LAPD’s Hollenbeck Division has a lead on who they say is the Lincoln Heights Prowler - they released this morning a picture, provided by I.C.E. (Immigration Customs Enforcement) - it’s 21-year-old Rogelio Galvan.  A Mexican National, LAPD says they’ve arrested him before - about two years ago for the same thing.  He was deported, but now they say he’s back - and back at it.

It’s pretty creepy.  This guy allegedly breaks into homes (more so two weekends ago when it was super hot and people left their windows open) in the middle of the night.  The victims wake up with him standing over them!  One woman alleges he had already begun to take her clothes off when she woke up; another says he did the same thing, only in her child’s bedroom.  Once people wake up and scream, the prowler leaves.

Stay tuned for Channel 4’s Coverage of the Lincoln Heights Prowler this afternoon.

If you were watching closely this morning you noticed we reported on the teacher charged with bringing a gun to school - but after our initial report at 530am, you didn’t see us again.  We were bumped.  But I gotta give credit where credit is due - Justin Jaeger in NewsChopper 4 did a fantastic job of keeping us all informed about the fire in Hollywood.  I hope you can see how dedicated we are on Today in LA to making sure you have all the information you need to start your day.  Justin showed you just how quickly we can get that information to you and keep you up-to-date as the breaking news develops.

But I also wanted to reiterate our story in Orange County: Jayne DeArmond will be in court today to face a judge on two felony counts: 1. posession of a firearm on school grounds and 2. child endangerment by a caretaker.   Both counts are felonies.  She could face six years and four months in prison.

It was August 2nd when a 3rd Grade student at Diamond Elementary found a gun in DeArmond’s supply closet.  School District police credit that student for saying something to the principal.  DeArmond was taken away in handcuffs and when we spoke to parents about it all the next morning, many were shocked they hadn’t heard the news.  Today, we’ll see the first step in a case that keep this teacher away from students for a very long time.

In the meantime, we’re hoping DeArmond will make time to talk to us to give us her side of the story.  Police had said she had no threat on record against her, so it’ll be interesting to see why she had the gun in the first place (of course, these are only allegations).

Just before our midday newscast, a neighbor came up to me with a slip of paper.  She said the neighborhood was hurting after the apparent murder-suicide and that neighbors wanted to come together and help in some way.  So she asked that I share this with you, an account, set up for the wife who survived the shooting, and the 4-year-old daughter who saw it all happen and will likely need counseling because of it.  Here is the information if you’d like to help:

Pick Family Assistance Fund
1880 West Carson Street #F-282
Torrance, CA 90501

A sad morning in Torrance after police say a man shot and killed his 5-year-old son and his mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself.  In the shooting, he also shot and wounded his wife.   More to come.

Juan Manuel Alvarez is in court this morning, charged with 11 counts of murder after the January 2005 train derailment he’s accused of causing.  Alvarez’s attorneys say it was a suicide attempt that he had second thoughts on but that he couldn’t move his Jeep off the tracks because it was stuck.  Prosecutors, on the other hand, say there’s no sign of suicide - only that Alvarez had doused his ride with gasoline and set the emergency brake before he ran away from the scene.

I was in Salt Lake City when this happened and yet remember it quite well.  I remember watching news coverage from Channel 4 about it and how at first there was worry it might be terror-related.  And then to find out it was a failed suicide attempt and now with two sides to the story, it’ll be interesting to see how jurors decide Alvarez’s fate.  In putting together this morning’s coverage, I watched former stories about the incident and about jury selection - how so many thought an impartial jury would be difficult to find.  And yet here we are, on day one of the trial.

The saddest part of the story, perhaps, is the victims of the crash.  Alvarez is accused of parking his Jeep Grand Cherokee on the tracks - a southbound Metro train slammed into it, derailed and caused a northbound train to slam into the wreckage as well.  The victims has always ridden the train.  In fact, although they may or may not have spent time outside the train as friends, most of them knew eachother - at least by face - because they all rode the same way, the same time, all the time.  I was particularly intrigued by a story Channel 4 did about a man who thought he was going to die having been pinned underneath the wreckage, bleeding.  He took his blood and wrote on the train itself, “I love my kids” and “I love Luise” (his wife).  He survived.

And since the crash, MTA has been slapped with lawsuits, none of which name Alvarez.  The lawsuits stem from certain specifics about how the trains work and how a poor system lead to so many deaths.

As Juan Manuel Alvarez awaits his fate, the Channel 4 News Team continues its coverage.  Stay tuned.

I grabbed this shot this morning outside the Santa Monica Airport and it got me thinking: if there’s anything that this shift is not, it’s slow.  This morning (ironically as we’re talking about aircraft speed) we were at first moving slowly.  Granted, it’s early in the morning so give us a break!  But around 530a our time, the DC offices of the AOPA (Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association) opened up and the wheels started to move to get a live phone interview with one of its advocates.

The issue here is over who has jurisdiction to decide who can and can’t fly in and out of the airport.  The city wants to ban Category C &D jets - aircraft that flies faster than 136 mph at landing.  The ban is in place but the FAA is seeking a restraining order so a judge can take a look at the case and decide if the city has a right to do this.  Stay tuned…

So this morning we live from LAX and talking to people about this new image scanner TSA wants to use in place of patting down passengers.  You’d be selected at random.  We opted not to show what an image on the machine looks like considering our early morning viewers might not be ready for it.  But I wanted to post it here so you could see it - this image comes from the Transportation Safety Agency - it’s one of their directors who agreed to let her image be used.  But know this: TSA says unless you really are hiding something, these pictures are instantly deleted.  Anyhow, here it is, I’d be very interested to see what you think.

“To the bargaining table, Robin!  We haven’t one moment to lose!”  Can you see Adam West saying that?  It’s what SAG is saying to the AMPTP and vice versa - the sooner they get started on talks, the less likely we’ll see a strike like that of the WGA.

Coming from the “outside,” this is all new to me - Hollywood, that is, not unions.  But it appears even actors feel like they’re getting the shaft in this slow-economic pace we currently have.

Here’s what SAG members want: better pay, better benefits and compensation for new media - like internet downloads and product placement.

But there’s some controversy behind all this: first, 1400 SAG members signed a petition (Ben Affleck, Kevin Bacon, Glen Close to name a few) asking the board to NOT allow members who haven’t worked for at least one day a year to vote - they think non-working members might be too quick to strike.  Second, AFTRA is not taking part in the negotiating.  Before, the two used to do it together - AFTRA is going it alone this time around.

Meanwhile, AMPTP says it’ll try to use some of the negotiating it used with the WGA to help come to a quick agreement with the unions. 

While we were out live this morning reporting in Encino from the AMPTP HQ, I noticed something I wanted to share with you.  Outside the building are these nice murals of movie scenes.  One of them is from Gone with the Wind starring Clark Gable.  Any guess where Clark Gable was born?  No Googling this one - see if you can guess.  Here’s a hint: my name.

Do some research.  I’ll post the answer soon.

It’s an important issue, for sure: medical access.  It is the doctors and health care professionals on this ride that say everyone is entitled to medical access.  The Ride for World Health is to promote that idea and to support Doctors without Borders, an independent, donor-supported program that gives medical attention to those who need it in the poorest of areas around the world.  Please, take a look at this website: RIDE FOR WORLD HEALTH and see how you can help.

And in the meantime, don’t forget about our Health Expo this weekend!

It’s interesting how stories come together. Today on the Channel 4 News you saw our report on “Tent City” in Ontario, the city block near the airport that’s been set up as a refuge for the city’s homeless. But that’s the kicker: the CITY’S homeless. Problem is, more and more people from outside the City of Ontario (and outside California for that matter) are moving in. So now the city is coming in and bull-dozing it down.

There were some very angry people out there this morning, as you can imagine. Some yelled curse words at us. Others understood our reasoning for being there: to tell their stories.

Ontario City gave Tent City residents until 8am today to move out of the main square. We watched as bulldozers came in and tore down the abandoned tents, cleared out the garbage and sweeped up what’s left of a growing home for the homeless. In 30 days, according to the city, Tent City will re-open; enclosed in a fence, set up on a grid, similar to a campsite, and ready for ONTARIO’S homeless. People will have to enroll for 90-day renewable “tickets” to get inside, thus weeding out anyone who is not from Ontario. The expected number of homeless to live in the new area is 170.

One of the folks we spoke with made an interesting comment: commit a crime in Ontario and you get to stay in the county jail; don’t commit a crime and just be homeless and they force you out of town. Does that make sense?