A man was shot to death in Hollywood early this morning while he was waiting for a bus with his girlfriend, police say. Cesar Gonzalez, 25, was shot while at a bus stop on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Edgemont Street around 1:15 am. more ›

Following this month's deadly random shooting in Hollywood, even just the suggestion of an armed man running amok on the streets has local authorities on high alert. This morning, reports of a man "with a semiautomatic rifle and a knife on the eastern end of Sunset Boulevard in east Hollywood" led LAPD officers to investigate the scene more ›

ArtCycle took over the streets of East Hollywood yesterday for the third year in a row. Because the art scene is just a little too sprawling for pedestrians — and because bikes are so important to the scene — the event caters to attendees on two wheels. more ›

A shooting outside the Little Temple nightclub in East Hollywood early this morning has left one man dead and another wounded. The incident began with a verbal dispute, according to L.A. Now. The victim, who is thought to be between 20 and 35 years old, was shot multiple times, and pronounced dead at the scene. more ›

A foot chase on Saturday ended near the intersection of Fountain and Westmoreland in East Hollywood with a suspect being fatally shot by police and an LAPD officer suffering injuries to his face from glass fragments. Responding to a report of a prowler, officers arrived at 1200 block of Westmoreland Avenue around 9:30 a.m. to investigate. Officers reportedly spotted a man fitting the description who, "began running north along Westmoreland and then turned west on Fountain Avenue," reports LA Now. more ›

It’s the first night of Aaron Donovan’s beginning still-life painting class at Barnsdall Art Center, an eclectic community art center on the southeast edge of Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood. Adult students arrive with canvases and brushes at the ready. One woman brings persimmons from her garden for the class to paint. Donovan is carefully placing the fruit on bright-colored plates as a middle-aged gentleman with a cell phone on his hip arrives. Donovan asks him if he’s a painter. more ›

LAPD investigators believe that the shooting that took place Monday afternoon inside an East Hollywood T-Shirt store was a murder-suicide. Officers who arrived to the scene at the Sunset T-Shirts Warehouse at 5401 West Sunset Blvd. [map] found the bodies of 40-year-old Chul Pak of Los Angeles and 50-year-old Marc Bayar of Valley Village. Detectives surmise that Pak first shot Bayar, then turned the gun on himself, using the gun registered to him that was found at the scene. Although they are not searching for anymore suspects, the LAPD are continuing their investigation of the crime. more ›

A shooting inside a store in the East Hollywood area has left two people dead, according to police. At about 12:40 p.m., the LAPD was called to a t-shirt store on the 5400 block of Sunset Boulevard. Inside, two men were found with fatal gunshot wounds. Officer Cleon Joseph described it as a "possible murder-suicide." Few details were available this afternoon as the investigation was ongoing. more ›

Police this afternoon officially announced an arrest in last year's brutal murder of Paulina Ibarra. Jesus Catalan stands accused of killing the 24-year-old transgender woman in her East Hollywood apartment on August 28th, 2009. more ›

It's been a bicycle month in Los Angeles. From the LAPD getting together with Critical Mass to the installation of sharrows, even if controversial. Last Friday came the news that CicLAvia was really happening, coming to Los Angeles in September. more ›

In reaction to an uptick in crime in the area, including a recent burglary at his own home, Councilman Tom LaBonge is hosting a community meeting tomorrow evening, his office announced tonight. more ›

Identity can be a topic that gets people talking, good or bad. Recently, there's been an effort to rename a part of Los Angeles commonly, but erroneously, called The Eastside. And in Sacramento, some want to officially rename the 405 Freeway in honor of a fellow politician. more ›

Fed up with those who erroneously label Silver Lake, Echo Park and other so-called hipster neighborhoods as in within the Eastside, and left with no general sobriquet for the area, Curbed LA is calling for submissions for its regional renaming (basically, the real Eastside is east of the L.A. River, but it always seems to be up for debate). more ›

If you decide to drive drunk this weekend, make you're only drunk on love. As usual, the LAPD is out looking for the overly inebriated and they often set up checkpoints to spread that message. Tonight, a sobriety and drivers license checkpoint will be found on Vermont Blvd. between Hollywood and Sunset from 8 p.m and 3 a.m. (yes, right near the Red Line subway). The LAPD Northeast Area endured 116 driving under the influence-related and 1,187 hit and run traffic collisions in 2009 alone. Also: there will be a checkpoint tomorrow in South L.A. on Figueroa between West Jefferson Boulevard and 33rd Street from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. more ›

All stand-up comedians are comedy writers (so long as their material is original,) but not all comedy writers are stand-ups. A few shows around town spotlight the gap between the two. On such stages, comedy writers read their works and the result a laughing audience. You might've caught such a show at iO West, UCB, or Pinata (at the Bang Comedy Theatre.) more ›

Bargain shopping at Out of the Closet, Sizzler, Jumbo's Clown Room, frequent conflation with neighboring Thai Town, a burning couch, singing cats, and a love gone wrong. It's Christmas in LA's Little Armenia. more ›

The answer is to do the work first, then ask for permission later. Or at least that's the example Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's appointed heads of Public Works are showing us. In a Curbed LA investigation, an East Hollywood resident hired a crew to make a second driveway for her home on the 1100 block N. Westmoreland Avenue. There's two problems here: 1) She had no permit; 2) The street is apparently crowded with few parking spaces available to others in the neighborhood. more ›

A possible arson suspect has barricaded himself somewhere on the 5400 block of Russell Avenue, near the intersection of Hollywood and Western, according to the LAPD. Not many details are available, but police believe he may have a weapon. A good number of police and fire have responded to the situation that is currently ongoing. more ›

Before the Smog Cutter was East Hollywood’s most infamously decrepit karaoke joint, it was reportedly one of Charles Bukowski’s dives of choice. While this has yet to be corroborated by the ninety-year-old hunchbacked regular who apparently takes a vow of silence between spirited performances of Clarence Carter’s “Stroke It,” one look at the dingy, faux-wood paneled interior and world-weary patrons seems like evidence enough. You may not be as lucky as I am and live spitting distance from the place, but if you share old Hank’s penchant for stiff drinks, small time hustlers and hard women, you just may have found yourself a home away from home. more ›

Thai Town is priced perfectly for our sorry pocketbooks. We know this. One such standout is Ruen Pair, a restaurant LAist visited for our "Thai One On" series. It was both inexpensive and fantastic in '07, and that hasn't changed for '09. The only difference is a sharp coat of paint. Of course it's LAist's latest Recession Obsession. more ›

Little Armenia business owners are making headway in creating a stronger neighborhood brand. Coming soon are signs on the 101 Freeway near the Sunset Blvd. exits identifying where the neighborhood's location, the Little Armenia Chamber of Commerce announced in an e-mail last night. more ›

Apparently, an East Hollywood woman had a crew come out last year Fourth of July to remove a city curb for a big private driveway. Alyssa Romano, resident and fourplex building owner on the 1100 block N. Westmoreland Avenue, did not obtain a permit for her illegal driveway. Curbed LA reports: more ›

Earlier this year, Council President Eric Garcetti's office hosted a bicycle rack competition for artists to design bicycle racks for East Hollywood. Today, after city and community input, Melrose Hills artist Forester Rudolph and his SpokesQuotes design were announced as the winner. more ›

On Sunday, Thai Town hosted the 6th annual Songkran festival, or Thai New Year, which brought out the masses to brave the warm temps and take in the tastes and sights of a colorful and fun neighborhood gathering. Hollywood Boulevard between Western and Normandie was packed on Sunday, bringing together people from all parts of town to celebrate Thai culture and the glory of springtime. more ›

If you can emphasize a balance between form and function, keep it beautiful and make it hip, you might be the artist/designer behind Hollywood Boulevard's newest crop of 24 or so bicycle racks. LA City Council President Eric Garcetti, CRA, the Bike Writers Collective and the LACBC are joining forces to sponsor a competition for "a unique bicycle rack for the East Hollywood community. This project seeks to add visual appeal and transportation amenity to its vibrant East Hollywood streetscape along Hollywood Boulevard between Western Avenue and Vermont Avenue." Download the details here (.pdf) and good luck! more ›

Los Angeles is home to about a zillion and a half people. This includes, I hear, the largest Thai population outside of Thailand. Perhaps that's why we have a jillion Thai restaurants. Good thing their food rocks. It's pretty cheap too. more ›

Over on Ron L Hubbard way at the large Scientology complex in East Hollywood, a videographer was filming on the sidewalk when he was all of the sudden surrounded by three alleged Scientologists with cameras who kept on cornering him. This follows city council action regarding the closure of the street on a weekly basis and a contentious video (below) taken on the street on July 4th, 1999.
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In an effort to further community relations, LAPD's Northeast Division is hosting their community open house today from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Along with meeting officers and councilmembers, there will be displays by the Bomb Squad, K-9 Unit, LAPD Dispatch Communications, SWAT and others. more ›

Church of Scientology stories are usually left for the internet and are rarely the subject of mainstream media stories. But when two women stood up to City Council last week (video) to tell them what it's like to be a neighbor to the church's L Ron Hubbard Way location during weekly street closures for special events, the Council listened and continued the motion rather than approving it in order to look into the issue a little more in depth. Then CBS2 visited the street in question to check it out for themselves (video below). more ›

At Wednesday's LA City Council meeting, non-Scientologist and resident of L Ron Hubbard Way, Sammi Franklin, and free speech advocate Lisa Derrick stood in the chambers at city hall to explain what it's like to live on a street closed down every weekend of the year. more ›