Suspected gang violence has shaken the Westside community recently, with one possible gang-related shooting in Venice on Thursday and another in Mar Vista on Saturday. Around 9pm on Saturday night, a father, his 15-year-old son and his son's 13-year-old girlfriend were shot and wounded outside a Mar Vista liquor store near Culver Boulevard and Slauson Avenue. more ›

An elderly woman was found lying dead in a pool of her own blood yesterday in the Mar Vista apartment that she shared with her husband. Police say that she died from a blow to her head and her even more elderly husband is the prime suspect. more ›

See a bee in your backyard? Rob and Chelsea McFarland are begging you not to call the exterminator. The westside couple, according to Culver City Patch, is on a crusade to legalize beekeeping in Los Angeles city limits and bring the good news about bees to the masses (who might only hear horror stories like this). more ›

Prior to a 3 p.m. press conference about the outages and energy conservation, the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water is reporting that power has been restored to about 3,000 customers. What neighborhoods are still in the dark? Hollywood (965 customers), Mar Vista (925), Los Feliz (879), Cypress Park (535), Brentwood (393), Bel Air (372), Mount Olympus (356), Echo Park (349), Cheviot Hills (317) and Pacific Palisades (301). "Our crews won’t stop til the job is done," the agency tweeted. more ›

Hundreds of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews are out in the field this morning trying to restore power across the Los Angeles. Citywide, an estimated 11,775 customers are currently without power, the department says. more ›

There's an 82-year-old woman named June who lives in Mar Vista who realized life was too short for her to be paying a gardener to tend her landscaping and the costly water bills. So instead she re-did her yard using sustainable techniques, halved her water bill, and is one of the 80 home gardens on view today as part of the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase. more ›

The next in a series of community town halls with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, featuring the new LAPD Chief, will be on the Westside next week. On Tuesday when Charlie Beck was chosen, meetings were immediately scheduled for that day in South L.A., followed by one in the Valley on Wednesday and one yesterday in El Sereno. more ›

Silvia Mardini was last seen on Friday. Then on Saturday, she sent text messages to her family indicating that she was in danger, the Los Angeles Police Department announced today in hopes that the public could help locate her. Mardini was seen Friday running errand around 6 p.m. driving her silver 2003 Ford Focus, 4-door, license number 5DQM267. She's described as white, with dark brown hair, brown eyes, 5 ft. 5 in. tall and weighs about 120 lbs. more ›

There hasn't been much rain these days, but that's not stopping the city from trying to maximize the usefulness of rain when it comes. A new rain water harvesting pilot project will start in Mar Vista and a nearby neighborhood in mid July, thanks to a $1 million grant. Gray water, as it's called, is one part of greening ones property and is often used for water gardens and lawns. The project's goal is to enlist 600 properties--whether they be residential or commercial--to take part in the program. Those who take part might receive a free rain barrel (usually costs $200) or have experts re-route gutter downspouts off impermeable surfaces like sidewalks and onto permeable ones like gardens. All the details are not set yet, but more are to come in next month. more ›

Break into this Mar Vista man's car and you just might get shot. When three men were burglarizing his car early Sunday morning, he didn't call police, he stuff a pistol in his pants and confronted them. That led to a fight and one of the hamburglars getting shot in the cheek. The 23-year-old is now in the hospital in stable condition and the resident was released after the LAPD deemed the shooting as self defense, according to the Daily Breeze. more ›

In a community that cares, people want to know what's happening when someone gets murdered. After Sunday's shooting death in Venice, people started talking. Things said: it was gang related, it was random, it took thirty minutes for ambulances to arrive, Venice is going down hill, etc, etc. And to that end, the LAPD is stepping in. more ›

The LA Fire Department has announced what could be the cause of this morning's fire in Mar Vista that left one woman dead. It "appears to be 'accidental, most probably related to candles,' wrote LAFD spokesman Ron Myers in an alert. The fire at 3448 Colonial Ave. near the intersection of Centinela Ave. and Palms Blvd. began around 5:30 a.m. and took 25 firefighters to knock it down in 20 minutes. more ›

A group of around 25 firefighters arrived to a single family home in the Westside neighborhood of Mar Vista near shortly after 5:30 a.m. this morning knocking down the fire in 20 minutes. Upon investigation inside, they found a deceased woman, estimated to be 37 years old, inside the home at 3448 Colonial Ave. near the intersection of Centinela Ave. and Palms Blvd. Arson Investigators, LAPD and the Coronor's office will all be investigating to see if any foul play was involved in the incident. more ›

Morning headlines today have not been an exemplary one for public safety, both accident and crime-wise. The big ticket item was the eastbound 10 Freeway being closed in Covina after a 4:45 a.m. accident between a van and motorcycle that left the two-wheeler dead. All lanes were closed and one was reported open at 7 a.m. Also in Norwalk, a five-car crash caused three soundbound lanes on the 605 to be closed shortly before 8 a.m. There were several injuries, but none warranting transport to the hospital. more ›

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Where are the best pickup soccer venues in the greater Los Angeles area? -- Bankole O Los Angeles is an enormous city, and soccer is a popular sport. You can find games being played just about everywhere! If you're looking to avoid organized leagues, there's soccer played on a regular basis at Rancho Park, Pan Pacific Park, the Westwood Rec Center, and Mar Vista Park (they have a new-ish turf field which is frequently booked,... more ›

"Didn't you all feel really cool tonight driving over here?" Jeremy Townsend, founder of the underground supper club Ghetto Gourmet, posed this question to a diverse group of about forty foodies, all sprawled out on cushions on the floor of a beautiful Venice home. And as we opened our bottles of red wine, stretched out our legs, and gazed down at a beautifully crafted shooter glass filled with warm squash soup, we had to... more ›

The LA Times has definitely had its fair share of scandals in the near past with firings and hirings. Yet recently, content wise, the watchdog coverage of scandalicious politicians has been riveting. There is Mayor V and then there was the daily pounding of Rocky Delgadillo. The newest politician in the ring is 74-year-old 2nd district county supervisor Yvonne Burke who represents Watts, Culver City, Compton, South LA, Hollywood, Marina Del Rey, Inglewood to... more ›

Following up on a news item we told you about on Friday, apparently the residents of Venice are in alignment with those in Mar Vista who are pissed that Santa Monica has passed a law that only allows dogs with SM tags to legally play in their new park on Bundy and Airport Drive which is right next door to Mar Vista. In the letters section of yesterday's Times were two correspondences that we... more ›

Paris gets 45 days. Watch out for the new video, Some Big Black Chick's 45 Days in Paris - Daily News Beware a woman scored - Jon Peters was minding his own business driving to Hollywood to get his star on Hollywood Blvd. yesterday and as soon as he got out of the limo he was served with legal papers - his wife, it appears claims he's a deadbeat dad - NY Post Southern... more ›

We live in a beautiful part of the world, don't you think? Despite the fact that sometimes it feels like all we ever see are the taillights and inane vanity plates of the car we're stuck behind, if we take some time to check out all the flora and fauna that our soil produces, we might get that nice swift kick in the rear from Mother Nature we didn't even know we needed. On... more ›

Here’s the thing: this book isn’t even out yet. But because we live in Los Angeles, and this book is about Los Angeles, you’re in luck. We’re all in luck. Denise Hamilton and the bevy of supremely talented noir writers that contributed stories to this book are signing all over town this week. And the book will be, yes, you guessed it – available for signing at the readings two weeks before the rest of... more ›

TheOffice opened in March of 2004, promising a quiet, zen-like space for writers and artists to work in. The idea was very simple, and they pulled it off very well. There is no talking at TheOffice, no faxing, no copying, no chattering printers, no cell phones. The only sound you would hear would be the clickety-clack of computer keyboards, but they give you Bose Noise-Cancelling Headphones when you check in, so you don't even hear that. You enter a bubble of quiet near the heart of Santa Monica. Plus they have free coffee, tea, and Red Vines. If they offered Twizzlers, that'd really be something. more ›

Los Angeles, you have a new mayor: Antonio Villaraigosa. more ›

A: 34. Los Angeles Sports Columnist more ›

The Los Angeles City Council also approved the new Taco Bell, 13-0, on Nov. 9. The Mar Vista district's Council Member Cindy Miscikowski voted in favor of a proposed zone variance that allows more compact parking spaces than would otherwise be required. more ›

Local political junkies are slowly turning their attention from last week’s election to the upcoming City Hall races. The Mayor’s race is attracting the most attention due to the high-profile challengers to Mayor Jim Hahn, though both of Hahn’s fellow City-wide elected officials—City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and City Controller Laura Chick—are up for re-election. The seven eight odd-numbered Council districts will also hold elections, with six seven incumbents seeking re-election and Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski of the 11th Council District leaving office due to term limits. more ›

LAist has been too busy bombarding you with other notable happenings to give our readers the proper heads-up that the Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee 20th Anniversary event deserves. This is coming up next weekend, so get your tickets ASAP. (Order form here.) more ›