If good things come in threes, it seems bad things come in twos, at least today in LA: Edward Gage, a 31-year old Lancaster man, has been arrested for an alleged Christmas Day rape of a 16-year-old girl. When Gage's victim ignored his attempts to get directions as she walked to a friend's house, he pulled her shirt and tried to remove her clothing. She punched him in the face and got away! Francisco Santiago......

Whats even more shocking than Jamie Lynn Spears being preggers? That it may not be Casey Aldredge's baby. Thats right, reports are that the real daddy is an older man that would surely be charged ith statutoryw rape charges if revealed - Showbiz Spy Stacy Ferguson aka Fergie and her boyfriend of over three years, actor Josh Duhamel are engaged - TMZ Our favorite heiress's fortune has just been pulled out from right under her......

Vitals details in the killings of two South LA residents who were found shot to death in their 11th Ave apartment remain unknown. The LAPD was notified late Monday afternoon of gunshots heard, and soon after discovered the bodies of Shelton Sumerall, 32, and Monica Youngblood, 23, both of whom suffered fatal shots to their heads. The motive and a shooting suspect have not been determined. A Van Nuys man was stabbed yesterday when he......

Within 48 hours, building fires in Los Angeles did not take a holiday vacation. Early this morning in the Westlake neighborhood, a fire broke out in a three story converted-to-apartments Victorian home. Eleven residents, including two children were displaced while one man died. The cause is unknown. Early last night on Budlong Ave. near 117th St, a fire, most likely caused by a space heater, killed a 48-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman in......

LAist Featured Photos contributer, mil8, went along with his neighbor and friend on "an annual trip down to Skid Row to hand-out clothes, blankets and hygiene kits to LA's down & out in hopes to spark a better next year for them." This year he brought a camera. More photos after the jump in a YouTube photo collage video.......

This scary Santa is a relic from my childhood. It's a mechanical bank toy, the kind you drop a penny in to make it twitch and shake. Circa 1960 (4 years before my birth) it still kind of-sort of works, if the rusted contact points connect with 2 D batteries...and you pray hard. As I recall, it has always been freakish, even when new. It makes a whirring/jangling sound, lurching back and forth on its......

Christmas Eve is here. And today is no time for cynicism, irony or nastiness of any sort. Time instead to make something nice to eat, clink your glass with a loved one, and count your blessings with total sincerity. Preparation is over. The moment to let it go and be happy starts now. To help set the mood, we offer twenty of the most joyous, uplifting, totally Christmasey of all Christmas songs known to man.......

Making sure that many have a safe holiday, fire fighters will be on watch because of SoCal's low humidity and high winds, a perfect mixture for wildfire. As of this posting, the Los Angeles Fire Department has not issued a Red Flag Warning. Mountain and pass areas should expect 25-30 mph winds with "gusts up to 60 mph or more..." In the coastal mountains, the winds will be lighter, about 15-25 mph, with gusts up......

Are you lazy? A terrible cook? Don't care about Christmas? Where are you going to find someplace to eat that's open during the holidays? Chinese food is a great option, of course -- and Gayot lists some other fine dining places that are serving up deals on Christmas Eve. Looking for a last-minute book buy for the chef in your life? The LA Times lists the year's top cookpook picks. JGold celebrates the opening......

Craby Joe's has been at the corner of 7th and Main in Downtown LA since 1933, and earned its place in local lore as a watering hole near and dear to the well-known downtrodden of the literary scene, like John Fante and Charles Bukowski. In honor of the bar's closing night, there will be a gathering of local historians and preservationists, and anyone else wishing to hoist a memorial last drink at Craby Joe's from......

This is the summer cookie that works well in winter - especially in LA, where women are still wearing flip-flops on Christmas Eve! At every holiday party, the dessert table is full of heavy chocolate confections, heady alcoholic affairs (figgy pudding!) and dense fruit-cake-y type items. If I'm just not up for making sugar cookies (and the insane hours it takes to decorate them all!), I make these instead. They're lighter, fresher. Oh so yummy......

CLASSICAL: There's other classical music about town tonight besides Chanticleer. The Calder Quartet is the Colburn Conservatory’s first quartet-in-residence, and these new faculty members will show their chops with a program that includes Philip Glass, Quartet No. 2 “Company” by Philip Glass; Quartet in A minor “Rosamunde” by Franz Schubert and Terry Riley's “Cadenza on the Night Plain.” 7:30 pm // The Colburn School: Zipper Hall // 200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles //......

It’s a holiday tradition at this blogger's house (long before I had kids, which says a lot about me) — sitting down and watching the 1964 classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. What’s not to love about a quirky cast of characters teaching a lesson about acceptance? Well, I suppose the lesson of incessant marketing of the show is not a great lesson, but like many things around Christmas I choose to blatantly ignore what......

It's tamale season! Every year around this time, our family spends one Sunday wrapping tamales for Christmas Eve. It's easiest to make the meat the day before, then have the wrapping party the next day. This is not a solo project. Stock up on beer and make something easy, like chili, and invite all of your friends over. Call every Mexican restaurant/deli/store in your phone book and find one that sells the masa pre-prepared. Some......

If you're looking for 20-25 ft. waves, you better at least head up to Point Conception or past Eureka for even higher ones. If 7-14 ft. waves are your style, then stay LA.The surf will build throughout today and tonight, peaking Wednesday. By Thursday, the swell is expected to diminish into the 5- to 7-foot range, Seto said. A rainstorm from the Northwest is expected Thursday through Saturday, bringing more than an inch of......

Although most of us here at LAist are gourmet vegan chefs, a few of us (hi!) get our meals via drive-thru's not just daily, but several times a day. So the day after Thanksgiving we found ourselves in the drive-thru of the Jack in the Box on Santa Monica Blvd. in Westwood right near the 405 and we saw this interesting sign. Because we're selfish, lazy, bastards, at first we thought "oh cool, Jack......

Now that Thanksgiving is over, many of us are feeling guilty about overeating and we're starting to sweat the next month. My philosophy is to go ahead and enjoy the food when it is a special event, like Christmas Eve. What you really have to watch are the little unhealthy habits that the season brings - mindless cookie munching in the breakroom, triple-macchiattos to keep your energy up, and fast food meals eaten on-the-run......

Quick, yet deadly: this weekend's Malibu Fire is 90% contained. We thought NBC had a policy of not giving car chases attention, a respectable position to take. Those days must be over. Anyway, it's always interesting when a car chase gets off freeway at the exit by your house like the one this morning on the 101. That would make number eight on our list for witnessed car chases. More cost effective and more......

Lindsay Lohan fires mom, Dina Lohan, as her manager - OK Magazine Bobby Brown has been hospitalized for a heart attack, doctors day it was due to "stress and diet" but is in good condition - TMZ Actress Michelle Rodriguez was sentenced to six months of jail beginning Christmas Eve at the latest, for violation the terms of her DUI conviction - People Jennifer Lopez finally admits what we've all known for awhile, she's preggers......

Florida fucks up every day. They're a blight to this country. We love 'em, but they blow. Big Time. The hide in the corner of the nation in shame and they should. Every day we will list three or four troubling things that they should be sorry about. We won't stop until they change their motto from "The Sunshine State" to "We're Really Really Sorry". 4. Palm Beach County's homicide rate rose by 26%......

If you watch television or read the newspaper today, or if you did those things yesterday, it seems to us that something is missing. The newspaper will tell you about holiday sales, the television will show you stories about Christmas trees that catch fire, or recipes to make low-fat desserts, but there's very little, if any, stories about Jesus, the reason for most of our celebrations this time of year. We don't expect the......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

Hope for DVDs in your stockings and lots of trips to your cinema center - this weekend and next week will be reruns of just about everything including late night programming. I guess the idea is that you're supposed to be spending time with people you love or like or something. Today - Saturday College Basketball is scattered all over the tube from morning 'til night. "A Christmas Carol" (TCM, 11:00 a.m.) This is......

Pershing Square has once again transformed into a frozen wonderland of twisted ankles and bruised tailbones. This lovely, downtown park spends most of the year as a grassy knoll and concrete potty, but for a few brilliant weeks during the deep freeze of our LA winter, it becomes a glorious, outdoor ice skating rink for the entire city to enjoy. Hockey clinics, open-air movies, community and family events and live music make this a......

So we don't have an official Little Italy? Psahw! Screw it! Stop visiting Canter's in Fairfax Village so much and head a little more South to Little Ethiopia once in awhile. Many have been, but most have passed through. At the very least, watch the video on TurnHere. Food enough of a reason? Hey, even vegan food! Or shopping? It's the holiday season after all. Skip the last minute Christmas Eve World Market/Cost Plus......

Xmas shopping procrastinators rejoice: Amoeba Records opens early (10am) and doesn't close until 8:30pm tonight. If shopping traffic makes you look for liquid solace, Silverlake Wine has special xmas eve hours: 9am-7pm. The LA County Arts Commission sponsors, for the 41st year, 6 hours of free holiday entertainment at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Choirs, dance theaters, and special guests the Blind Boys of Alabama are on the bill. First come, first served; doors open......

Everything has pretty much gone Christmukkah-tastic for the weekend, and dining options are slim or extra-special, since most folks will be roasting their own chestnuts over their own open fires at home for the next few days. This time of year is also about tradition, whether it be the Chinese food feast as avoidance strategy on Christmas Eve or Day, spiked Egg Nogs after Midnight Mass, baking cookies for Santa, hoarding the chocolate coin......

Ok, the countdown to Chrismukkah has begun. People, you have about 2.5 shopping days left, so take our shopping rules into consideration when venturing into the wild this week. One reader recently commented that rather than hitting the retail megaplexes, Angelenos should hit the mom-and-pop places. Good advice. And here's a shop that you can probably find something for everyone -- at least for those with a sense of humor. The Y-Que Trading Post......

Have company coming and lack the burning desire to prepare a feast in your own kitchen? Need an excuse to spend that holiday bonus check all in one place, just like everyone always told you not to? Or, are you going to be hungry this weekend? In any event, several LA restaurants have something going on Christmas Eve (or, "Saturday Night" for those who don't believe in Santa or the baby Jesus). Here's a......

The Los Angeles Fire Department blog (one of the coolest things ever) warns us today to be cautious with our candles. Home candle fires have tripled in the last 15 years, and from 1999-2002 the top two days for home fires started by candles were Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Half of all fires were started because something flammable tangled with the candle. So while it should go without saying, we echo the LAFD:......