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. Initially a strong odor was coming from a classroom where there were reports of several people feeling sick, but incident was downgraded nearly a half hour later when it ended......

To have a continuous bike path along the LA River, it must pass next to Universal Studios. The maroon line marks the disputed path. Back in an October 2006 interview with the mysterious LA City Nerd, we asked a question of hope: when can we realistically bike commute via the LA River Trail from the Valley to Downtown LA? The nerd was not optimistic saying that "the LA River trail may never connect completely......

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......

Photo by decadentyou via Flickr 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......

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. But beginning with my drive cross country, I began to develop a taste......

Back in November, it was announced that the West Valley would be getting an additional LAPD station in a former sex toy manufacturing plant on Schoenborn Street between Owensmouth and Canoga in Canoga Park. Tentatively called the Northwest Division, it will serve Woodland Hills, West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka when it opens this or next year. Those neighborhoods lay within Council Districts 3 and 12, both represented by LAPD Reserve Officers, Councilman Dennis Zine......

TALK: Pulizer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold moderates a Zócalo discussion that focuses on “The Mexican Restaurant in Los Angeles.” Joining in on the roundtable are Gilberto Cetina of the Yucatecan restaurant Chichen Itza, Martin del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu of La Casita Mexicana, and Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger of Border Grill. 7 pm // Central Library – Mark Taper Auditorium // 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles // Free. (Reservations are recommended.)......

You know you're in the Valley when real estate options are that old porn studio over there or the former sex toy manufacturing plant over there. Well, the LAPD went for the latter in a $37 million project to build a new station in Canoga Park on Schoenborn Street between Owensmouth and Canoga. The station is tentatively called Northwest Area Division. The reason for this new station in the West Valley is getting officers......

North County just can't catch a break lately: another fatal freeway pileup near Antelope Valley today, this one involving eight vehicles and at least one fatality. The freeway has been closed in both directions. Things Not Worth Beating Someone With a Hammer For: six dollars? A group of males accosted and hammered a man in Canoga Park last night; then they blew the cash on penny candy and stamps. Not really, but six bucks??......

KCBS and its KCAL affiliate picked up seven awards at the Los Angeles Emmy Awards last night, with the award for live coverage of an unannounced event going to the team for the Esperanza fire. Let's all share in a joyous chorus of "Hell yeah!!": teen drivers may be barred from using cell phones while driving, under state legislation passed today. And while we're at it, give another whoop of joy for the resignation......

The year 1987 marked both the release of the movie “Mannequin” and the final season of the children’s program “Today’s Special,” which featured a mannequin that came to life every night and entertained kids. Obviously, both media ventures were marketed to very different demographics, but what if they had decided to cross-promote? I think I found the answer to that question while shopping yesterday at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park. I had......

When we biked the Orange Line a few weeks ago, we noticed what could be the first transit oriented development along the "Valley's newest shortcut" at the Canoga Park station, a recent addition to the line. Even for this ex-suburban kid, living in the West Valley is starting to not look that bad if it had to come to that for some reason. But what is looking even better is where the Orange and......

It is a shame that it took us a year and some months after the Orange Line's opening to bike it from end to end. So we braved the chilly weather today and did it. We even did it from the Clybourn St. Burbank border on the Chandler Bike Path that connects to the City of Burbank's 4-mile bike path. One way, the Orange Line ride is 14 miles (add 1.2 miles for the......

We just go into reverie when thinking of picking apples in orchards out in Illinois or cherries in Door County, Wisconsin. Transplant? Yes. When in LA... pick oranges and grapefruit. Twice a year, folks can head over to Orcutt Ranch in Canoga Park to pick fruit: oranges in the summer and white grapefruit in the fall. This Saturday from 7am to 2pm, it's $2 for each shopping bag you fill up and $1 to......

Driving through the Valley down Saticoy, just West of Shoup in Canoga Park, we stumbled across a plane crash! Flaming pieces of a jet smashed into a home, luggage and body parts strewn about, and police tape everywhere. We pulled over to see what we could do and realized that all of it was just an elaborate Halloween decoration. All we can say is wow, this is dedcation! Video after the jump!......

"The Coalition works to develop a safe, integrated, cost effective and environmentally sound public transportation system for the greater Los Angeles Region." The Transit Coalition's Weekly Transit eNewsletter is like putting a vegetarian in a tofu festival (err, a kid in a candy store). The eNewsletter, written like a blog with links throughout, feels interminable, yet exciting if you actually are a transit nerd. Highlights from yesterday's e-mail include Councilman Bernard Parks' fight to......

Monday: Chill with Winos It’s Blue Monday at Silver Lake Wine from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. No RSVPs required for tonight’s triptych wine tasting with cheese from the Cheese Store of Silver Lake. Tuesday: Weekly Poetry in the Valley Hosted by Kirk Lumpkin, every Tuesday night is open mic night with the Cobalt Poets at the Cobalt Café in Canoga Park. They promise a very welcoming crowd for newcomers, but just wait until your......

In the crowded field of public relations, marketing, specialty novelty/luxury items, and events, Kerith Elizabeth Henderson has her own thing going. Kerith’s experience of developing her own business is a noteworthy tale for folks trying to find their way and forge careers in creative, non-traditional ways while having fun. Plus it’s a reminder to us all that publicists are people too, ahem. Age and Occupation: 31. President of PRess, co-owner of PiscesSoap.com and Marketing......

While many people have been celebrating this year's Dia de los Muertos since earlier last week, today and tomorrow are the days when Olvera Street calls all spirits, living and dead, for the sights and sounds of this hallowed ritual. And at the end of this spooky first week of Novemeber, one more local happening celebrates Dia de Los Muertos with a free family festival. Here are the details: Día de los Muertos on......

That's the view from the front door of koganuts's house. It's also the view we had while trying to drive up the 101 to Woodland Hills last night. Traffic was abysmal. There's a risk of things getting worse today: With shifty and unpredictable winds expected to gust to 25 mph today, firefighters were hoping to prevent the blaze from spreading. In particular, they hoped to contain one end of the blaze from moving into......

Did Emily and Tyler of Canoga Park know what they were getting into when they answered that Craigslist posting? The Discovery Channel's Monster House crew showed up and turned their innocent suburban home into "Tropical House", featuring a fire-breathing tiki god in the living room, a cavelike bedroom and bamboo galore. If you dream of Gilligan, this tropical-kitsch hideaway could be yours: it's currently listed at $515,000 on ebay. With three bedrooms and a......

LAist knows that most Angelenos have a need for speed, but don't usually have a bankbook to handle the high-priced photo-enforced fines. Thankfully, Photozones allows Angelenos the ability to search and log each and every photo-enforced red light location across all of the Southland. With over 119 results in the LA area, drivers with a heavy-foot will have no worries knowing which red lights are safe to go through and which red lights might......