Stars and Bars: Last week’s racist massacre in a Charleston, SC church produced the usual calls for gun control, but louder voices might be for taking down the Confederate flag from the statehouse. Its defenders say the Stars and Bars is a symbol of heritage, but it is also the flag flown by the armies of slavery in the Civil War.

Accused shooter Dylann Roof had a picture of himself holding his .45 caliber pistol and the Confederate flag.

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted “To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred.” The Atlantic’s cultural/political correspondent Ta-Nehisi Coates writes, “Take down the flag. Take it down now.”

State Rep. Norman Brannon, a Republican, said he would introduce a bill to remove the flag. The legislature must pass a law to take down the flag because it’s protected by The South Carolina Heritage Act. While the state and American flags were lowered to half-staff after the shooting, the Confederate flag continued to fly at the top of its mast.

Nation: New York State troopers have converged around Friendship, NY in the southwestern portion of the state after what they believe to be a “significant” sighting of two escaped murderers. The two broke out two weeks ago from the Clinton Correctional Facility about 350 miles away. Officers were stopping cars, searching back yards, and combing the woods.

>New Orleans police are searching for an escaped prisoner believed to have killed the police officer who was driving him to jail. Police say Travis Boys, 33, somehow managed to slip his handcuffs in the back seat of an SUV and climbed into the front where he grabbed Off. Daryle Holloway’s gun and shot him.

Survival School: A deal has been reached that may allow the 100-year-old Sweet Briar College in Virginia to welcome back its students in the fall. The president of the school abruptly announced its closing in March. The deal involves a 16 million commitment from alumnae. If it opens in September Sweet Briar will be without a freshman class. All of this year’s applicants were told to find another college.

World: At least 84 people have died as a result of drinking toxic alcohol in a Mumbai slum. Doctors say patients are arriving at the hospital already near death. Five people have been arrested. While the number of dead is high, death by illegal alcohol is not unusual in India, where the poor buy cheap liquor that’s sometimes spiked with chemicals.

The Sports Page: Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer threw a no-hitter against Pittsburgh yesterday and came only one errant pitch away from throwing a perfect game, the Holy Grail of pitchers. In the bottom of the ninth he hit batter Jose Tabata on the left elbow, forcing a walk.

The Garage Tapes: Little known to the rest of the free world, President Obama entered a garage in Highland Park, Calif. Friday and sat down for an interview with comedian Marc Maron for his popular podcast “WTF with Marc Maron.” That means what you think it does.

The Secret Service made Maron clean up a bit so the president wouldn’t trip. You’d think this would be a big “get” for Maron, but actually it was the other way around. The White House pitched the president to Maron in its continuing effort to make him look hip. Maron gets about a half million downloads a month. The comedian wouldn’t reveal what the president said — the podcast doesn’t go live until 3 am tomorrow — but he told the LA Times that Obama took note of his picture of two cats having sex.

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