Some of the most annoying and disgusting people in Los Angeles are the cut-throat paparazzi. There is a special circle in hell reserved for them. more ›

Just because the federal government can legally rob a medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles, it doesn't mean you can too. On Friday, in two separate incidents in the Valley, a dispensary on Cahuenga Boulevard in North Hollywood and Golden State Collective, 10369 Balboa Blvd., in Granada Hills, both got robbed in takeovers. On Sunday, the Granada Hills robbers were caught, according to the Daily News:

During the heist, one shot was fired, ricocheting off the floor and breaking a window. No one was injured. more ›

• Need for food donations is increasing, while food available for those in need is on a downturn. The good folks over at SOVA in the Valley are scrambling to provide for hungry families this holiday season; rising energy and food costs are partly to blame.
• So why do I still see people checking the coin slots for loose change? AT&T is selling off their pay phones to "independent" operators; will the machines be kept in working order or will they devolve into so many graffiti magnets?
• Downtown L.A. is welcoming its first new movie theater in twenty years this week, the ImaginAsian Center -- but will its location, right next to punk club The Smell, prove problematic?
• Maybe it fell over because it had too many jello shots last night: an overturned crane blocked off the southbound lanes of the 5 freeway near Mission Hills this morning -- traffic is being diverted but the freeway has yet to be reopened.
• Gridskipper rounds up some of the worst parking lots in Los Angeles: thumbs up on recognizing the horrors of The Grove and the Hollywood Bowl but nothing deserves to be on this list more than that god damned Trader Joe's Santa Monica lot. Worst. Ever.
• I'm sorry, but men can be such useless, vile idiots sometimes: "Two males were arrested in connection with last month's stabbing death of a 19-year-old man in a case police said started when one person disrespected another." [Emphasis mine.]
• Tickets for Garth Brooks's series of concerts benefiting victims of the recent California fires sold out in less than an hour -- 85,000 tickets at $50-75 a pop, with all proceeds going to charity? Not bad, Garth, not bad!
• IWantMedia's media person of the year? Striking Writers!!!
• How's our man Rex over at Fimoculous.com doing with his 2007 predictions? "6) Jim chooses Pam on The Office. Yes! Score: 10 7) Studio 60 catches on. No! Score: 0"

Did you know today is the 226th birthday of El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles -- aka L.A.? The old bitch is looking pretty good for her age! Although the city did not incorporate until 1850, September 4th, 1781 is the date that 44 Mexican pobladores set out from San Gabriel with a military escort to settle alongside a great river -- then called the Rio de Porciuncula, later to... more ›

Yesterday was Father’s Day, and my father-in-law’s food choice was BBQ. He loves eating old school style: think the Smoke House, Pink’s, El Coyote – and to this day laments the closing of the Tips Restaurant on Lyons Avenue in Santa Clarita. So when he picked The Bear Pit, a 50-plus-year-old, Missouri-style BBQ restaurant in the Valley (on Sepulveda near the 118 freeway) the rest of us were only too happy to oblige. When... more ›

From our tipster email box we get this from Drew: Here are some pictures of the accident involving an elderly driver plowing through the Gelson's outdoor sitting area on Riverside and Laurel Canyon. i spoke with an officer on the scene and said to the best of his knowledge there were some injured, one man pinned underneath the car but no deaths that he knew of, thankfully! Evidently an elderly driver got flustered and... more ›

Yesterday we asked. Today we answer. more ›

NPR ran a story last week by Luke Burbank about the newly built Midnight Mission at 6th and San Pedro downtown. The $17 million dollar facility has been getting criticism from some homeless organizations and some conservatives. The homeless organizations think the money could be better spent on affordable housing while conservatives think the amenities (which include a gymnasium and a barber shop) are too much. more ›