For residents of the South East San Fernando Valley and adjacent environs, the stench and sight of smoke from the fire that broke out in the early morning hours on the backlot of Universal Studios has dominated the skies today; for most everyone else in Los Angeles this story has dominated the news. LAist photographer Tom Andrews captured these images of the Universal Studios area; the site remains closed to the public while fire crews......

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 | 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......

Photo by Rafahh via Flickr One firefighter has died at an explosion near LAX this afternoon. Check here for updates.Terminal One was evacuated early this morning after security screeners saw something that resembled a grenade, prompting a near 40-minute evacuation of the Southwest Airlines terminal. After officials identified it as a toy grenade, operations went back to normal. LAX officials told KNBC that passengers should be reminded "not to pack anything that resembles a......

Bobby Fischer died this week. He was totally insane and totally brilliant, a prodigy and a pariah. In the world he inhabited, the only thing you could possibly do was throw up your hands and move to Iceland. Chess players, you know? Twelve California research institutions (including UCLA and USC) are in the running for $263 million dollars worth of valuable stem-cell research funding from the the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The body......

#132 Largo city manger's plans to become a woman got found out by the local paper. So instead of letting the paper announce it, he announced to the people of Largo to be understanding of his upcoming procedure. Nearly 500 people squeezed into City Hall and most asked for his head. At the end of the meeting the council decided to fire their city manager of 14 years. [Post-Trib] #133 That teenage hiccuping girl......

- African-American LAFD firefighter Tennie Pierce (no relation) awarded $2.7 million in a racial harassment suit that was settled yesterday. A Captain bought dog food, a second firefighter mixed in into Pierce's spaghetti, and another Captain knew what Pierce was about to eat but didn't warn him. - LA Times - Unrelated: Fire Captain allegedly tortured Eagle Rock woman before he strangled her, making the murder eligible for the death penalty - LA Times......