A freshly fired Los Angeles Times pressman shared some shocking details about the publication's termination policies, recent employee suicides and impending layoff of writers with The Frying Pan editor Steven Mikulan. more ›

Over the past few months, at least two Hollywood professionals who work with underage actors have faced charges involving sexual offenses against children. The incidents have prompted a bill that would require all adults who work with kids in the entertainment industry to submit to a background check, reports the LA Times, and would prevent registered sex offenders from working with kids. more ›

After announcing that Vanessa and Kobe Bryant had filed for divorce, the LA Times reported that the Lakers star's soon-to-be ex-wife stands to collect a "windfall" during their settlement. Vanessa could indeed be awarded up to $75 million, but according to a blog post at the Times today, a reader pointed out -- and rightly so -- that the use of the word "windfall" smacked not just a little bit of sexism. more ›

Dry those eyes and stop listening to "Always" on repeat. Jon Bon Jovi is not dead. He's still livin' on a prayer and appears to be enjoying the holidays in his old 'hood of New Jersey. more ›

We eagerly followed last night's developments at Occupy LA and while the event was resolved through mostly peaceful arrests the implied threats from police and curtailment of media access was troubling. --- E!'s "The Soup" moves to Wednesdays. --- The TV Junkie Must-Watch Plan. more ›

Native Californian and artist John Baldessari lives in the aesthetic ghetto of Los Angeles, and in a recent talk with the L.A. Times' Christopher Knight, said plainly that this city's ugliness is a necessity for him to create his art. more ›

The death of print might not be a vague ghost of the future, but rather a concrete fact, complete with a timeline. In an interview with former LA Weekly editor Steve Mikulan, LA Times pressman Ed Padgett tells Mikulan that the Times' senior Vice President has told him that the paper will only be printed for three more years more ›

When a man was stabbed recently on the Metro, it so happened that standing five feet away from him was Todd Martens, a music reporter with the LA Times. Martens has recounted what he saw to numerous media outlets already, including the LA Times. The victim and attacker, he said, were engaged in a shouting match when the victim grabbed a chain and began swinging it over his head. more ›

Skewered in a L.A. Times opinion piece, Zooey Deschanel has posted an open letter to Patt Morrison on Hello Giggles, accusing the journalist of launching a "misguided personal attack" and spinning a baseless caricature of the actress/singer by taking a quote fragment out of context. more ›

The end of the Oprah Era means more than the loss of a national anticipation for 4:00 p.m., heart-wrenching exposés, couch-jumping shenanigans and free cars; it also marks the departure of one of the largest book clubs in history. Swaying millions of viewers to read the kinds of books that put Cliff’s Notes in business proves that there is power in community reading. more ›

The L.A. Times made a big step toward boosting its bottom line without laying anybody off today. In fact, Los Angeles Times Media Group announced a significant hire, naming Emily Smith its first ever Senior Vice President of Digital. more ›

A detailed and easy to use 'budget balancer' is ready for your thoughtful and frugal fingers to attempt a red-ink elimination from the California budget. Says the L.A. Times, "The state's budget shortfall for the rest of this fiscal year and next, estimated to be $28 billion, is the size of the total general fund budget of 12 states combined: Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia." That's so a dare. more ›

NBC announced its midseason Thursday night line up for 8pm-11pm: “Community”, “Perfect Couples”, “The Office”, “Parks and Recreation”, “30 Rock”, and “Outsourced”. The LA Times responded to this by asking the moronic question "Can you laugh after 10pm?" Okay, sure, they referenced HBO's "Entourage" which airs at 10pm on Sundays but that's not what this is about. Of course, the Times might have asked the question in order to get a discussion going but not listing any weeknight comedy shows in the 10pm slot is silly. more ›

As noted in Sunday's edition of Extra, Extra, gubernatorial candidate Democrat Jerry Brown is leading Republican opponent Meg Whitman 52% to 39%, according to the latest LA Times/USC poll, which was released this weekend. The poll, conducted by two firms -- one Democrat and one Republican -- surveyed 1,501 California voters, of which 922 were likely voters. The margin of error is 3.2 points, but widens when subgroups are examined. more ›

L.A.'s bigger newspapers are starting to roll out endorsements for high profile races. The LA Times this weekend took to the Democrats and the Daily News sided with Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina. more ›

In what used to be her daughter's bedroom, Joanne Clarke of Costa Mesa, is now raising marijuana plants. She opened up her home to reporter for a piece on the current crop of legal at-home growers of the medicinal plant, which is published in today's LA Times. more ›

Earlier this month, the seventh annual FYF Fest took place at the LA State Historic Park near Chinatown, and while the numbers -- 37 bands across three stages with 17 comedians and an estimated 20,000 attendees -- are impressive, the consensus among many was how disorganized the event was, as exemplified by tweets like "FYF = fuck you fans fest," "Almost 3 hours to get into @FYFFEST = FAIL," "@FYFFEST is like a hipster concentration camp," "Hey @fyffest maybe you wouldn't run out of water if you let us bring some inside. It's only 95 degrees. Jus sayin'," and "Fuck lines fest more like @FYFFEST." more ›

Where is crime trending right now in Los Angeles? Mostly in the Valley. To be specific, the West Valley. Violent crime is up significantly in Northridge, Chatsworth, Canoga Park and West Hills and property crime is up significantly in Winnetka and Porter Ranch. All this is according to the LA Times' new data-based project called Crime L.A. more ›

One poll says they're tied, another say the Republicans will win and this one indicates the Democrats are gaining momentum. The latest news comes via the LA Times/USC poll that was released this weekend. Attorney General, a former California governor, Jerry Brown has a five-point lead over former eBay CEO Meg Whitman -- 49%to 44% -- among likely voters, the poll found. more ›

For the first time in its 16-year history, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will not be at UCLA. It's going to be at rival school USC. The annual event for the bookish, writerly, and book-curious will be held April 30-May 1 2011 on USC's University Park campus. more ›

Today's LA Times includes an opinion piece by the LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold in defense of food trucks. Specifically in defense of the trucks as they face potential political foes such as Councilmen Paul Koretz and Tom La Bonge, both who have made waves--and enemies--for calling for tougher regulations or, in some cases, getting rid of them altogether. Recently, La Bonge proposed creating specific zones for truck parking. more ›

If I could go back in time and make a checklist for myself for what to bring to the Los Angeles Times Celebration of Food and Wine event held Sunday, I would have included: Sunscreen, giant hat, wallet full of cash, water bottle, and infinite patience. Why? Because for many of those who paid $55 in advance, or $65 at the door for general admission, the event was anything from a slight hassle to a total disaster. Those who forked over the $125 for VIP seemed to fare better. So what happened? more ›

The Los Angeles Times is poised to release a database of performance data for teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. This is to follow on the heels of a recent analysis published by the paper that examines the efficacy of 5th grade teachers as part of their series "Grading the Teachers." more ›

If you want to be a reporter for the Beverly Hills Courier, there's one job you can't have on your resume."Former full-time staff of the Los Angeles Times need not apply," reads a recent Craigslist posting for the $36,000 - $48,000 salaried job. more ›

Just over a year ago, the LA Times launched their neighborhood mapping project, which used data from multiple sources and reader input in the hopes of settling debates about physical--and often psychological--boundaries. more ›

There's a plethora of hiking trails surrounding Los Angeles, but not all of them allow dogs. For the most part, local state parks don't allow pooches while local city, federal and other quasi-government agencies do. Today, the LA Times launches an online interactive feature that shows off around 20 great hiking spots where dogs can tag along. It includes some of our favorites like Sandstone Peak and obvious local favorites like Runyon Canyon and Griffith Park. Have a good hike! more ›