As firefighters finish mopping up the now contained Marek Fire that consumed 4,824 acres, investigations continue into the cause. The Daily News finds that officials have found at least one lead that they are looking into: "Arson investigators have said they found something suspicious near the fire's ignition point -- a shooting range in Little Tujunga Canyon in the Angeles National Forest -- but details of their findings have not been publicly released." A cursory......

After a spate of robberies at the end of August in neighborhoods surrounding the trendy area of Melrose, a couple have been reported recently. One was this morning and another was on Saturday during broad daylight when an ice cream vendor was mugged and pistol whipped near Melrose and Fairfax according to one LAist tipster who submitted the photo seen to the right. The other one happened this morning. Via the neighborhood watch group: This......

The porn star who goes by the name Tony Eveready, most famously known on the internet for his solo double penetration performances called a "booyah" (the usual penetration at the same time as nuts in the butt, errr), was sentenced to over six years in prison, according to the Daily News. Duane Reed Moore, 37, of Winnetka was driving in the West Valley last October when he was stopped by the LAPD for having no......

Up to four armed men stormed a home this afternoon and were engaged by one of the armed residents at the home, leaving one of the suspects dead and the others fleeing, according to the Daily News. At about 2:45 p.m.on the 24300 block of Burbank Boulevard in Woodland Hills, up to four reportedly African-American males in their twenties entered the home with force before fleeing in a silver sedan with one accomplice dead in......

Immediately after the Supreme Court's Thursday ruling allowing citizens to own handguns, gun advocates began to talk lawsuits against cities that have restrictions. As for California, which ranks highest in the country for gun restrictions laws, cities will become targets for lawsuits. "California laws that gun rights groups plan to scrutinize include the state's ban on assault weapons, the permitting process for carrying a concealed weapon in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and restrictions......

Photo by _ROXANNE_ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The former manager of a WeHo marijuana dispensary was sentenced today to 5 years probation for "maintaining drug-related premises" on North La Brea known as the Yellow House. Tonya Mae Schaefer of Alhambra also received her sentence today; the 43-year-old will now serve 25 to life for the murder and abandonment of her newborn baby in 2006. It's a not guilty plea for......

"11.1.07," by edenjet via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr There is more information about the Wilmington shooting Thursday night that left one suspect dead and another in critical condition. "He just came out and decided, 'This is what I'm going to do today,'" one of the officers said. I think someone needed a hobby. Are you tired of the current crop of movies at the Arclight in Sherman Oaks? Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel,......

Photo by Jonathan Alcorn (aka Sundogg) via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr An update on last night's Midnight Movie (you really need to watch this): Curbed has the rendering of the proposed development and for five-stories, it looks a bit... out of proportion. Authorities are on the hunt for the killer of a 25-year-old homeless man whose body was found Sunday night in Venice. The victim was apparently beaten to death. Another......

Nick's, home of delicious breakfast burritos, by Rebecca~James via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr 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......

So The Torrance Police Department busted these four people living in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. It turns out that they weren't tipped off by his Afghan rocket launcher, or the imitation police badges, or even the "Anarchist Cookbook" and other illegal books. They were busted because the police where there looking for drugs, and apparently ended up hitting the jackpot. The house was located near the intersection of 190th and Rindge,......

A verbal spat turned into a shooting incident today on the 101 Freeway. The disagreement began between the occupants of two vehicles on a surface street in Hollywood, says cbs2.com, and the "suspect's car followed the other vehicle as it traveled onto the northbound Hollywood Freeway." The heated exchange escalated into gunfire, as the occupants of one vehicle fired shots while on the road, "wounding one passenger and grazing the other." With the gunfire bringing......

Pledging to introduce new laws to stop illegal gun dealing and prevent violent crime, City Councilman Jack Weiss today released statistics on gun violence in Los Angeles. “It’s time to act aggressively and creatively with new laws to stop the killing," Weiss said in a statement. As provided by the LAPD, here's the data for 2007: Gunshot victims 1,905; Gang related gunshot victims 1,323 Total homicides 394; 80% of all homicides involved the use of......

An innocent victim meeting a stray bullet is not a completely unexpected occurrence in any of the regions detailed on the LAPD's gang injunction map (view the PDF). But it is not often that bullets are sprayed on an unsuspecting crowd (of mostly kids) at a bus stop at 3:15 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, which is what occurred earlier near Vernon and Central in South LA. Three girls, ages 10, 11 and 12, and......

Two robberies at gunpoint took place late last night in Hollywood, resulting in injuries to the victims. The first incident, which was reported at 1:44 a.m. was a home invasion in an apartment at 1750 Wilcox Avenue. According to the Daily News, the victim "was standing in front of his apartment building when two men walked up, pointed a gun at him and demanded to be brought to his apartment." The tenant led the robbers......

OOOwww! Good evening Los Angeles! Wooo! How you all fee-ull? People. You know! I don't believe the LA Forum has a chimney... so if y'all want Santa Claus to come pay us a visit you're gonna need to raise the roof off this mother!! And I think if all twenty thousand of you flick your lighters in time with the beat we can turn this place into the biggest Christmas tree in the world!......

Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Concert, Belly Up Tavern 12/19/06 Great Northern, Happy Hollows @ Viper Room Blind Boys of Alabama Xmas Show @ Disney Hall Guns in Hands, Deadly Sins, Lost Remorse @ Cobalt Cafe Hit Record @ The Troubadour The Lamps, Exit Music, In Waves @ Bordello Metal Skool, Weapon of Choice @ Key Club The Binges, The Ringers, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip @ Spaceland The White Coffin, Terror @......

LAist Featured Photos contributer Jonathan Alcorn caught this scene in Compton on Saturday: "In an effort to reduce violence, 156 guns were collected by Los Angeles County Sheriff's representatives in Compton during the first three days of an annual exchange program, officials said today. People turning in guns to sheriff's personnel receive $50 gift cards for use at Best Buy, Home Depot, Ralphs or Target. Gift cards worth $100 were given for each of......

Want a Wii this holiday season? Well toooooo fuckin bad. The best you can hope for is a rain check certificate that will entitle you to a console at some point in January. Even the Wii people themselves are now admitting what a mess they've made of manufacturing this thing. Two members of a terrorist cell have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to wage war: the splinter group was "was poised to attack......

Last night, 20 year old Ricardo Hernandez was killed by gunfire in a gang-related shooting in Pacoima. The incident took place in the 11800 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The Daily News is reporting the arrest of 30 year old Pablo Serrano who is "veteran documented gang member possibly trying to make a name for himself." The incident and subsequent arrest occured when during a routing air patrol the police "began following a speeding car......

There's still time to win Tori Amos tickets -- the concert ends tonight at midnight! To enter the contest, leave a comment telling us what your favorite Tori song is. Get over there and put the damage on! An update on the Sherman Oaks apartment fire that left one person dead: authorities have ID'd the victim as a 63-year-old man who died at the hospital after receiving second- and third-degree burns. There was another......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

So I think I can safely say, having viewed it twice now, that Jason Reitman's Juno is the newest addition to my list of favorite movies. Okay, yes, it may be a pretty "rosy view of teen pregnancy", as my friend declared, but the humor, the characters, and the crazy dialogue ("You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put......

Since 2001, about 230 people have died in the U.S. after being shocked with a Taser. One of the most recent incidents was in an unincorporated part of South LA last Friday night when a 32-year-old man died after being shocked twice by LA County Sheriffs. Apparently, Cesar Silver was under drugs or alcohol and fought and struggled with five sheriffs before the Taser gun was brought out. "Eyewitnesses indicated there was a real struggle.......

Don't know what to get for the gun toting rifleman who has everything? In San Francisco, turning that rifle in to authorities will net you a cool $100 gift card. Eh, you say? OK, how about $200 for AK-47s? I wonder how that conversation might go at home: Honey, where is my gun? Oh, I turned it in sweety, for $100 worth of movie rentals. You did what? Guns don't kill people, gift cards......

I love shooting macro photos, especially involving things that don't move. It really allows you to leave the shutter open for a while and get some crazy detail on very small objects. For me, it takes a lot of things that people would find mundane and turns them into objects of beauty. I took a failed trip to McLogan's this morning, not knowing that they would be closed on Friday. As the foremost supplier to......

The courts once again sided with the Bush administration in its warrantless spy tapping program. This time, the liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rule against the government in its handling of the war on terror. Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is crying. Following an incident at Cal State Fullerton, in which nooses appeared on a clothesline at an anti-hate rally, civil rights leaders are calling for a federal investigation. College officials quickly took......

If you weren't at The Echo last night, then you missed out on an overdue Modular People extravaganza. Aussie one-man band Muscles and London's own New Young Pony Club rocked the house with their dance-laden equations. With Halloween costumes in full effect and drinks a flowin', the sold out house was full of bopping NYPC-a-holics intent on getting their fix. Well, I believe that we all got more than we bargained for. Muscles opened......

The Eagles, The Dixie Chicks @ Nokia Velvet Revolver @ Irvine Meadows (postponed due to wildfires. The show will take place Dec. 12 at the Gibson Amphitheatre. More info...) UNKLE @ Echoplex RBD @ Home Depot Center Cute Phase, Black Tie Dynasty @ Vertigos The Warlocks, The Meek, Magic Lantern @ Alex's Bar Babyland @ Spaceland Blonde Redhead @ House of Blues, Anaheim Uh Huh Her, X Ray Ok @ The Knitting Factory Monsters......

Sure, the inaugural E For All doesn't really hold a candle to the bloated spectacle of old E3, but then again, the new low-key Santa Monica-based E3 doesn't hold a candle to the old E3 either. And sure the big guns (Sony, Microsoft and Capcom) didn't show up, the LA Convention Center's South Hall is only half full with exhibits, crowds have been disappointingly light and the power went out Friday night, ending the......

According to federal agents, rapper T.I. aka Clifford Harris, is in custody for sending his bodyguard and errand boy to purchase machine guns and silencers because T.I. a convicted felon, was unable to purchase them himself - TMZ Kate Hudson and Dax Shepard have broken up, because Kate got bored - Daily News In a hilarious turn of events, Tara Reid, the original party girl herself calls Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan stupid - Page......