Photo from the Getty by Rick O! via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

• Students, faculty, staff, and parents associated with Lincoln Elementary school in Santa Monica are trying to come to grips today with the weekend arrest of Thomas Beltran, who taught ESL at the school. Beltran, 60, has been charged with molesting four young girls who were his students.
• An auto fire turned into a brush fire late this afternoon near the Figueroa Exit of the Westbound 134 Freeway.
• An elderly homeless man who was punched in the face mid-April at a Reseda bus stop by a young man has died. The case has been ruled a homicide, and authorities are searching for the suspect.
• A Marina del Rey man has finally won a three-year battle to take his wife's last name as his own. Today Michael Bijon (nee Buday) got his new driver's license with his new name.
• Ready to rock and roast some weenies? Losanjealous shares the lineup for this year's KROQ Weenie Roast, and asks readers to vote on which act is their most (or least favorite). Metallica, The Offspring, Pennywise...oh my! Suddenly I feel very old.
• Hello, Kitty. To the north of us in the state capitol, 300 dead cats were found in a man's freezer. There were 30 live ones in the home, too. Yikes.
• Useless Hollywood gossip of the day: Actors Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds are engaged.
• Whether your continuing a celebration launched over the weekend, or keeping it to the calendar for Cinco de Mayo, one way to cure those Monday blues would be to grab some grub and get your drink on. The OC Register's Fast Food Maven has some local picks for folks behind the Orange curtain, while up here in LA, may we suggest checking out a taco truck...or two? Drive safe, folks, and don't forget to set your alarm for work tomorrow...