• Have you entered LAist's contest to win Arcade Fire tickets yet? Head on over and comment to become eligible: are you a wine drinker or a beer drinker when at the Bowl? Or, are you like some people we know who bring in a couple of forties and a bucket of fried chicken?
• An infant was shot and killed last night in MacArthur Park; the baby was hit by a stray bullet while his mother was walking him in his stroller.
• Heads up, Blue Line commuters: the LAFD Alert system is notifying us of a vehicle collision near downtown; no passenger injuries reported yet. The LA Times Bottleneck Blog has more.
• Wondering where in Hell-A to get your thrills on this Halloween? Head on over to CreepyLA, a website devoted to "the supernatural, the scary, and anything Halloween related in the Los Angeles area." Who's in for Universal Horror Night at Universal Studios?
• The LA Times editorial section takes "hand-wringers" to task for complaining about the city's urban crunch downtown and elsewhere, pointing out that L.A. "has been an urban place with plenty of multifamily housing for a century now."
• Didn't remember to watch the Emmys last night and need a quick round-up? Check out the coverage from LAT, la.com, and Variety. So this is what The Envelope is good for!
• Threats on KFed's life? The bodyguard has dirty details about child abuse AND Gloria Allred on his side? Brit's attorney up and runs? This whole Britney-KFed custody battle is shaping up to be a real doozy!
• Liberal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky has been reinstated as dean of UCI's law school, after last week's decision to fire him was met with ferocious protest and debate in L.A.'s intellectual community.
• Speaking of intellectual communities, did you know that Latino pop star Shakira has been taking classes at UCLA? She signed up for the summer session, her class of choice? "Introduction to Western Civilization: Ancient Civilizations from Prehistory to Circa A.D. 843." Nice work, girl!

Zach Behrens also contributed to this article.

Photo of a brace of ducks in a LA gutter by aldonova77 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr