TODAY'S TOP STORIES FROM CNS

Local News in Brief
City News Service
Unseasonably warm weather will return to the Southland today ... promising triple-digit temperatures in some valley areas. The National Weather Service says that the heat ... very low humidity levels and bone-dry vegetation have combined to create wildfire conditions. A red flag warning signifying a high risk of wildfire will be in effect from 6 this morning until 9 Friday night. The warning is in force on the mountains of Los Angeles ... Ventura ... Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. That vast stretch includes the Angeles and Los Padres national forests.
In the Angeles National Forest ... the fire that broke out yesterday afternoon along North San Gabriel Canyon Road is raging over 750 acres as of this morning. It's only 10 percent contained. There have been some evacuations ... but fire officials say that there have been no injuries and no residential properties are threatened at this hour. The blaze is 10 percent contained ... with no one predicting when full containment might occur.


An inmate has been beaten to death in a two-man cell at Antelope Valley State Prison in Lancaster. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says the man's body was discovered last night. Sheriff's investigators are at the prison at this hour to conduct a probe into the slaying. The victim's name hasn't yet been released.
The California Highway Patrol says this morning that a motorist has died in a crash on the southbound Harbor Freeway in Wilmington ... just south of the Pacific Coast Highway. A black sport utility vehicle ended up in the center divider as a result of last night's crash. The name of the person who was killed hasn't yet been released.


The death of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy is drawing reaction from around the nation ... including Southern California. Former first lady Nancy Reagan has issued a statement saying she'll miss Kennedy as a dear friend. She also praises the senator for having been her ally in promoting stem cell research. Nancy Reagan says that even though her husband and Kennedy came from different sides of the political divide ... President Reagan and Kennedy were close and had great respect for each other.


R&B singer Chris Brown faces five years probation and 180 days of community labor for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna after a pre-Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. As part of his sentence ... Brown must also complete a one-year domestic violence counseling program and stay away from Rihanna. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg agreed to allow Brown to perform his community labor in Virginia ... where he lives.


It will be sunny today ... and warm. Highs will be in the mid 80s at the beaches ... the mid 90s inland ... and the low 100s in the valleys. Air quality will range from moderate to unhealthful for sensitive groups.