The cancellation of Sunday's open house at the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden proves that protest packs a powerful punch. UCLA owns the garden and the adjoining Carter family home and plans to sell the entire Bel Air property, citing money as the main motivator. more ›

A tranquil retreat into the Japanese gardens of Kyoto exists right here in Los Angeles, but for some reason, this cultural landmark in Bel Air is closed to the public. That reason is money. UCLA -- the current owner -- announced plans to sell the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden in November 2011, citing rising maintenance costs, deferred maintenance and a lack of visitors due to limited parking as motivators. more ›

Frederic Prinz Von Anhalt, the 68-year-old husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, held a press conference today to discuss his reaction to Gabor's daughter Constance Francesca Hilton's attempt to have the court assign a conservatorship for his wife. more ›

Two men broke into a home in Bel Air Estates this morning, tied up a man, threatened his wife and made off with two motorcycles. The robbery happened this morning around 4:30 am at a home above Sunset and Sepulveda, according to City News Service. more ›

Crack open those piggy banks, L.A. If able to scrounge up a tidy $6 million, the Bel Air abode "Twilight" stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart formerly called home could be yours. The double level 4,4044 square foot estate sits comfortably on 28,365 square feet of property and offers five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a guesthouse, a pool and three parking spaces. more ›

Westwood topped a list of the best neighborhood for trick-or-treaters in Los Angeles. The real estate website Zillow plugged in a bunch of factors to come up with its list: the value of homes, crime data, population density and walkability. more ›

A house fire in the Bel Air area claimed the life of an elderly woman early this morning. The Los Angeles Fire Department reports that the blaze was reported at around 3:30 this morning at a 53-year-old two-story home on North Basil Lane. more ›

If you've ever wanted to see how the other half lives -- and have an extra $8.6 million to spare -- you should consider snatching up Elizabeth Taylor's former abode, which is now listed publicly. Real Estalker notes that word had spread of Taylor's home being up for sale last week, but that a public listing wasn't made available until today, at Mossler Properties. more ›

Utility crews are continuing to restore power around Southern California this evening. The most recent updates from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Edison indicate that some 30,000 customers are still without power this evening. As of 5:30 p.m., fewer than 5,000 LADWP customers were affected. Neighborhoods suffering the most impact include Los Feliz (938 affected customers), North Hills (800), Bel Air (372), Mount Olympus (356) and Cheviot Hills (349). more ›

Prior to a 3 p.m. press conference about the outages and energy conservation, the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water is reporting that power has been restored to about 3,000 customers. What neighborhoods are still in the dark? Hollywood (965 customers), Mar Vista (925), Los Feliz (879), Cypress Park (535), Brentwood (393), Bel Air (372), Mount Olympus (356), Echo Park (349), Cheviot Hills (317) and Pacific Palisades (301). "Our crews won’t stop til the job is done," the agency tweeted. more ›

Hundreds of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews are out in the field this morning trying to restore power across the Los Angeles. Citywide, an estimated 11,775 customers are currently without power, the department says. more ›

A fainting spell has left Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, 67, husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, bedridden, according to The Daily News. Now both he and his wife are recovering at their Bel Air home. Onetime gubernatorial candidate hopeful von Anhalt (whose platform included legalizing prostitution and marijuana) "has been getting only a few hours of sleep a night since his wife fell out of bed and broke her hip July 17." He fainted and fell hard, and bed rest were the doctor's orders. It's good news for Gabor, 93, who is doing better, despite having had last rites performed while in hospital this weekend. more ›

Although officials don't know for sure, the drowning of a 3-year-old boy last week might have been prevented if rolling cuts were not in effect. To close a $54 million gap in the department's budget, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa cut non-emergency overtime in lieu of furloughs or layoffs. The cut meant shutting down 15 engines and 9 ambulances at rotating locations around the city daily. more ›

In a vote that angered some and brought extreme joy to others, the Los Angeles City Council voted to annex a portion of Van Nuys into Sherman Oaks after residents of the affected area brought forth the idea last year. During the meeting, Don Schultz stood up announcing that he and others will seek for Van Nuys to secede from the city and that by 2011, they will celebrate their independence. There have been also rumors, albeit quite possibly jokes, that a portion of Sherman Oaks will try to annex into neighboring Bel Air. more ›

If you've ever driven the 2.1 mile canyon-to-valley-floor stretch of Beverly Glen Boulevard, you probably have noticed that it changes throughout, telling you to go 25 mph, now 35, oh wait, now 30. The city's Department of Transportation now wants to change the sporadic nature by splitting the baby with a uniform 30 mph from Mulholland to Moorpark in Sherman Oaks. "It will be easier for motorists to monitor their speed as well as for the police to enforce using radar," said John Fisher, Assistant General Manager of LADOT. Once an ordinance is drafted, it will be submitted to the Transportation Commission for consideration. more ›

It was April 17th, 2006 when a contractor working on a Bel Air home looked over into Stone Canyon and swore he saw a bear. He immediately reported it to the LA Department of Water & Power, who own and operate the reservoir and in turn told the California Department of Fish & Game. more ›

After a three-year investigation into a crew of savvy burglars that robbed wealthy homes, the suspected leader, Troy Corsby Thomas, was arrested Saturday and pleaded not guilty to two residential burglary charges yesterday in court. The 'Hillside Burglars' have struck over 150 homes in the Holmby Hills, Bel Air, Bevelry Hills, Sherman Oaks and Encino, successfully evading security systems and cameras except once. LAPD will be holding a press conference later today to disclose more details, but the LA Times found that DNA evidence left at a scene and a dumped safe in a canyon helped lead to Thomas' arrest. more ›

He might be needing to move on from his fantasy-driven life on his legendary Santa Barbara estate, but Michael Jackson still knows how to do things in style. The onetime "King of Pop" recently moved into a Bel Air home for the totally reasonable price of $100k a month rent. The home, according to the LA Times, is "a French chateau estate built in 2002" and "has seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a theater" but, there is "nary a Ferris wheel or exotic animal in sight." more ›

With the AFI Festival recently over, and the holiday media blitz still a few weeks away, you may be looking for some under-the-radar films to fend off your all-too-inevitable turkey-induced football coma. At least, the hard-working, agrarian folks from Bel Air certainly hope so. Somewhere between standing in line at the soup kitchen and picking up extra night shifts at the local Big 5 Sporting Goods, these hardscrabble film lovers decided to put up the first ever Bel Air Film Festival. more ›

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Three times a week, Kim Sill goes out into public and stands up for what she believes in. On Tuesdays and Sundays, she and a group of animal lovers protest outside Pets of Bel Air. On Saturdays, it's off to Malibu to protest Pet Headquarters. Even though Sill and her fellow protesters are peaceful, police are still called at least once a week by customers or shop owners, she says. more ›

Update 7:00 p.m.: Sepulveda is still shut down and now crews expect to open it around 9 p.m. tonight. more ›

Through 10 a.m. this morning, here are the rain and snow totals in inches from the National Weather Service. more ›

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After last season's excellent cliffhanger, on August 13th Weeds returns to Showtime for its 3rd season. LAist asked Creator and Executive Producer, Jenji Kohan about breaking into television, being a working mom, and what draws her to the flawed characters she has created. LAist: The new season of Weeds begins on August 13. How do feel going into your 3rd season? Jenji Kohan: I feel tired, but great. We took the finale of season... more ›

The weekend is here so lots of free stuff is on tap for the L.A. Film Festival. The Festival Promenade on Broxton will be taken over by Family Day activities. There'll be screenings, games, giveaways, pony rides, a petting zoo, magician Ryan Majestic and characters from Playhouse Disney to entertain the kiddies. Events will run from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. more ›

The festival kicks off this morning with a director's coffee talk at the Landmark. Scheduled panelists include moderator James Mangold, Paul Haggis and the next Bond director Marc Forster. Tickets are $11. The big event today (and it's free!) starts at noon and runs until 6:00 p.m. at the Landmark Regent Theater. It's Live Earth Day: A Celebration of Earth and includes 50 short films commissioned by SOS-Live Earth. Some of the filmmakers who've contributed are Roman Coppola, Rob Reiner, Chad Lowe, Casey Affleck and Madonna (Madonna?). If you can't attend the afternoon showings, another free Live Earth program kicks off at 8:30 p.m. at the Festival Promenade on Broxton. more ›

It's Saturday so expect lots of LA Film Festival action in Westwood. At 9:30 a.m. you can attend a free Hi Def Video Expo at Bel Air Camera. Other free events are the Made in L.A. screening at noon at the Mann Festival Theater, The Game of SKATE Tournament at 1:00 p.m. at the Festival Promenade on Broxton, The Bands on Broxton at 4:30 p.m. (also at the Promenade), A Conversation with Festival Artist-in-Residence Pharrell Williams at 8:00 p.m. at the Hammer Museum and a screening of Night of the Comet at 8:30 p.m. at the Promenade. Maybe my childhood crush Catherine Mary Stewart will make an appearance. more ›

Jenna Jameson's recent and dramatic weight loss is freaking her fans out - NY Post Jason Wahler, Laguna Beach alum, was arrested for the fourth time in nine months, this time fo calling a cop a "nig**r, fag**t, and poor f**k*r" - TMZ Avril Lavigne and hubby buy The Barkers old Bel Air mansion - People Does being pregnant mean you're allowed to wear ill-fitted bathing suits? - Dlisted New couple alert! Scarlett Johanson and... more ›