LAist Featured Photos pool photog Susan Sabo (aka smalldogs) nabbed this fantastic shot in Long Beach of a solitary holiday tree planted guerrilla gardening-style in the median. She explains: i just noticed this tiny tree that someone planted on this divider. it looks like someone in the neighborhood got a live tree for xmas, then went out and planted it when they were done with it. i think that fucking rocks! i hope the......

Chief William Bratton has cut crime in New York City and now here. Other cities are trying to do what he does, but it doesn't always work. So how do we model the success? Manhattan Beach solidarity. A two-year veteran of the MBPD is undergoing cancer treatment. Fifty officers, firefighters and city employees shaved their head to support the officer who is going through chemotherapy and one hundred people donated O-negative blood specifically for......

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.......

Now that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas Tree shopping is in order, it's a good time keep in mind that when it comes time to get rid of that tree, you can recycle it. If you have a green yard trimmings container, then you can the tree up and place it in there. If not, it's a good thing the Department of Public Works is already pushing their Christmas Tree Recycling Program that will be......

Last night I was out with my family going to dinner in downtown when we noticed the Christmas Tree was already up at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. They had a cherry picker going applying decorations. We walked over to check out out, and what did we see? Paint. 40 Gallons of Green Paint. I guess they could not find a tree just that right shade of green for Los Angeles. More pictures after the......

Throwing your Christmas Tree on the curb is not so good. The mayor wants to plant a million trees, not haul a million to the landfills. Everyone must do their part if we are going to reach our goal of becoming the greenest big city in America,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “We can begin to move away from land-filling by moving aggressively towards reducing, reusing and recycling and we can start this holiday season by......

The LA Times is reporting this morning that the UCLA system was hacked during the months of October and November, exposing the names, emails, and social security numbers of 800,000 current and former students. A letter that is going to be sent out today to the victims from Chancellor Abrams states that there is no evidence of misuse of the social security numbers... so far. "We take our responsibility to safeguard personal information very seriously.......

If, unlike us, you don't procrastinate, you're already planning for the disposal of your Christmas tree. Maybe you already booked the full-service recycling disposal from the aptly-named California Christmas Tree Recycling. For a fee, they'll come to your house, drain the stand, remove the tree, vacuum the dropped needles and then take your holiday decor off to become mulch for more trees. For less dough, they'll grab it from your curb and make sure......

Still searching for that special Hanukkah or Chrismukkah gift? Ruth Andrew Ellenson has a suggestion for you – The Modern Jewish Girl’s Guide to Guilt – perfect for the girl or goy on your list (sorry, we couldn’t resist that one). Released by Dutton in August and edited by Ellenson, the book is a collection from 28 women writers — including Aimee Bender and Daphne Merkin — who explore what it means to be a......

The feast day of Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th in western Christian tradition, an event considered the culimation of the Christmas season. Tonight from 6 PM to 8:30 PM, Olvera Street will be hosting a reenactment of the journey of the Three Kings to celebrate. Anyway, the date has triggered an epiphany of our own--exactly when can we reasonably expect Angelenos to take down all the holiday lights, trees and geegaws? So far......

Christmas in LA has always been kind of a muted affair. Too many of the hallmarks of the season are in short supply in SoCal. There's no snow, no sleigh rides, and palm trees just don't make a suitable substitute for Christmas trees. There's a reason they film all those Christmas movies in New York. There are no "Miracles on Wilshire Boulevard." So every year around this time, while New York transforms into a......