Photo by qnr via Flickr The school lockdown bug has hit! Here's what's happening out there: The big incident today is in Pasadena where a student reported another student with something that looked like a weapon. The situation is reported to be almost over (LAist) Pete Knight High School in Palmdale is on lockdown with students being let out of school class by class due to racial tension (KNX1070 on air) Two schools in......

Don't be angsty like this lady...go out tonight! / Photo by Plankton 4:20 via LAist's flickr pool. FILM “Animation Nite: From Halifax with Love” is a program at the Echo Park Film Center that features short animated and semi-animated films by women who’ve all lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, eh. The screening includes work by host Siloën Daley and six others. Music by local band Foot Foot follows. 7:30 // Echo Park Film......

View Larger Map There was an officer-involved shooting down the street from Washington Irving Middle School and near Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Glendale at the intersection of Drew St. and Estara Ave. in Glassell Park. One man died and another was sought by police according to Officer Kate Lopez at the LAPD. The Southbound 2 San Fernando Rd. off-ramp was shut down due to police activity, according to Officer Jimenez of the California Highway Patrol. Other......

Yesterday thousands of people participated in the weekend long Big Sunday event: Community service erupted across Southern California during a Big Sunday volunteer weekend billed as the largest volunteer give-back in the nation. "Normally, I'd be in bed with my wife, asleep," Dexter Conner, 28, of Toluca Lake said while raking soil to create a "hidden garden" in North Hollywood. "I'm just trying to help out when I can." And help out they did......

Yesterday on doorsteps of homes in Studio City came flyers telling people to vote in today's Studio City Neighborhood Council (SCNC) election. Yesterday in the e-mail boxes of many Valley residents was an e-mail telling them to vote tomorrow. If you know anything about Neighborhood Councils... Actually, let's rephrase that. If you don't know anything about Neighborhood Councils and these elections, there is a good reason to that: outreach is hard. So one would think......

#8 Woman pissed off that she got the wrong change sets an Orange County Walgreens on fire with her cigarette. Quoth store employee Harry Ambriose: "You see flames all over the store, smoke all over the store, it was crazy...I smelled smoke in the cooler and I was like, 'What's going on? What’s going on?' Ran out and I see big black smoke all over the store, black on the ceiling, black everywhere...She just......

Council President Eric Garcetti represents the Thirteenth Council District which includes all or part of the communities of Glassell Park, Atwater Village, Elysian Valley, Echo Park, Historic Filipinotown, Silver Lake, East Hollywood and Hollywood. Otherwise known as LAist's 'Hood. Because we're represented brilliantly, when we sent our councilmember a request to take part in this collection of Best Of lists not only did he respond quickly and wonderfully, but he reached behind our ear and......

LAist continues its series of interviews with cool Angelenos under 30. Last April, the Pasadena Jaycees nominated Priscilla Angelita Tjio-Hervey as one of the year's Outstanding Young Californians. It's easy to see why Priscilla received the nomination. She teaches science to middle schoolers in Arcadia, runs a comic book publishing company with her husband, John Hervey, and served as Miss Los Angeles Chinatown in 2003. Age and Occupation: 26 Full time Middle School Science......

MySpace just can't win this week. First the community of Calabasas was alarmed enough to hold a vigil for two missing teenage girls; the parents insisted they'd been cyber-napped by someone on MySpace. Turned out the two had girls had taken off together for a little romantic R&R. Yesterday an Orange County middle school student posted threats against a classmate on MySpace; he and 20 kids who viewed the threats have been suspended. Overreaction?......

Much thanks to Here in Van Nuys who pointed us towards another Van Nuys based blog - We's in California. Bluntly and comically, a Canadian couple shares accounts of their new homeland, including seeing a rapper in the bank and dealing with Homeland Security. After perusing this crackup blog, we had to share some of our favorite quotes with you: Santa Monica is pretty much like every scene from White Men Can't Jump, except......