The Orange County Health Care Agency has reported the first 2008 death in California resulting from the West Nile virus infection. The victim was a 72-year-old woman from Buena Park. Deanne Thompson, spokesperson for the agency told LAist that Southern California is seeing the biggeset increase in West Nile since 2004 when there were 62 cases in the OC alone. This year, the county has reported 26 cases not including "four asymptomatic dramatic blood donars."......

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......

Here's a humorous one. In Anaheim today, a man pulled over to the side of the road looking at a map was robbed by two men who approached on foot. The robbers indicated they had a gun, stole the driver's possessions including his cell phone and fled on foot, hailing a taxi. With no cell phone, the victim used his On-Star service to call police as he pursued the taxi. About one block into the......

One day after LAist reports problems on Metrolink's Lancaster line serving mostly north Los Angeles County, the LA Times writes on new service in Orange County:By 2009, the goal is to have commuter trains running every 30 minutes from 5 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel -- the bookends of Orange County. Seven locomotives and 59 more passenger cars have been ordered, a new station in Buena Park opens Tuesday,......

Douglas E. Hanes became the new publisher for the Daily News today with the goal of strengthening the Los Angeles Newspaper Group's presence in the Valley. If you haven't noticed, it's still freaking hot out and it's not going away. Over 11,000 customers lost power today in Laguna Beach and it wasn't heat related. If someone is trying to rob you, throw a hot cup of coffee in his face. That's what a woman......

Americans rose to the occasion when the Asian tsunami hit in December. Now it's time to help out a little closer to home. A few local media outlets have set up emergency relief centers where Los Angelenos can drop off check, cash or credit card donations. Here are a few: TalkRadio 790 KABC, 95.5 KLOS and ESPN Radio 710, ABC 7 and The Walt Disney Company are hosting American Red Cross events at the......