According to a new study by David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah, talking on a cell phone while driving can make a person drive up to 2mph slower that other drivers, the LA Daily News reports. more ›

The Los Angeles Police Department has decided against instituting a plan to "map" the city's Muslim communities, in what was being billed as a counter-terrorism effort. According to the LA Daily News: "It's been put aside," said LAPD spokeswoman Mary Grady. "It became clear to us [that Muslim communities] were not comfortable with the word mapping and what they believed it meant: racial profiling." Instead, Grady said the Los Angeles Police Department would build... more ›

Somehow "The Tonight Show" scored a trifecta of controversy tonight as they were able to book the most punk rock of punk rock bands, the most conservative member of Congress, and the wackiest Scientologist all to appear on its air in the same hour. Tonight the Sex Pistols, Ron Paul, and Tom Cruise will all be in Burbank to tape the late night chat show. Strangely, whatever wire service the LA Daily News used... more ›

The LA Department of Water and Power seem to think that LA will just sit back and let them raise rates, hide money, and allow themselves to get rich. In the last few weeks the public utility has been exposed for a few troubling trends and actions that we quietly await to see what Mayor Tony, and our other elected officials, will do about it. On Sunday the LA Daily News discovered that over... more ›

43 people suspected of being members of the Eastside Pain Bloods gang were arrested by more than 400 police officers in predawn raids yesterday. More staff cuts coming at the Daily News: zone coverage of Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley to be eliminated. Yikes! How much did Tony spend to help get his three candidates onto the school board? The L.A. City Council has just approved a ban on smoking in city parks.... more ›

LA Daily News readers are up-n-arms due to some changes happening at the Valley paper, the most controversial being the removal of ten apparently-popular cartoon strips and the addition of some new ones. more ›

- Illegals doing what Americans wont do: 61,000 pot plants spotted in Santa Barbara - CBS2 - North Hollywood man found guilty of 1997 murder of Nigerian soccer player - LA Daily News - Chino woman who was found guilty of murder and served 23 years, released on parole - Daily News - The Zorro Bandit strikes again at a Glendale bank - CBS2 - OC bus strike on its 6th day and going... more ›

People are freaking out by a law that requires that you be hands-free if you use a cell phone in your car. The law goes in effect July 1, 2008 but the LA Daily News is reporting that locals are thinking that the law will kick in this weekend, so they are rushing to the phone stores to get their blue tooth accessories. Officials have blamed an e-mail hoax for helping to spread the... more ›

- Hey hippies, the world’s largest wind energy conference and trade show ever is happening here in town - All American Patriots - LAPD accused of beating up homeless - LAT - Random two sentences out of today's LA Daily News: The 23-year-old star of "Teeny Tarts 4" and president of Hollywood-based Nautica Thorn Productions made a name for herself getting naked on camera. That name pushed her into mainstream consciousness recently as she... more ›

- Republicans, always a little late to reality the party, are finally now calling for impeachment of the president. And once again we should thank illegal immigrants for making this dream come true - Wonkette - 40.8% of SFV residents were born in a foreign country - Daily News - LA Charter Schools sues LA Unified - Business Wire - Shrek the Third gets sorta crappy reviews in the LA Weekly and the LA... more ›

Now that the Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs after last night’s 119-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns, local sports writers weighed in this morning about where to place the blame. columnist J.A. Adande joins a growing number of people who are looking to coach Phil Jackson for some answers. Jackson is a Hall of Famer and is considered by many to be one of the best coaches in NBA history, but lately some have been questioning the efficacy of his triangle offense with the current Lakers team. Adande thinks the Lakers certainly have the right players, but proposes that Jackson rethink his coaching style. “Something different than the erratic, three-point jacking under former coach Rudy Tomjanovich, but not as limited as what they’re doing now,” he suggests. more ›

Just a few minutes ago, we had a little earthquake here in The Valley. There were about three of them yesterday as well. While these microquakes could be a good sign of tension release, which could help avoid a major one, we still think you need to think about preparing yourself with a bare minimum of water. In The News: Earthquake warnings on the way (LA Daily News) Recent Quake in Chile Prepare & Educate... more ›

- List of Major League baseball players who wore 42 today - Yahoo - Best headline about Chicago getting the nod by the US Olympic committe: "Gone with the Wind" - LA Daily News - How a Hollywood blockbuster could earn over $200 million but still lose the studio $78 million - LAT - Local businesses, companies, and even malls are writing big checks to the LAPD for extra protection - LAT - An... more ›

In a tight vote, the Burbank city council chose not to allow a Whole Foods Market sell their organically grown foods, beverages, and vitamins in the city. more ›

- The Police will play Dodger Stadium on July 23. There's that number again - NBC 4 - Gov. Schwarzenegger's killer plan to export California prisoners out of Cali and let other states deal with our problem was declared "unlawful" by Sacto County Superior Court judge - The Merc - "Homeboy Goes to Harvard" founder speaks to Reseda's Cleveland High thanks to people like Fluke Fluker - LA Daily News - Over 28,000 people... more ›

What would get traffic moving faster at the Valley's busiest intersection of Ventura and Sepulveda (or shall we say the nation's busiest freeway intersection of the 101/405)? 1. Finishing 101/405 interchange construction for once and for all? 2. Limiting construction hours to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., therefore extending construction by months. The LA Daily News reports that the delay of the Northbound 405 on-ramp at Greenleaf St. in Sherman Oaks (just south of Ventura... more ›

The Valley is like, only, 48.4% of Los Angeles (225 square miles of the City's 465 square miles make up the San Fernando Valley). Without trying to cause another East-West war, which gets people fired up (see comments), we're going to set one easy Valley rule here: the 405 divides East from West Valley. Funny enough, LA.com's home base and parent company is the same as the Valley's unofficial newspaper -- LA Daily News.... more ›

- The two dead bodies found in the crawl space in the Westwood home that caught fire were part of the painting crew - NBC-4 more ›

- Hi New LAist Readers: Skid Row gets an Internet Cafe - UPI - Best LA Daily News Headline of the Week: "Moms + kids + wine = big-time buzz" - Daily News - Those Aqua Teen Hunger Force "bombs" were headed to LA - LA Times - Mello and Brand jockeying for Yao's All Star spot - AP - Rush Limbaugh nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize - PR Newswire - Wisconsin Police... more ›

- From the mouths of babes. 12-year-old Dakota Fanning puts critics of her new film "Hounddog" on Time Out for bitching about a film that would have such a little girl like her get raped. "It's not really happening. It's a movie, and it's called acting." she said. - CNN - Brent Liles, former bass player of Social Distortion died yesterday when a truck hit him while he was riding his bicycle - LA Times... more ›

- Local politicians react to President Bush's State of the Union - LA Daily News more ›

- No evidence of suicide in USC kicker's death - AP - No evidence of foul play in USC kicker's death - AP - Eco-friendly stretch limos good - LA Times - Taggers bad - LA Daily News - Hilary Swank to get her Hollywood Blvd. star tomorrow - KGET - NY is POed that LA TV and film shoot NY scenes in LA - LAT - Stream the new Arcade Fire tune -... more ›

Six OC gang members charged for acting like Gang Members - LA Times LA will probably get the 2016 Olympic Games - NY Sun Judge says US paper money is Blindist - Fox News USC Daily Trojan Editor-in-Chief barred by USC for having the audacity to ask how much money the university makes off the paper - Daily Trojan (h/t LAO) Snoop Dogg should really just stay away from Burbank, arrested againzille - LA... more ›

- Woman killed as cops break up biker rally in South Central - AP - Man found dead in the LA River - LA Times - 112 died in Iraq today - AP - Daily News declares the housing boom is over - LA Daily News - A propane truck (above) caught fire and exploded on the 101 South near Santa Monica Blvd. - AP - Thousands volunteered yesterday to help clean up Watts... more ›

- Winners and Losers regarding the LA Times - LA Weekly - Ralph Nader has completely lost his mind - fishbowl la - JD Drew tells the Dodgers to shove their $33 million contract - Dodger Thoughts - Santa Monica plucks their new top cop from the LBC - CBS2 - Pam Anderson had a miscarriage - US - Courtney Love to pose nude for a magazine - Access - Former Fox News reporter... more ›

- Last week Santa Monica extended its tyrannical smoking ban to now include restaurant patios, bus stops, ATMs and movie theater lines(!); now Burbank wants to further restrict freedoms. Why not grow a pair and just ban the sales of smokes? Oh thats right, you like the taxes you collect on them. - LA Daily News - CBS wants you to know that Terry Lee Shields, 350 lb., accused child molester, of Anaheim, 51... more ›

- Mass: Man Beats GF After She Takes Him Off Her MySpace Top 15 - UPI - LA: LA Beaches Worst in State - LAT - Indiana: Researchers conclude that Men are "always" thinking about Sex. - UPI - LA: USC Teen Produces Spaghetti Vomit on the streets of Isla Vista - Daily Nexus - New Mexico: While Busting a Scientist for Meth, Cops Discover Classified Nuclear Documents - AP - LA: White Powder... more ›

Allow top-rated Howard Stern to leave, lose Brooke Burke to the hit show "Rockstar", replace red-carpet icon Joan Rivers with no-names, and give Ryan Seacrest $21 million to host a news show that loses ratings and what do you get? You now get to ruin G4. Heck of a job Ted - AP After Mel Gibson got popped for that DUI, he had beers for breakfast while explaining to his kids what he had... more ›

Tarfest begins today! Four days of films, music, and tar at the LaBrea Tar Pits - Tarfest.com Beck's new album is too cool for the UK charts. Because you can use stickers to design your own cover, it's got an "unfair" advantage on the other cds, the Brits say. Beck begs to differ. - Billboard How do you fight downtown gentrification? Involve a 75 year old nun - LA Times Boy-crazy Foley's behavior wasn't... more ›

Chirac sez that Turkey shouldn't be allowed in the EU unless it admits to killing 1.5 million Armenians back in the day. - LA Daily News Dude who got mugged for $20,000 after leaving Washington Mutual in Palmdale blames new bank design. - LAT UCLA scientist gets $3.8 million to study a radical new approach to pinpoint schizophrenia. For $380 we would have just given them our Little Black Book. - CBS2 "Open Season"... more ›