Getting a parking ticket just downright blows, agreed? It can be the ultimate day-ruining moment, especially if you're having the proverbial "one of those days" to begin with. more ›

Thanks to our shutterbug readers, our LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr was gifted with some shots from yesterday's 23rd Annual LA Marathon. more ›

HISTORY more ›

Russian Tatiana Aryasova won the LA Marathon, and the $100,000 "Banco Popular Challenge" with an unofficial time of 2:09:32*, beating out the top "elite" male runner, Laban Moiben of Kenya, who clocked in with an unofficial time of 2:13:50. The petite Aryasova is in peak shape; she recently gave birth and resumed her training rapidly. more ›

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the level of talk going on in the comments: more ›

A clear, crisp early spring morning greeted the participants in this year's LA Marathon, and the runners are filling our city's streets. more ›

Looks like the Academy Awards don't have the same in with Mother Nature and the big meteorologist in the sky the way the Tournament of Roses Parade does. more ›

Photo © Copyright 2008 by Jonathan Alcorn (Sundogg) via the LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr more ›

DANCE more ›

The Los Angeles Fire Department is responding to a call regarding a possible jumper onto the 110 Freeway Northbound at Stadium Way. A week ago today, someone committed suicide by jumping onto the 101 Freeway at Wilton Place. more ›

The 80th Annual Academy Awards are this weekend and it's time to break out the ballots and play the at-home game, which is probably second only in fun to making booze-enhanced color commentary from the couch for the red carpet arrivals. (We'll leave you to your own devices on that one.) more ›

Chino's Westland/Hallmark Meat Company came into the spotlight recently when secret video footage revealed staff was mistreating the animals. On the heels of this week's news that the slaughterhouse's manager could face several years in prison if charged with animal cruelty comes the news that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has recalled 143 million pounds of their frozen beef, making it "the largest beef recall in the United States," according to the Daily News. more ›

LAist Featured Photos Pool contributer delara-photos submitted this shot of an exit sign that calls to mind elements of surrealism or, at the very least, makes you wonder "exit to WHERE, exactly?" From the position of the sign, it looks like the way out leads to either the big blue sky, or the mountains that curtain the San Fernando Valley. The photo was taken in North Hollywood. more ›

FILM* more ›

FREE DAYS @ LACMA more ›

• As was reported today on LAist, the writer's strike, which cost the city about $1 billion, is nearly over. We all know how involved Mayor V has been nudging the two sides back together. Oh, wait. But at least he weighed in today: "This agreement is a blockbuster for the Los Angeles economy. It will put thousands of writers, set designers, caterers, and behind-the-scenes workers back on the job this week." Blockbuster! HA!
• Election central: Barack Obama added a Grammy to his momentous weekend and Hillary Clinton sacked her campaign manager today. Obama won the award for his oratorically smooth stylins, reading Audacity of Hope and Clinton announced today that she replaced her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with longtime aide Maggie Williams in what has had to be a long weekend for beset by four resounding primary and caucus wins by Obama in Washington, Maine, Louisiana and Nebraska.
• The rest of the Grammy winners can be found here and you'll be happy to know that Jimmy Sturr And His Orchestra took the prize for best polka album.
• Is Scientology a cult? Blogging.la found a few Anonymous people who might think so at a demonstration outside the L. Ron Hubbard center on Sunset today.
• A week after a plane crashed into the mountains near Banning Pass, rescuers reported Sunday that they have found the plane more than 11 miles from the site where it was originally reported missing. The fate of all four people on the plane is still unknown.
• Six kids and three adults from southern California fell ill today in D.C., where the group of students from West Covina and their chaperone's were visiting the White House. Insert [Bush Makes Me Sick, Too] joke here.
• From the turnabout is fair play department: A former Internal Revenue Service officer working as a tax preparer in Inglewood has been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud the government by filing false tax returns. How big of an economic stimulus check do you think he's getting?

Some productions may start up again on Monday, however, as showrunners prepare to relaunch filming. How fast episodic television series will return to air will depend on how many scripts were left unfilmed prior to the start of the strike; those that completed filming of all their scripts will need to get their writers back at the keyboards before the cameras can roll again. more ›

Everyone's a songwriter when there's something big going on. YouTube is busting at the seams with song parodies of candidates and campaigns; some mourn for better choices, some simply sing their support, and some poke lots of fun at the candidates' foibles. more ›

It's still in the outline phase, but a new contract has been drawn for striking writers, and may meet with approval as early as Friday. more ›

Admittedly, this kind of douchebaggery is nothing new in our me-me-me four-wheeled town. LAist Featured Photos Pool frequent contributor mil8 shares with us this snap of a recent parking lot head-scratcher between a very badly parked Honda and his own vehicle. The pic comes with the following title: "hello honda, nice parking job. I was here first (hi) over here... next to you... parked nicely next to the wall in a COMPACT spot. Were you *really* in that much of a hurry to park like this? KTHXBYE." more ›

Lovie Yancey, who launched what eventually became the popular Fatburger chain of burger-and-fries joints, died January 26th of pneumonia here in Los Angeles. more ›

Now with John Edwards out of the picture, Hillary and Barack only have eyes and one-liners for each other. Watch them duke it out during the Democratic candidates debate tonight with friends and bloggers in the comfort of CineSpace (because really, you don’t want to be anywhere near Hollywood and Highland). RSVP at RSVP@gatherinc.com. more ›

Two robberies at gunpoint took place late last night in Hollywood, resulting in injuries to the victims. more ›

Andrew Hurvitz, who many know from Here in Van Nuys, snaps this shot of the behemoth Rice Bowl image at Wilshire and Vermont and submitted it the LAist Featured Photos Pool. more ›

As revitalization takes place throughout LA's downtown area, many are seeking to extend the developments and improvements to the Broadway area, which is home to many majestic and historic theaters, once the crown jewels of our city's movie palaces. "Among the most prized treasures of the area are Broadway's twelve historic movie palaces, which in their heyday evoked - and often surpassed - the magic of stage and screen," explains Historic Downtown LA. more ›

Seeing such a dominant swath of white broadly blanketing the mountaintops behind our downtown skyline is rare, and LAist Featured Photos Pool contributor jslander teases in this photo's title: "L.A. or Denver?" more ›

Agreed--for what it's worth--it's just not the same. more ›

Will it be pouring buckets tonight? If you aren't already planning on holing up with some popcorn and Netflix picks, you may want to get out and get your art & culture on. Let us help! more ›

Despite the warning penned by Supervisor Zirves, this poor worker as depicted on a wall in Burbank has done the unthinkable and has fallen asleep on the job. Considering how high the unemployment rate is and in what low esteem we Californians hold the job market, this artistic rendering of many 9-to-5ers' reality doesn't seem so unusual. more ›

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