Photo by Daniella Zalcman via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Maybe actor Dennis Farina was taking his former role as an L&O detective too seriously when he packed his suitcase and headed to LAX this morning. Authorities arrested Farina on charges of carrying a concealed weapon when a .22 caliber handgun was found in his carryon. Homicide detectives are working on the case of an infant found dead inside a Lancaster home......

A scuffle between a group of teens that apparently knew each other left one 14-year-old shot and killed. The incident happened last night around 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of Van Nuys and Glen Oaks Boulevards in the Valley neighborhood of Pacoima. "Witnesses said the fight looked almost over when shots were fired. The young boys dispersed, and a 14-year-old victim was left laying on the ground with a gunshot wound," reported ABC7. Police do......

Photo of unrelated Disneyland Hotel balcony by clouddinner via flickr. A man leaped to his death from a 14th-floor balcony at the Disneyland Hotel this morning. "He went out on the balcony and intentionally leapt,'' said Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez, all but confirming the apparent suicide of a businessman in his 30's or 40's, around 11 a.m. outside the the Disneyland Hotel's Wonder Tower. ( -- OC Register). An investigation is ongoing and......

Photo by Rick O! via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A shark attack off the shores of San Diego killed Dr. Dave Martin, a retired veterinarian and triathlete from Solana Beach. Martin was taking part in an early morning group swim near Fletcher Cove when the incident occured; an 8-mile section of beach remains closed. The fate of Rocky, the grizzly bear who bit and killed his trainer earlier this week, will......

Photo by hinducow via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Over 300,000 troops returning from campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from some sort of mental illness, including PTSD. Over half admit they are not seeking medical treatment. "Trainwreck"? More like "how many college students can we fuck in the ass?" The answer is pretty much all of them: Sallie Mae, the largest student loan company in the United States, says the......

This one is a little hard to wrap your mind around. A taxi driver transporting two women to the Ramona Gardens housing project in East LA ended up in a situation when he stopped to drop them off. Daily News explains: According to a preliminary investigation, the women had taken a cab ride to the Ramona Gardens housing project in the city of Los Angeles, where the taxi stopped at a building, [LAPD Sgt. Lee......

An estimated 6,000 people are Downtown this morning for the procession and memorial services for Los Angeles Firefighter Brent Lovrien, who was killed in the line of duty last week in Westchester near LAX. Firefighters, likely representing almost every agency from around the state, have come to Los Angeles to show their support. It is being aired live on KTLA and on their website. Also airing online is KNBC, KCBS/KCAL and KABC. For those not......

View Larger Map Yesterday evening, an explosion rocked a home a 1108 E. 32nd St., injuring one man. It was caused by a "bug bomb." No, it's not terrorism, it really is something to get bugs. This one just got out of control. This morning around 6:45 a.m., at 1258 W. 58th St. 1 story single family home caught on fire with two people trapped inside. Only on person survived. According to KCBS, it was......

View Larger Map | This map is interactive: click on lines for more info and zoom in and out. Last Wednesday, firefighter Brent Lovrien was killed in the line of duty when responding to a call near LAX. A power saw operated by Lovrien sparked an explosion fatally wounding him and injuring LAFD Engineer Anthony J. Guzman. Tonight, a candle light vigil will be held at Fire Station 5 and the community is invited to......

An on-duty Orange County sheriff's investigator was found dead in the driver's seat of an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria in Aliso Viejo on Wednesday. The veteran investigator's body was found about 2:30 p.m. in an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria parked in the parking lot of a shopping center in the 26700 block of Aliso Creek Road near Enterprise. Blood covered the front seat. -- OC RegisterEarly news reports described a "body ... discovered ... in......

At 12:01 p.m. today, the USC Department of Public Safety received a call from a Resident's Assistant in New/North (dorms) that a student was not breathing. Captain David Carlisle of USC's DPS said that campus police arrived shortly after the call as well as Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics, who pronounced the man dead upon arrival. Homicide detectives from the LAPD were then called out. After their initial investigation, preliminary reports stated that it appeared......

Photo of the DWP Parking lot by Omar Omar via Flickr Raise your hand if the moment you heard about the death of firefighter Brent A. Lovrien being caused by old 1930s technology, that the DWP would use that as a way to help their cause of raising water and power rates? "While we believe this to be a freak occurrence, it is a symptom of a much greater problem that we must address,"......

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the level......

Taken from the 8th Floor of the City National Bank Building | Photo by Mitch Oberstein with an iPhone *Update, 6:42 p.m.: A maintenance man familiar with the building has said they found an apparent suicide note.A witness is reporting to LAist that it appears a person has fallen from a building at 14724 Ventura Blvd. in The Village area of Sherman Oaks. "There's streaks of blood and just a sheet covering him," said......

*Update, 3/20/08: There has been another apparent apartment murder in Santa Monica, this time a man in his 30s. However, police say there is no connection to Redding's assault. More info here. Also, police are still waiting for Redding's autopsy results, but when finished, they will not be released to the public for another 30 to 60 days in lieu of a "security hold."A mother's premonition can be strong and when Santa Monica resident Juliana......

...or you could hit up Swingers for a late-night bite (LAist did!) | Photo by Stephanie Asher via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr DOCUMENTARY & DISCUSSION Non-profit mentoring group WriteGirl is putting on a screening of Girls Rock! which is a documentary about a rock n' roll girls' camp, and hosting a panel discussion after the film. Scheduled panelists include WriteGirl's founder and executive director, singer-songwriter Keren Taylor; Grammy-award winning songwriter and......

In the wake of last week's shooting death of 17-year-old Los Angeles High football star Jamiel Shaw, his community--and the community of LA at large--are mourning the loss and trying to make sense of how a kid who was on the right path in life was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shaw was gunned down by gang members near his home. His mother is serving her second tour of duty in......

A puppet show without Kermit: Concrete Folk Variations at The Manual Archives / Photo by Susan Simpson MEET THE PO-PO The public’s invited to meet the police and talk about safety issues at a neighborhood meeting between the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council, the Glassell Park Safety Committee and LAPD. Senior Lead Officer for Atwater Village Gina Chovan, gang detectives and City Attorney Donna Wong will be in attendance. 4 pm // Glassell Park Community......

Say you're going to kill the President and the feds will see you in court a week later. That's what happened to a 50-year-old Pacoima man last week before getting arrested, according to the Daily News. Charles Madrid told the Secret Service what he would do if Bush were present right at that moment: "I'd deck his ass." And Vice President Dick Cheney? He also "needs an ass kicking." Some thought Madrid was mentally ill,......

LAist catches up with Michael J. Nelson, a former host of Mystery Science Theater 3000, as he talks about his latest project, RiffTrax. In the interview, he also gives us the scoop about political ads, bloopers and a possible live event in Los Angeles....

A few months ago LAist interviewed writer/creator/director Marshall Herskovitz about his web series Quarterlife, and lo and behold, the series debuts on NBC tonight! MySpace, which showcased Quarterlife has a new show of the hidden-camera comedy variety debuting this week as well, "Special Delivery", which will have episodes twice weekly. From these new media developments we turn to television's ancient past on today, Jackie Gleason's birthday, JackieGleason.com has been launched with rare stills and clips......

Has anyone seen the cobra I just bought? | Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Wes Anderson doesn't have many casual fans. You either love the strange worlds of whimsy he creates or you find it all a bit precious and twee. Count me in the former camp and count The Darjeeling Limited as a return to form for Anderson after the ambitious but foggy The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Next generation 3-D isn't......

The use of sonar by the Navy off the shores of Southern California has prompted vehement opposition by animal rights and environmental groups, and earlier this year a court order put in place restrictions on the practice. However, reports that a dolphin's death in late January on the island of San Nicolas might be linked to the Navy's use of sonar in a training exercise has once again brought the issue into the spotlight. The......

Averaging more than one incident a week so far in 2008, there have been nine incidents between people/cars, or in one case, a fire hydrant, and mainly Metro busses, except for one incident involving a Big Blue Bus, Santa Monica's transit agency and another with an unknown transit agency at this time. According to Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) records, there have been a total of forty-three injuries, ranging from minor to critical (some......

With even more evidence of the population spending more time with programming and movies online, Lifetime, which I jokingly refer to as the most sexist network on the planet, is now launching programs on the web. If you weren't getting enough reality TV, first verify that you don't have testicles and then check out mylifetime.com and look for "That Magic Moment" which is about couples' first time in the sack and the "Clean Start Challenge”......

We've never been to the Celebrity Center for a concert, but we can vouch for Cowboy (not Country!) musician Dave Stamey if you're into that kind of thang. Still, for those inclined to roots music, The Arthur Adams Band will be at the Baked Potato in Studio City playing blues. The Arthur Adams Band @ The Baked Potato Editors, Hot Hot Heat, Louis XIV @ The Wiltern Manic Hispanic, Death by Stereo, GG Elvis &......

Maybe he's a cat person? LA Times big-wig Sam Zell has been quoted as saying a healthy love of lady-parts is downright patriotic. LA Observed explores the origins of what was said and why; apparently Zell thinks pussy's so nice, he said it twice: "He said: 'Everyone likes pussy. It’s un-American not to like pussy'" explains someone at the Times. Prince Andrew paid a visit to Compton yesterday to helm the ribbon-cutting ceremony at......

John Mulaney - talent reelComedian John Mulaney is taking SoCal by storm, check out his schedule for the first part of this month (he'll be back in LA at the end of the month also): Feb 5 2008 8:00P - Comedy Death Ray @ UCB LA Hollywood Feb 6 2008 8:00P - The Improv Hollywood Feb 9 2008 8:00P - The Improv Hollywood Feb 11 2008 9:00P - Garage Comedy Feb 12 2008 9:00P -......

The Los Angeles Fire Department is reporting a five-car pileup on the 101 north freeway at Barham over the Cahuenga Pass. Luckily, the three injuries are minor, but that means three blocked lanes and a Sigalert. Earlier this morning during the 5:00 a.m. hour near Olvera Street and Union Station, a woman was hit and killed by a Metro bus. The crash is still under investigation and details are pending. This is the third major......

Photo by tanakawho via Flickr There have been 59 homicides in Los Angeles County so far this 2008. 2007 saw 845 (though, that can change). Of those 845 homicides, LA Times reporter Jill Leovy wrote about every one of them "in a straightforward, comprehensive way" in The Homicide Report, a genius creation that will go down in bloging history. Leovy is pretty much done with the blog while Ruben Vives begins to take over......