A recent health scare connected to contaminated cantaloupe has reached California, as an outbreak of Listeria has caused 35 people in 11 states, including ours, to become ill. Four deaths have been associated with the illness. more ›

A woman who had never flown a plane before took control of an aircraft that her husband was flying after he lost consciousness, reports KTLA. The couple was flying to Colorado from San Bernadino when the pilot, a 70-year-old man, began experiencing hypoxia, in which the body doesn't get enough oxygen. He was able to communicate the name of the airplane to air traffic controllers before passing out. more ›

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appeared yesterday at the massive rally held at USC in support of incumbent Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, for which the major guest star was President Barack Obama. With the mid-term elections just days away, high-profile politicians are helping each other out across the nation by stumping on behalf of candidates in their party, and reaching out to sectors of voters. more ›

So apparently the Heene family made an attempt for the Hollywood life (and that's besides their appearance on ABC's Wife Swap). They rented a Burbank home from June 2006 until June 2007, according to Carrie Cavalier, who met the father, Richard Heene, when she was hired to take his headshots. more ›

In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "Balloon Boy" Falcon Heene was asked why he didn't come out from the garage attic when his parents called for him. In response, the 6-year-old said, "Um. You guys said that, hrm, we did this for a show." more ›

Unfortunately, Falcon Keene has not been found. The 6-year-old set off a national news frenzy today when he was thought to be in an experimental balloon flying across the Denver metro, but when it landed, no one was inside. Did he fall? Is he hiding? No one knows yet, but we hope he is alright. more ›

This is entirely strange, bizarre and truly frightening. A 6-year-old Colorado boy apparently climbed into a hot-air balloon (of sorts) that floated away. Commentators on CNN predict it's going 40 miles per hour at 10,000 feet elevation. There is also speculation that the boy (his name is Falcon Heen) may have fallen out, according to a sibling who said the balloon's door was left open as it took off. Craig Kennedy, a hot air balloon expert, agrees, hypothesizing that if the boy was actually on board, it wouldn't be flying so topsy-turvy like. more ›

Did you see that plane carrying this pictured Colorado lovin' on California banner during this morning's rush hour? It's part of Denver's attempt to woo us--and mainly corporations--to move from sea level to one mile high in the sky. LAist Gives it a Try: Have you been to Denver? The sky looks unusually blue. Oh wait, there's no smog, that's what the sky is supposed to look like. more ›

Situated at Colorado Street, Pasadena, the 144-foot high Colorado Street Bridge is an impressive crossing in Southern California which rests on the original Route 66, its graceful structure a framework of exotic curves and seemingly artistic supports. Despite its image of romance and beauty, this bridge is known for a number of suicides which have occurred since 1913 when the bridge was completed. more ›

The Los Angeles Kings' strategy of spotting the opponent a two-goal lead before surging to a thrilling comeback (that worked so well in the last two games) let them down on Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche. Despite inaugural NHL goals by Kings' rookies Oscar Moller and Drew Doughty, the Kings came up just a little short thanks to Colorado's Ryan Smyth burying two goals and Milan Hejduk scoring his sixth goal in six games, more ›

...where it receives a resounding no: "California voters were right to reject this...on the first two attempts. They should do so again." more ›

• Remember when we told you that Los Angeles tap water was the best tasting in the world? Turns out that our delicious H20 might have been sprinkled with delicious drugs. The AP found that a multitude of pharmaceuticals, like antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans including water in Southern California. Little Johnny has taken such a liking to water these days, I wonder what's gotten into him.
• On Friday, Newport Beach police were baffled when they found a fully clothed woman dead and packed in dry ice in an upscale hotel room near John Wayne Airport. The room was rented from known Cocaine dealer and the woman, whose body was well preserved, was apparently wanted on drug charges in Colorado.
• Before she was ousted for saying Hillary Clinton was a "monster" for some of the "underhanded" tactics used to defeat Barack Obama in the Ohio Primary, foreign policy adviser Samantha Powers took a few questions at LA City Beat. Nowhere in the interview does she disparage Clinton, but she does offer some pretty enlightening opinions, such as this opus on how to have a dignified foreign policy: "...if we could just sort of remember that there are individuals at stake, that the “human” in human rights is not an abstraction." On second thought, I'm glad she resigned. We can't have those sorts of hippie, drugged out commie type of relations with the world. It would be un-American!
• In other political news, a Democrat won a special election to fill a congressional seat left vacant in Illinois by outgoing Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert. Bill Foster claimed the seat partly on the strength of Obama, who campaigned for him. Obama supporters claimed this was a signal of things to come in what many observers said was a national referendum as John McCain campaigned for the Republican.
• An off-duty cop in Temecula allegedly shot 2 and killed 1 person over some sort of melee at a Mexican restaurant in Riverside. Guns don't kill people, crazy ass people with anger management problems do.
• A 21-year-old member of the San Fernando Valley Illegal Soapbox Federation died this morning when his adorable little vehicle collided with a light pole in Tarzana. Thing is, it may not have been so adorable. The motto of the local soapbox federation is, "Action, Mayhem, Destruction, Bodily Harm...All For Free". I'm sorry, it seems pretty tough to macho yourself out when riding in a little cart made for 6-year-olds.
• Andy LaRoche got some bad news this weekend. The Dodger third baseman who was expected to share time with Nomar Garciaparra at the hot corner this season is out 8-10 weeks with a ligament tear in his thumb after getting hit trying to catch an attempted pickoff at third during a pre-season game Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Learn this name kids: Blake Dewitt. He's been tearing up Spring Training pitching and flashing some great leather. He could get some time at third in LaRoche's absence.

Clippers 116, Kings 109, 2OT - Down by 17 points, it looked like Los Angeles was about to give Sacramento their first win this year against a Pacific rival. Anybody seen Sam Cassell. Two overtimes later, the Clips pulled off a wild victory and send the Kings to 0-9 in the division. LA led the entire second overtime. Al Thornton led the game with 27, Chris Kaman had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Dan Dickau scored a season high 20. more ›

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LA Weekly points us to some hot picks for tonight. About Girl in Coma: "Joan Jett knows a thing or two about rock & roll, and her latest protegees, Girl in a Coma, on her Blackheart label are one of the best and most interesting bands to come out of Texas in a long time," writes Falling James. They also play Alex's Bar in Long Beach tomorrow night. Also, Brian Wahl picks the "rare appearance" of Buddy Collette Big Band, who will be playing at the Terrace Court on the second level of Paseo Colorado at 8 p.m. more ›

Lakers 122, Hawks 93 - Atlanta had a bad draw. They were coming into a pumped-up Staples Center that hadn't seen the Lakers play a home game in weeks. They were coming in against a team rejuvenated by Pau Gasol. They were coming in against a Kobe Bryant with something to prove. Before halftime, the Lakers had a 41 point lead. more ›

In spite of the greasy mess plate of hungover love pictured above, Foxy's in Glendale is far from your last resort, still-drunk brekkie-plate of mornings soon to be forgotten. more ›

Through the presidential election in November, MTV has “Choose or Lose” citizen journalists in twenty-three states to cover the campaign. Here is the Colorado street team member interviewing Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker on the campaign trail for Barack Obama in Boulder, CO on Monday.
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If you're like me and you hate pro football, or if you're looking for something to do after Football Team A defeats Football Team B in the field of Superbowly Combat, go to The Scene in Glendale tonight, and see NYC based Indie Pop Band Murder Mystery, along with LA's The Tartans and Oxnard's Maria. more ›

CalArts and USC have a joint program at REDCAT tonight titled, “Listen Again: Music You Should Change Your Mind About Right Now.” A great panel of writers, musicians and scholars discuss the current state of pop music and celebrate the release of the latest scholarly writings on music issued by the Experience Music Project. Panelists include Neal Pollack (alternadad.com), Ann Powers (Los Angeles Times), R.J. Smith (Los Angeles magazine), Oliver Wang (Soul-sides.com, CSU-Long Beach) and Ernest Hardy (L.A. Weekly). more ›

Forget the pageantry and regal demeanor of the Rose Parade, the 31st Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade is the ultimate antidote. Billed as being the loud and irreverent twister sister of the aforementioned annual march down Colorado Boulevard, the parade promises to "send up a woolly range of mischiefs, grounded superheroes, political pundits, homegrown satirists, art car inventors, and other bohemian frolickers." more ›

There were two headlines from the news today that were similar in context and timing: more ›

Bodega Wine Bar is all about making wine as unpretentious as possible. The owners opened the bar after searching high and low for "a casual place to grab a glass of wine...somewhere that didn't require us to be wine experts, spend a lot of money, or even talk about wine much (if at all)" but found nothing. Ah - a wine philosophy this wine novice can get behind entirely! So, of course, I had to check it out. more ›

As the year enters week two, organizations are programming newer music, that which was composed in the last century. This weekend, the Los Angeles Philharmonic began their Concrete Frequency series to an excellent start wth Aaron Copland's "The City" played to film and Edgard Varèse's "Amériques." After the concert, hip-hop violinist duo Paul Dateh and inka one (we interviewed Paul him this summer) played in the lobby by the cafe while Breakestra funked up the BP Hall. more ›

While hundreds of volunteers are stealthily working into the wee hours to affix flora to framework and as people begin to plan for finding space along the parade route, an unexpected battle has been waging between human rights groups and the City of Pasadena. more ›

Yesterday, as shoppers lined the streets of Old Town Pasadena, four shots rang out on Colorado Blvd. A 23-year old man, the intended victim, was hit once in the back. He's in stable condition at a nearby hospital. It is, the LA Times reports, the area's first shooting. Channel 9 happened to be there. more ›

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Ducks 2, Avalanche 1, OT - Even in a loss, Colorado's Peter Budaj proved why the goalie is the most important player in hockey. He made 36 saves to keep the Avs in the game, while his teammates managed just three shots in the third period and none in overtime. The final shots-on-goal margin was 38-12, so the scoreboard could have been a lot worse for Colorado. Anaheim showed a major improvement over their 16 shots the day before, and their stingy defense didn't mind having Scott Niedermayer back for his third game of the year. more ›

Lakers 103, Bulls 91 - Los Angeles spread the scoring around to down Chicago. Sasha Vujacic scored 19, Kobe Bryant had 18, and Lamar Odom had 17 (plus 16 rebounds). more ›