Texting on a cellphone while driving can be fatal, but so can a lack of sleep. An apparently fatigued man fell asleep at the wheel this morning, crashing his car and killing his wife. more ›

Not close enough to a big ol' Walmart superstore? If you're in the San Fernando Valley, you can pop in to a Walmart mini "pop-up" shop in place for the holiday season in Canoga Park. A second SoCal pop-up Walmart is located in downtown San Diego. The hitch: Most of the merchandise there isn't for sale. more ›

Authorities at Camp Pendleton are investigating the death of Lance Cpl. Mario Arias, a decorated Marine who hails from Canoga Park. His body was found in his bed on the base Sunday morning, according to KTLA. more ›

Shaking awake the neighborhood, a huge, centuries-old oak tree toppled in Canoga Park "barely missing the home that sat under its canopy," according to the Daily News. Estimated to be between 300 and 400 years old, the massive wood crashed to earth at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday at Chase Place and Ponce Street covering both the front and side yard of the house. more ›

For today's video lunch we examine a piece that attempts the wicked-harsh-yet-enthusiastically-negative approach to attracting tourists to San Fernando Valley's Canoga Park neighborhood. Says the creator, "Growing up in Canoga Park was a gift. My dream came true when the Canoga Park Tourism Board found my 'Video Production and Car-wash Service' ad on Craigslist, and they actually hired me to make this tourism video. I hope they like it!" They didn't. more ›

From beautiful Canoga Park, California comes this timely release about the coming together of current events and, well, porn. I mean--it's Canoga Park, after all. In what we would surely hail the "Press Release of the Day" if we were to do such a thing comes word from Hustler that "This Ain’t Bin Laden XXX" is coming to DVD this summer. Get out the lube! (Okay, that last part was our addition.) more ›

A hit-and-run driver is at large after striking a 17-year-old bicyclist and fleeing the scene in Canoga Park Wednesday night. German Alex Romero, a senior at Chatsworth High School from Reseda, was pronounced dead at the scene. more ›

A man teaching at Portola Middle School in Tarzana was arrested last week on charges of multiple instances of child molestation that allegedly occurred last decade, according to LAPD. The suspect, 39-year-old Sean Wellbaum of Canoga Park, is now free on $600,000 bail. Detectives are asking other victims to step forward. more ›

A robbery suspect was shot and killed by LAPD early Tuesday morning in Canoga Park after a short foot chase. Police responded to a 911 call of an attempted robbery of two people outside a gas station on Topanga Canyon and Roscoe boulevards shortly after midnight, reports the L.A. Times. more ›

Your stolen car (or just its parts), friendly bums to chat with at bus stops, all kinds of adult entertainment, drugs, and a school whose mascot is toting a gun--you'll find it in the San Fernando Valley community of Canoga Park. more ›

A man who is suspected of kidnapping and shooting a woman in Long Beach this morning, leaving her body in a parking structure, was shot during a standoff in front of a San Fernando Valley Best Buy a few hours later. more ›

The Canoga Park man charged with murdering his elderly relatives could face the death penalty, according to the District Attorney, although ultimately that decision will come when the case gets closer to trial. more ›

A 63-year-old Canoga Park man has been arrested for the murder of two elderly relatives who had been in his care. LAPD officers responding to a call just after 9 yesterday morning were met by Arthur Reyes Morales, who surrendered immediately at the residential crime scene. Inside the house, 85-year-old Manuel Reyes and 87-year-old Rita Morales, Morales's uncle and mother, were dead, due to fatal injuries sustained from blunt force trauma. Morales was booked on two counts of murder. An investigation is underway to determine the motive for the crime. more ›

This weekend, the movement to serve the Los Angeles region with local food grows in the Valley and in Santa Monica. more ›

One of Los Angeles' quirkiest claims to fame might be the La Brea Tar Pits, where prehistoric fossils were discovered in the early twentieth century in the bubbling ooze in what would eventually become a core area in a bustling city. William Warren Orcutt is considered a "pioneer of the oil production industry in California," and is credited as the "discoverer" of those fossils:

It was during [1901, his] first year in Los Angeles that Orcutt discovered fossilized prehistoric animal bones preserved in pools of asphalt on the Hancock Ranch. These would be the first of many fossils excavated from the La Brea Tar Pits. In commemoration of Orcutt’s initial discovery, paleontologists named the La Brea Coyote in W.W. Orcutt’s honor, Canis Orcutti.

KNBC's lead morning reporter, Robert Kovacik shared this humorous fact today: "#Canoga Park: #Marijuana growing site found 25 ft from the back door of the #LAPD Topanga station. Topanga townhall w/ Beck scheduled Thurs." No doubt, cops were tipped off to the smell. more ›

There may be an average of 1,200 water main leaks a year with 200 of those considered major, but the last few weeks have proved that things seem to be worsening. And fast. A 12-inch pipe burst on Topanga Boulevard near Victory Boulevard in Canoga Park today, shutting down traffic on one of the West Valley's main north-south arteries, according to the LA Times. Of course, all these recent bursts causing traffic, damage and loss of service to customers has Los Angeles Department of Water & Power officials confused because as of right now, there is no apparent reason why this is happening so frequently and spread out. A slew of major incidents began when a trunkline in Studio City burst, causing a major flood followed by a rupture that caused a sinkhole that sucked in half a fire truck. Two breaks also occurred in the West Valley yesterday. Some officials say they have to raise our water bills to pay for replacing piping throughout the city. more ›

The owners of Alcon Liquor, a store on Saticoy Street in Canoga Park, are anxious to meet one of their recent customers again: The winning SuperLotto Plus ticket, matching all six numbers and worth $11 million, was sold there, according to cbs2.com. more ›

Groundbreaking is scheduled to take place this morning on Metro's Orange Line extension, which will expand the dedicated busway that currently runs from North Hollywood to Warner Center. The $215.6 million extension "is the very first project to begin construction under the new voter approved Measure R half-cent transportation sales tax," reports abc7. more ›

The Los Angeles Police Department opened up their brand new Topanga Station in Canoga Park yesterday with a public dedication ceremony attended by 1,200 people, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Located on Schoenborn Street near Roscoe and Canoga, the station cost $36 million to build, and is "the 21st station opened by the Los Angeles Police Department in its 140-year history." The station's officers "will patrol 32 square miles covering West Hills, Canoga Park, Winnetka and Woodland Hills." more ›

A blaze was reported and put out overnight at a commercial building in Canoga park on Remmet Avenue near Strathearn Street that is used by the adult entertainment industry as an office and as sets for films. According to abc7.com, the "accidental fire appeared to have been caused by a heating element which failed." 20 per cent of the building was damaged by the fire. 100 firefighters tackled the blaze, and no injuries have been reported. more ›

A series of explosions rocked the residences of Canoga Park, within a block of the intersection of Jordan Avenue and Saticoy Street Monday night. There were three explosions heard at 7:30, 9:30, and 11:30 p.m. more ›

A family of four were irate and shaken last night after one of them had his car stolen after being shot at a Washington Mutual bank branch, on the corner of Sherman Way and Vassar Avenue in Canoga Park. Kami, a resident of the area, said he was approached at the bank's street-front ATM by a man holding a gun demanding money. When Kami explained that he was only checking his account to confirm that he was out of money, the man shot twice, and ran to Kami's car. The thief then broke the window and drove off. Kami was not injured. more ›

The LAFD is reporting a fatal fall at the Topanga Plaza shopping mall, located at 6600 Topanga Boulevard in Canoga Park. According to the LAFD's Brian Humphrey: "One person [is] dead at scene of (long?) fall at shopping mall." No further details are currently available. The mall is operated by the Westfield chain of malls, and opens for business on Sundays at 11 a.m. It is not clear if the incident took place before or during shopping hours or at what location in the mall the fall happened. more ›

This afternoon in Canoga Park, 12 kayakers are going to begin a 51-mile, three-day journey down the LA River to Long Beach. They have no permit to enter the river, but that's part of the point. The Army Corps of Engineers caused a stir in the community last month when they declared that the Los Angeles River was not, in fact, a river because it was not navigable, save for two spots. more ›

An alert coming out of the Los Angeles Fire Department states that Canoga Park Senior High School has been "actively evacuated." It is unknown at this time if it is a partial or full evacuation, but the Haz Mat Team was deployed to the campus. more ›

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Have you had enough of $5 coffee? $99 burgers? $125 martinis? I know I am -- doesn't anybody in this city want to find the cheapest drinks, meals, and booze? Los Angeles Magazine comes through this month with a feature on great deals and bargain finds on everything from martinis to furniture to underpants. We went straight for the food section, of course -- and here are our top food bargain picks from the February issue. What are your picks for best foodie bargains in the city? more ›

The Daily News has an interesting and thorough report on an alleged Iraqi spy living in Canoga Park, a neighborhood in the Northwest Valley.

William Shaoul Benjamin, 65, an Iraqi-born naturalized U.S. citizen, goes on trial today on federal charges that he failed to "register, as required by law, as an agent for executed Iraq leader Saddam Hussein's feared intelligence service, whose leaders are believed by U.S. officials to have played central roles in the reported links between Saddam and al-Qaida." more ›

I wasn’t much of a Tom Petty fan in my pre-L.A. years, but like most people, I knew him from the basics…I had caterwauled the lyrics to "Free Fallin’" alongside other angsty Massachusetts teens at a dance or two, and I had been baffled by, but pretended I knew what the hell was going on in, the "Mary Jane's Last Dance" video. more ›