Photo by Steven Fernandez via Flickr The results of a recent survey administered in seven public schools in South Los Angeles are downright depressing. Students feel scared, unmotivated, unsupported, and ignored, and it's causing many to experience the symptoms of clinical depression. Administrators and psychologists agree, noting that the multiple killings of youth in the community leaves a pall on the students, and that their choice to skip school because they are "tired, had......

On a side street in Silver Lake, two sisters open up their apartment every weekend to strangers who want to learn how to cook healthy and delicious vegan meals. Spork Foods began in December and has become a hit so far, with their small intimate cooking classes selling out quickly. Upcoming class topics include brunch, pizza, Jewish, desserts and more. A few weeks ago, they held their South East Asian class; here's what happened:......

Stunts come in all shapes and sizes, but the one planned for next week at the Santa Ana Zoo is absolutely elephantine--at least for one pachyderm named Tai. According to cbs2.com: "Artist Fan Yang plans to briefly envelop the elephant in a giant soapy bubble at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana on Tuesday as part of the center's annual Bubblefest." Admittedly a strange stunt--and one that will "set a world record for the......

The Revolution is coming! K-12 LAUSD kids, look out! Your lunches are about to get a whole hell of a lot better--and better for you. This week it was announced that Revolution Foods, a fairly new company out of the Bay Area, is bringing their goodness southbound, and will be launching a pilot program in three local schools to bring them "fresh and healthy meals on a daily basis," according to their press release. The......

The state's budget woes may soon have a massive casualty list to its credit, culled from our already ailing school systems. Who's getting kicked out of school? Educators! Late next week, teachers and administrative staff from public schools around the state will find out they may soon be unemployed, reports the Daily News. "The layoff letters, which by law must go out by Saturday, could number in the tens of thousands, school officials warn."......

...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......

Santee Village Apartments | Photo by atomicshakespeares via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr It's not the same thrill as being singled out as a draft pick when it's the police who want you: "An arrest warrant has been issued by the Irvine Police Department for St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Scott Spiezio on six charges stemming from a Dec. 30 incident." Police in Burbank are investigating the mysterious death of 47-year-old Glen Giles,......

An academic and ethical scandal has jarred the staff and students at Harvard-Westlake school, as the consequences of cheating reverberate on the school's campus. Six tenth-graders were expelled from the prestigious Valley private high school yesterday when administrators discovered they had enacted a plot to "steal Spanish and history tests by distracting teachers in their classrooms. The tests were then shown to several other students before midterm exams last month," reports KTLA. Other students who......

February may well be the month of the year we think about love the most, but our local schools are banking on us sharing our love with them right now, too. This month, a project called "LA Loves Its Schools" is taking place. It's a donation drive based on the pages of DonorsChoose.Org that calls for caring individuals to pitch in a little to help local schools, classrooms, and teachers get the things they need......

UPDATE, 4:12 P.M., FRI., FEB. 15: KNBC reports that the Oxnard boy has been taken off life support and "his organs have been given away." UPDATE, 7:00 A.M., TH., FEB. 14: The shooting is now being treated as a murder case with possible hate crime motives. Go to our latest story on the Oxnard school shooting here. UPDATE, 5:33 P.M., WED., FEB. 13: Contrary to what CNN said below, the shooting victim, Lawrence King, is......

In a quite quickly put-together press conference slated for 2:00 p.m. today at the First Street Steps at City Hall, Councilmen Eric Garcetti and Dennis Zine will be reminding voters that if you're nonpartisan or 'decline to state,' you must mark the box at the top of the ballot if you want to vote for an American Independent or Democratic candidate. Unconfirmed field reports are saying that the LA County Registrar is expecting to disqualify......

Photo by Wm Jas via Flickr After the Humane Soceity of the United States released a video (seen below) of abused cows at a Chino slaughterhouse, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began an investigation on Wednesday. With a quick response, The California Department of Education Nutrition Services Division urged all public schools to check where their cafeteria meat was coming from and two fast food chains cut their ties with the Chino based Westland/Hallmark......

Fairfax Avenue is the Bomb!!! Declining enrollment and rising costs means less expansion and construction to help relieve overcrowding in LAUSD schools. The LA Times reports that "since the fall, the school system has canceled plans for 19 new schools and additions to existing campuses in South Gate, Bell, Van Nuys, San Fernando, Sun Valley and central Los Angeles, among other areas, citing new enrollment projections." Kids, you don't mind sharing that book, do......

What will Hike The Geek do?!?! In order to face up to budget-balancing woes and a state-wide financial crunch, Governor Schwartzenegger has proposed to close 48 different national park sites, as well as cut funding to many school, health care, and criminal justice programs. Parks in the L.A. area like the Will Rogers State Historic Park, Topanga State Park, and Pio Pico State Historic Park in Whittier will all be shut down, affecting many......

Why do all these prisoners love our governor? Because in his budget cuts that were released today, it proposes just that -- an early release for 22,000 low-risk inmates. "The governor says the cuts are necessary to erase a $14 billion revenue shortfall over the next 18 months. Schwarzenegger's new budget would spend 3 percent less than the one he signed last summer," according to the AP. Here is some of what is also......

Of all the things we expected Los Angeles to be known for...it wasn't "the best city in the country for booklovers." According to a study by Eventful.com, New York is the city for singles, San Diego is the city for pet lovers, and LA is, crazily, the best city for bookish types. We're also the best city for music events...but that's hardly a surprise. While we do love our books, we find it hard to......

Did you know that residents of Los Angeles County use 6 billion plastic bags a year, and only 5% of bags in the US are recycled? In the state of California the average person uses 552 bags, according to the environmental organization Heal the Bay. These bags are then left to choke up our waterways, landfills, streets, and urban landscapes, causing harm to animal life and our ecosystem. This is why Heal the Bay, along......

...and then America pants and wheezes after half a block The state fitness data released yesterday found that LAUSD students "are less physically fit than the state average" (Daily News). There's no surprise in that. But you have to admit, it's really lame. We live in California for heaven sakes! This isn't flatland cornfield Illinois where gym class is a required five days a week, kindergarten through senior year (and that state still has......

Nine are dead in Omaha, Nebraska today after a man opened fire in a shopping mall, and then shot himself. Police do not have a motive so far. Did you have this conversation this morning? "Sorry, boss, I can't come in to work today...a terrible cough, I, uh, flu symptoms, definitely -- what waves? Uh, I don't know what you're talking about...." Lots of SoCal surfers took a sick day and busted out on......

Caspian Rain is a novel about longing and belonging. Set just before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, 12-year-old Yaas narrates the story of her family – a family that’s just as divided as the country. Her father, Omid, is from a wealthy Jewish Tehranian family. He feels restricted by the rules dictated by the upper-class society, the rules imposed on him as a son and rules he must keep in order to not disgrace......

While the rains yesterday helped alleviate some of the dryness under which southern California has been hampered, it did little to lessen the worries of those in fire-stricken areas. Streaming rivers of rain created mudslides and prompted officials to call for mass evacuations. Flash flood warnings remain in effect. But, hey, it's LA, and today was clear and beautiful. A woman who poisoned her Marine husband to buy a boob job with the insurance......

There is nothing like combining fashion and philanthropy. Tomorrow night, the Los Angeles flagship store for Martin & Osa is have a launch party for the opening of their store in Century City. The stylish fashion company has generously donated $5,000 to Step Up Women's Network and the event will feature shopping (optional), cocktails and bites, and time to mingle with friends and to meet new people. While Step Up Women's Network is for......

There are no less than nine green events tomorrow. Surely, the Los Angeles area is getting a lot more hip about being green. And hopefully, when this fad is over, it will be a staple of our lives, embedded into our quotidian conscious. The big event tomorrow is the Opportunity Green Conference at UCLA. The pricey, but well talked about event in green circles, is bringing together sustainable businesses in hopes of creating a community......

Recent studies from both Dutch and Norwegian researchers are confirming that consumption of omega 3 fatty acids, which are most often found in fish and nuts, may make you smarter (or at least help you utilize what you've got): People who reported eating on average at least a third of an ounce of fish per day -- 10 grams -- outscored those who skimped on fish, regardless of factors including age, education, and heart......

In a story of truly fucked notions, the LAUSD is short $53-million because they overpaid around 36,000 employees due to a rushed installation and implementation of Business Tools for Schools, a payroll system that couldn't handle calculating the nuances of a teacher's "complicated job assignments and unusual work schedules," according to the LA Times. It's not only that they overpaid employees, they also underpaid and didn't even pay some employees, owing some $7 million.For......

You remember this famous exchange from The Graduate? Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word. Ben: Yes sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Ben: Yes I am. Mr. McGuire: 'Plastics.' Ben: Exactly how do you mean? Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it? Ben: Yes I will. Yes, there was certainly a future in plastics -- but it......

Since Wednesday’s White Stripes show at the Forum was cancelled, those of us with tickets were forced to find something else to do. Some probably went to other concerts, maybe some drank their sorrows away. I went the more obvious route – I went to Babeland to learn how to blow a banana. Babeland is the very woman-friendly sex store on Melrose and La Brea. They’ve been open for nearly two years here in L.A.,......

Today in major LA Fire Department events: an early morning structure fire in North Hills sending smoke into the flight path of Van Nuys Airport, a big rig with a trailer overturned on the Southbound Harbor freeway causing a Sig Alert, and a medical emergency in the Hilton Hotel at Universal City where staff mixed ammonia & bleach solutions creating hydrochloric acid (oops!). Is it the second Thursday of the month? Ah, it is!......

In order to cover the costs of their $600-million-plus priest abuse settlement, the Los Angeles Archdiocese is selling off its Santa Barbara convent, leaving the nuns with no place left to go. Aw, how cute, the 818 thinks it's just like the 310! The San Fernando Valley may be getting a 747 area code overlay in the very near future. Are we seeing a theme here yet? A thirteen-year-old boy was killed by an......

Women in Film and General Motors have announced their second opportunity for Women in Film through the Acceleration Grant for Emerging Filmmakers program. Five up-and-coming female filmakers will be chosen to participate in a six-day, full-immersion mentoring program and also be assisted in getting meetings with studios, film professionals and distributors. Winners will be chosen from a WIF selection committee comprised of professional filmmakers and entertainment industry executives. Here are the details: Entries must......