Photo by KeithJ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Hot temperatures, low humidity, and brisk winds helped to whip up the flames yesterday in the foothills of Sierra Madre, as a fire that broke out mid-afternoon Saturday has now blazed through approximately 400 acres. The fire was first reported shortly before 2 p.m. close to Santa Anita Canyon Road, and caused some initial evacuations from the nearby recreation areas, including a Boy......

Surfing on the Wall, by Carlito_Brigante via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. In the wee hours of the morning, a cop driving west on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys crashed his patrol car into a tree in order to avoid a collision with another driver who was believed to have been under the influence. The suspected DUI driver allegedly was driving away from a bar, and got away after the cop's crash. A......

A body was found yesterday afternoon in the Angeles National Forest, off Highway 2 near Big Pines. The identity of the person has not been revealed. Now you can get all the penis-biting snake action you want on the web: the next "Jackass" sequel is set to premiere on the web through Blockbuster's new online movie service. In New Jersey, the state assembly has voted to outlaw the death penalty, "poising the state to......

Welcome to Hollywood Today, an LA City commission voted recommending that Charles Bukowski's former home to be designated a historic cultural monument. Yay books and reading! According to state representative Fabian Nunez, who represents the Downtown LA area, the biggest crisis we're facing today is foreclosures. ""It's a more immediate crisis," he told the AP. Meanwhile, protests are beginning to hit the streets over this. Drink up! It's the holidays! Caroline on Crack has......

The Onion has published a companion Google map to promote their new laugher of a world atlas, Our Dumb World. Click on the markers in the map below for gems like Brazil ("Boasting some of the sexiest people ever to be stabbed repeatedly at night..."), France ("Heated conversation that will ultimately end in sex..."), and Mexico ("Now Hiring 2.4 Million Busboys"). View Larger Map In other Google Maps news, a new "terrain" layer has been......

There was a wildfire brewin' in the hills of Altadena earlier this afternoon: The fire began about 1:30 p.m. and was fought by helicopters. Several dozen hikers were evacuated from the mountain trails leading to the Flores Canyon area in the Los Angeles National Forest. The fire was contained above the tree line though there were homes within a few miles of the blaze. No evacuations had been ordered by 2:30 p.m., [Capt. Mike] Brown......

State Route 99 cuts straight through the Central Valley to Sacramento via Bakersfield and Fresno (see map below). And if you get too lost in your audiobook after the 5 skirts Angeles National Forest and meanders into the middle of nowhere, you might accidentally end up on it as we did yesterday. We didn't realize our mistake until we took note of the multicolored flowering bushes lining the median of the freeway, obscuring a great......

- Toys for Tots was offered 4,000 Talking Jesus dolls by the Valencia company who manufacturers them but the charity declined the gift in fear of accidentally giving a doll to a little Jewish or Muslim child (even though Jesus was a Jew and the Muslims consider him a prophet) - KSAT - The defense attorneys of SM Farmers Market killer George Weller berated by judge for being "very inappropriate, very offensive, and very......

And by that we don't mean that Jason Vorhees popped up during the night, nor did the Blair Witch underwhelm us with hype. This was far more insidious, and really left us with a foul taste in our mouths. Memorial Day Weekend - a long-standing holiday tradition for this weekend involves "getting out of town". Traveling somewhere. Hitching up your skirts and moseying down the lane. You get it. For this auspicious occasion we......

Los Angeles Times's staffer David Pierson reports that county officials closed 80% of the Angeles National Forest on Sunday, forcing canyon residents to evacuate: "It's [the evacuation] a predicament dozens, maybe hundreds, of residents living full- or part-time in the remote mountain areas found themselves in after officials announced Friday that 80% of the 680,000-acre forest would be closed today [Sunday] at midnight. Residents say they need more time and would prefer to stay to......