE WAR SPANS FROM BEVERLY HILLS TO VALLEY VILLAGE
The Southland cupcake war is heating up. A Beverly Hills bakery credited with kicking off the gourmet cupcake craze is asking a federal judge to order a rival cupcake company to stop using a similar dot motif to promote its cakes. Sprinkles claims Valley Village-based Famous Cupcakes is using its trademarked circle-on-a-circle design to lure customers away. It wants a judge to order the competitor to drop the dot. (LAist)
OBIT: "NIGHTINGALE OF THE ANDES" DIES AT 86
Yma Sumac, the Peruvian-born soprano who wowed international audiences in the 1950s with her stunning vocal range and modern take on South American folk music, has died at the age of 86. Sumac's friend and personal assistant Damon Devine says she died Saturday at an assisted-living home in Los Angeles after an eight-month bout with colon cancer. The reclusive, raven-haired songstress had said she was born in 1927, but Devine says her birth certificate stated 1922, and she was 86.
Dubbed the "Peruvian Songbird" and the "Nightingale of the Andes," Sumac's soaring, warbling three-octave voice was matched by her flamboyant outfits designed to make her look like Incan royalty. (YouTube)
OBIT: PULLITZER PRIZE LA TIMES JOURNALIST DIES AT 71
William Stall, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covered California politics and the environment for the Los Angeles Times, has died at the age of 71. Stall's wife, Anne Baker, says her husband died at their Sacramento home on Sunday of complications from pulmonary disease. Stall won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for a series of Times' editorials titled "Reinventing California," which described how the newly elected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should address the complex economic and policy issues facing the state. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and six grandchildren. (LA Times)
WEATHER: COOL DAY, CHANCE OF RAIN LATE MONDAY, EARLY TUESDAY
It's another relatively cool day in the Southland. Highs will be in the 60s at the beaches and in the 70s in some inland areas. The National Weather Service says there's a 50 percent chance of rain after midnight. (NBCLA.com Weather)
SUPERLOTTO PLUS: $11 MILLION TICKET SOLD IN TEMPLE CITY
A SuperLotto Plus ticket sold at a Temple City liquor store is worth $11 million. The ticket sold at Liquor Mart 1 matched all six numbers drawn Saturday -- 3, 11, 28, 30, 38 and mega-number 12. The jackpot for Wednesday's drawing will be $7 million. (SuperLotto Plus)
