Celebrity gossip site TMZ calls Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa "Mayor Suave," thanks to his affinity for photo opps and cameo appearances. This morning TMZ reports that Villaraigosa is now also officially single, as his divorce from his now ex-wife, Corina, was just granted. A factoid for your water-cooler gathering: "The former couple originally filed for divorce back in 2007 -- but according to documents obtained by TMZ, the judge didn't sign the divorce order until yesterday." more ›

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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has begun to get the word out that he plans on running for a second term. According to the LA Times, Mayor Tony made mention of his plans, along with "his most personal remarks to date about the political fallout from his extramarital affair" on Wednesday during an interview on the Charlie Rose show. more ›

Los Angeles' most-powerful bachelor just got more eligible. After being outted by a sex-blogger nearly a year ago that his marriage was on the outs, it soon became news that Mayor Tony was playing hide-the-taquito with the hottest anchor on Telemundo. Tonight the LA Times is reporting that the Mayor has one less Christmas card to send out this year. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and television news reporter Mirthala Salinas have ended their romantic relationship,... more ›

The LA County Board of Supervisors and the City Council are set to vote today on a "Lights Out Los Angeles" proposal, which would encourage all city employees to "voluntarily turn off all non-essential lights between 8 and 9 p.m. on Oct. 20, replace at least one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb and pledge their participation on www.lightsoffla.org." Mirthala Salinas didn't show up to work today at her new gig... more ›

The recent political scandal involving married republican senator Larry Craig, who is accused of soliciting homosexual sex in a public bathroom, reminds me of just how unscrupulous politicians can be. Craig voluntarily pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, but then tried to retract and cried, “I’m not gay, I made a mistake pleading guilty.” It was political suicide, although he had already hung himself. The arresting officer, Sgt. Dave Karsnia, is... more ›

A few weeks ago, a YouTube video popped up called "Car Bomb In West Los Angeles" in which it appears that some sort of crane-like robot (an extra Transformer that didn't quite make Michael Bay's cut?) pulls an unidentified object out of the trunk of a car. At about the four minute mark in the video, the robot sets the thing off to the side of a building, and a loud noise is heard, as if something was detonated. more ›

Photo by ellwoodite via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

I may not remember much from college. But one phrase uttered by my dear Professor Richard "Poopsie" Schwarzlose at journalism school is branded on my brain: conflict of interest. Even today, if there's ever a question, I think, WWPD: What Would Poopsie Do? Well Poopsie probably wouldn't be happy with one Mirthala Salinas, the local Telemundo newscaster who, involved in an on-the-DL affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, was also cheekily reporting, "the rumors are... more ›

Now that his extramarital shenanigans with Telemundo newscaster Mirthala Salinas have firmly supplanted his other accomplishments in the eyes of many Angelenos, pundits' tongues are a-wagging over the potential ramifications to his long-term mayoral career. Or, put more simply, can he move beyond Mirthala? While some commentators, such as San Jose State's Larry Gerston, have already written off Villaraigosa's future prospects, advising him not to "make any plans to run for the Democratic nomination in... more ›

When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced last month that he was getting a divorce from his wife of 20 years, we thought it was tacky that many in the press and local blogosphere were demanding that he reveal if the breakup was due to an affair. We at LAist didn't see how that would be relevant or necessary to disclose since a divorce is an extremely sensitive personal matter whose details should be... more ›