You won't be faulted if you feel as if it just now seems we are getting out from under the covers of the Feb. 5 Primary. For one, there was very little finality -- something that elections are supposed to deliver -- when we were promised Super Tuesday would end all lingering doubts about our preferred candidate. For another, election officials are just now getting around to changing the flawed ballots that left so... [continue]

untitled, by jtstrathdee via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. News of the Chinese quake that has reportedly killed more than 8,500 people, has rattled some Chinese-Americans in L.A. who are struggling to learn the fate of relatives and friends back home. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo hates having a good time (and getting syphilis): He asked a judge to bar 36 convicted prostitutes and five pimps from walking anywhere on a 5.7-mile stretch of... [continue]

All over Los Angeles, on chain link fences and freeway underpasses, sprawling banners and rectangular placards advertise names of people running for office you might have never heard and with whom you will probably never have any contact. But these ghosts of democracy, running for Los Angeles Superior Court judicial posts, could affect our jail and court systems for years to come. This June 3, voters in California will be asked to decide on two... [continue]

"Sherman Way Beautification Project," by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. A Fresno sheriff will allow researchers to start digging for human remains under the former estate of Charles Manson, where Mr. Helter Skelter hid after a 1969 summer killing spree. A woman's partially decapitated body was found in a South L.A. alley. She may have been homeless and police said she suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma. No... [continue]

"the recliner has been drinking," by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Are you smarter than the governor of California? State Sen. Dean Florez has proposed a bill calling on Gov. Schwarzenegger to take the high school exit exam to show him how important education funds are. The state is mired in a$8 billion debt and some have called for cuts to educating as a way to get California out of... [continue]

Bearlicious, by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Home plate Kerwin Danley, who took a 96 mph Brad Penny heater off the face mask during last night's Dodger game --and briefly lost consciousness -- has been released from the hospital. Dodgers medical personnel accompanied him to Good Samaritan Hospital, where officials Sunday said Danley was treated in the emergency room and released. To update our coverage of the Sierra Madre fire,... [continue]

"I want a lover, I don't have to love...", by Lush.i.ous via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Is that a helicopter in your backyard or are you just...An LAPD copter was forced to make an emergency landing in WeHo today on San Vicente after the pilot noticed the emergency lights flashing. With Earth Day just around the corner, the New York Times checks in with environmentalist and former Science Guy Bill Nye. Nye,... [continue]

"Over the Foothills", by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Thousands of Chinese immigrants pounded the Hollywood pavement today, calling for the firing of CNN's Jack Cafferty following his remarks that goods from that county were "junk," and referred to the Chinese as "a bunch of goons and thugs." Cafferty's a nut, but I'm with Voltaire on this one. If you are looking for a job, you are not alone. California's unemployment... [continue]

One year and four days after they played their first headlining gig at the Troubadour, Austin psychedelic rockers The Black Angels return to the West Hollywood beacon to music taste June 5 in support of their newest record: Directions to See a Ghost. The Angels' first full length, Passover, enjoyed wide-spread acclaim and love on local radio. Their second album, due out later this year (but available now in digital format) builds on some of... [continue]

"6th Street Bridge Skyline", by the_mule via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Britney Spears may be on her way out of Los Angeles, but she's not going quietly. The pop star was involved in a minor collision last night on the 134 in bumper to bumper traffic where she hit the car in front of her, causing that vehicle to bump the car in front of them. No one was hurt and the... [continue]

"Who Watches The Watchers", by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. A year after the LAPD launched an offensive to rid Downtown of drugs and crime, the results are mixed. Violent crime is down and shoplifting is up, but some opponents of this broken windows campaign are deriding the heavy handed tactics they say police have used. But officials said, look at the results and, hey, it worked for Giuliani in NYC... [continue]

Charles Phoenix at Union Station Walking through the Broadway Arcade mall near the Jewelry District, Charles Phoenix rued the changing face of Downtown. The mall, built in 1922 and billed as Los Angeles's oldest shopping center, was the fourth stop on what could be Phoenix's last tour of some of the oldest and grandest sites in a city long accused of lacking history. But it was in the mall, where naked upper floors could... [continue]

Kevin Roderick, by Marc Goldstein courtesy KCRW. In May, Kevin Roderick's LA Observed will celebrate its fifth year as one of the city's main online destination for those seeking the inside scoop on media and politics. Roderick, a 25-year veteran of the LA Times and author of two books about Los Angeles, sat down for nearly an hour where talking about the past, present and future of LA Observed, why he thinks people should... [continue]

Yesterday, the Dodgers lost to the Boston Red Sox 7-4 in front of a historic crowd, some of whom spent all day reveling inside and outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The game itself was marred by lackluster pitching and an odd Dodgers outfield formation of two outfielders to try and contain the cavernous center and right field of the old park that originally opened in 1923. The outing was less a day at the... [continue]

Downtown Los Angeles, by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Hey, who's ready for another strike? The actors might be after the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted to split with the Screen Actors Guild, heightening fears that Hollywood may be in for another work stoppage. The last one cost Los Angeles County more than $1 billion. Time to switch from Whole Foods to Trader Joes, actors. OK, so... [continue]

"little green leaf," by Melle Music via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr For those who thought oil spills only happened when big tankers in Alaska collided with icebergs, may I point you to the South Bay? Crews were busy Saturday cleaning up about 5,500 gallons of oil that spilled into the wetlands area around Machado Lake. The oil apparently overflowed from an oil-and-water separator at the Cooper & Brain Oil Co. field near PCH... [continue]

Move over dentists, the boys in blue at the Los Angeles Police Department are encroaching on your fabled love of suicide. According to a report released today by the department, officers are more likely to commit suicide than die in the line of duty. During the last nine years, 19 sworn members of the LAPD have committed suicide, and seven were killed in the line of duty. Between 1990 and 1998, there were 24 suicides.... [continue]

Hope you took advantage of the weather this weekend | Photo by Tha_Sco via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Temperatures this weekend hit near record highs with 87 in Downtown, 88 in Long Beach, 83 in Malibu, 86 in parts of the Valley and the highest at 89 in Riverside. The pop sensation turned train wreck is getting some pressure from her family to turn in that Malibu mansion for a Louisiana... [continue]

Music Center fountain, by ellwoodite via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr A bomb scare closed the short-term parking structure at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank this morning after a small suitcase was found without its owner, according to officials at the airport. The suitcase was detonated by the bomb squad and the parking lot re-opened after being closed for an hour. An inert World War II-era grenade left on top of a vehicle parked... [continue]

Sorry Republicans, but this is only for the Democrats in the house. You know who you are, you passionate Donkeys who like both candidates with equal abandon. You indecisive asses who can't decide between these two stong candidates. It's a tough choice, I know. On the one hand you have Barack Obama, whose oratory skills are second to one. He has galvanized millions to his cause, spawned idolatrous music videos and convinced more than 1... [continue]