Today on Kevin Roderick's weekly LA Observed spot on KCRW, he talks up the latest lay offs at the LA Times. In addition to "the paper also began saying goodbye to 150 editors, reporters, designers, photographers and other journalists." The publisher was also fired. And that's not all as Roderick predicts that this was not the end of it: "the cruel truth is that this week was probably just a mid-step on the way to......

"There's a lot of wailing in journalism right now. I want to show people that there is a future, even if it's not working at a newspaper," explained Chrys Wu (via IM), a journoblogger at Ricochet, about the recent spate of layoffs, especially the LA Times. She's started a list of what Los Angeles area journalists are doing after the print life. "The core skills of journalism are the same, but the job is evolving.......

After hearing about music blogger Kevin Bronson leaving the paper amid the many staff cuts, we find out another great blogger is slated to leave. Jesus Sanchez was one of the paper's online reporting staff and has been writing at LA Now this past year. "I'm not sure what it means when the breaking-news blogger is laid off at a time when Blogging Will Be The Paper's One And Only Salvation. Hrmph," snapped one commenter.......

Sad news today for the local rock music reporting scene. Early last night, Kevin Bronson from the LA Times sent out an e-mail titled "Yeah, it's true." The body of the e-mail broke the news. "I'm history. My last day at the Times is Friday." He then linked to Kevin Roderick's post about the massive amounts of layoffs at the paper. Bronson was a huge asset to the Times and had a wonderful blog called......

Gizmodo caught wind of this gem of local TV news reporting from one of the Friday's iPhone long line reporting stories, an ubiquitous scene played across the nation, channel after channel. KTLA Reporter Eric Spillman became Mr. Sassypants and poked fun at the people waiting in line. Instead of being funny, it just turned into one of those "awkward turtle" moments. These type of waiting-in-line-events are usually good fodder for funny videos and reporting,......

Injured cyclist, Ron Peterson being prepped for transport to an area hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department Paramedics. Update #2: The meeting has been canceled. More information here. Update: The meeting location has changed to across the street to accommodate more people. it is not located at Felicia Mahood Multipurpose Center at 11338 Santa Monica Boulevard. After the unfortunate, yet eye-opening incident between an alleged "road rage" motorist, who was arrested, and two bicyclists......

Photo by darkpatator via Flickr Here at LAist, we get hundreds of e-mails a day, sometimes at the rate of one e-mail per minute. Press releases, invites, statements and tips all flood our boxes. Many of these e-mails are from bands. Whether they are local or traveling through, there are lots and lots of shows every single night in this town and that adds up in the inbox (and sometimes it's coming at you......

July Fouth's "road rage" incident on Mandeville Canyon was reported here on Monday morning and the story quickly gathered steam with TV stations clamoring to interview the cyclists, the Police Captain reporting that the case would proceed as a criminal assault case and then culminating with Councilman Bill Rosendahl going on TV (video above) and referring to the Cyclists' Bill of Rights (PDF version), which addresses equality and access as basic civil rights that......

Yesterday, Chuck Henry of NBC contacted LAist to gather more information regarding the Mandeville Canyon "road rage" incident that landed two cyclists in the hospital. This two minute segment aired last night during the 11:00 p.m. news. CBS/KCAL also aired their own version of the story.......

"On any given day on a California freeway, it is not uncommon to see a young woman, phone cradled against one ear, carefully painting her nails a winsome shade of crimson, looking up now and then to inch her car forward in traffic.” That's what the New York Times wrote today in a lede about an article about the hands-free cell phone law. Playboy, who, yes, has a blog, jumped on top of it. "Anyone......

You've seen them around the city, right? Those light beige signs designating an area as a historical square. There's Amelia Earhart Square in the NoHo Arts District and the "I Love Lucy Square" near Paramount Studios. Now, after being approved last year, Larry King is getting his officially designated this Thursday at the intersection of Sunset and Cahuenga boulevards where the CNN building is located.......

Photo by Omar Omar via Flickr Late last month, Tribune Company chairman and CEO Sam Zell said in a memo that he was considering selling the iconic Times Mirror Square (along with the Tribune Tower in Chicago). If it does sell, Zell says moving out won't be immediate (they could sell and lease back some of the space), but come five years down the road, moving day may arrive. So the question remains, what......

If you're part of some drama and TMZ is around, it doesn't matter if you're a celebrity or not. You're going to be online and in-house publicists are going to e-mail every blog in town about it. Last night outside of STK, the swanky La Cienega Blvd. restaurant, a girl was hit by an SUV that sped off after. The victim's boyfriend chased down the SUV and confronted the girl until police and paramedics arrived.......

In another round of job cuts for the LA Times, the paper announced today the planned sacking of 250 jobs across the company which includes 150 editorial ones. The paper will also reduce the number pages it prints by 15%. This is due to a declining revenue, some which is blamed on the internet (which is also a blessing, depending on how you look at it). "You all know the paradox we find ourselves in,"......

LA Observed's Kevin Roderick gave blogging some major props in his weekly KCRW report, citing three big names in the local blogosphere who are part of the changing face of mainstream media: the Times' Patrick Goldstein, Patterico’s Pontifications' Patrick Frey, and Witness LA.com's Alan Mittelstaedt. He ends with this thought that hits right at home here: "Blogs, the better ones, are changing the media scene in Los Angeles -- like everywhere. Even with the occasional......

The Austin Powers actor who played Mini-Me is suing TMZ over a video they posted showing clips from a private sex video between he and his girlfriend. Also named in the lawsuit is Kevin Blatt, who is known for distributing the infamous Paris Hilton video, and SugarDVD, the company that has offered Blatt $100,000 to distribute the video even further. A representative from TMZ declined comment to LAist.......

The LA Times and Bloomberg just released a poll at 2 p.m. on the presidential race. Obama now holds a 12 point lead over McCain. Perhaps the most interesting part of the poll is that among white voters, Obama and McCain are dead even at 39% each. Also, the Gallup Daily shows a much tighter margin with "Obama winning on key issues." Today, Obama is in Los Angeles at the Music Center fundraising with Hollywood.......

Tim Russert, NBC News' Washington bureau chief and moderator of "Meet the Press" died after collapsing at NBC Studios in New York this afternoon. He was 58 years old. Retired NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw delivered the news at 12:39 p.m. LA time:“Our beloved colleague,” a somber Mr. Brokaw called him, one of the premier journalists of our time. He said this was one of the most important years in his life, with his deep......

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/world_news/BBC_Buys_Marijuana_in_LA_This_place_is_like_Amsterdam'; BBC News Correspondent David Willis wanted to see how hard or easy it was to get a medical marijuana prescription in California. He went to a clinic in the San Fernando Valley of the city and the only medical condition he could think of was how he gets anxious. Soon, the doctor appeared - a softly-spoken Vietnamese man who introduced himself as Dr Do. He wore a white lab coat and......

A poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times/KTLA has found that Californians are practically split even on the issue of gay marriage, which was deemed legal last week by the California Supreme Court. The findings on their website, which was posted yesterday afternoon, time stamped for today, has already garnered over 3,000 comments. Let the fight begin... "The survey also suggested that the state is moving closer to accepting nontraditional marriages, which could create openings......

After San Francisco Congressman Tom Lantos' death, San Fernando Valley congressman Howard Berman took the seat as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. That means he's in charge of the committee with "oversight over policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the globe's hotspots," according to an Associated Press profile of the politician. It perhaps can be read wrong, but the quote that's catching everyone's eyes is this one: "'Sometimes the best things......

Via the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated At the end of April, Jose Canseco chatted on the phone with LAist's Tim Hammer regarding his life in Los Angeles, writing, steroids and reality TV. Oh, and one of his latest pursuits -- fiction. "Yeah it's going to be about baseball and cloning. It's a very dark dark sci-fi story."......

The tag is so offensive that LA CityBeat readers are gasping for breath today, wondering how it even made it past the publisher to the printer, much less the streets. In this week's "Travel Issue"-- in a piece titled, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" the subhead reads: "Did you know that Hitler managed to give every German man, woman and child a yearly vacation at either the mountains or the sea?" But those following the......

AP Photo/Matt Sayle Exclusive parties are thrown all the time at the Playboy Mansion, but yesterday's luncheon was a bigger event for Playboy -- Playmate of the Year. This time around, the annual event's honoree is January 2007's model, the 22-year-old Jayde Nicole. She is the first Canadian Playmate of the Year in 26 years. Furthermore, Defamer makes a good observation about Canadian women: "Hailing from Scarborough, Ontario, Nicole is just the latest in......

Celebrate your weekend. | Photo by ronnie44052 via Flickr Not everyone is going to Coachella this weekend. For those who choose to stay put in Los Angeles, the city is literally filled with events this weekend: AltBuild Expo at SaMo Civic Auditorium: an eco-friendy building & design expo LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA: a must see & do Fiesta Broadway at Downtown: party!......

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Over at the Los Angeles Police Department's blog, Lieutenant Rick Banks as been assigned as the "Officer in Charge," and in his introduction post, he touts the success of the web tool and how it has been valuable for the department. But he goes on with a warning to those anonymous finger pointers. "The blog allows you to have a good amount of influence and more with complete anonymity..." Unfortunately,......

Hailing the West Valley, Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine appeared on Comedy Central's Daily Show to talk up the Britney Spears law. Be warned, this video is aurally NSFW. Related - Britney Spears' $25000 6-Mile LAPD Escort - LAPD Says 'No Thanks' to Paparazzi Law - Paparazzi Get Arrested Blocking Sidewalk Stalking Britney Spears - No Paparazzi Gangbang at Britney Spears' Court Hearing - Video of Paparazzi Running in Traffic - Some Justice......

......

Photo by Arlette via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr 19-year-old alleged gang member Pedro Espinoza entered a not guilty plea today for the murder of Jamiel Shaw. Shaw, the 17-year-old high schooler, was gunned down near his home early last month. Mayor Tony's former lady friend and ousted tv reporter Mirthala Salinas opens up about her affair in an upcoming Los Angeles mag interview. She calls the relationship a "learning experience" and......

Our photo storage/sharing network of choice, Flickr, is finally offering a video component. In other words, Flickr will store, stream, and enable the embedding of any kind of content that can be produced by a basic digital camera (now that most shoot moving as well as still pictures). A Flickr Pro account is required to upload video, which at $25/year was already necessary to upload more than 100mb of photos each month. Also, at......