Following the turn of the calendar page to January 1, 2011, one of the new state laws to go into effect sees to it that local governments have the authority to have mobile billboards driven off the streets, and, locally, the focus is on the blighted San Fernando Valley, where those parked and hitched ads are the scourge of many a block. more ›

Unless you had to get up for work this weekend you may have missed out on the missed-alarm fiasco of 2011. Experienced first-hand by LAist (...yawn... stretch...look at time...OMFG...freakout!!!!), there's a major glitch in the iPhone alarm clock matrix, and the bug is causing alarms to not go off. The problem was reported on New Year's Day and Apple is expecting the situation to fix itself by Monday.
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Earlier this month, Brooklyn-based rock trio Earl Greyhound (MySpace) headlined with an acoustic set at the Hotel Cafe (MySpace) in Hollywood, supported by singer-songwriter openers Angel Taylor (MySpace) and Annie Stela (MySpace) -- previously mentioned here. Attendance was unfortunately down from a typical night there but understandable given the torrential weather. more ›

There are 90 entries in the 120th Tournament of Roses Parade, for which the theme this year is "Hats Off to Entertainment." The floats, as usual, promise to blend hokey with interesting, all bedecked in all manner and sort of flora. The Pasadena Star-News has a full listing and description of every float and act; they seem to generally stick with the theme of entertainment, although many drift into the community and family themes. more ›

Preparations for the Tournament of Roses Parade more ›

Although most of us here at LAist are gourmet vegan chefs, a few of us (hi!) get our meals via drive-thru's not just daily, but several times a day. more ›

Renán Almendárez Coello, a/k/a Maximo Almendares, a/k/a El Cucuy, a/k/a El Cucuy de la Manana (The Boogeyman of the Morning) is having one heckuva New Years hangover. He surrendered himself to police today and was charged with making criminal threats to his wife and on the phone to a police officer. Almendares is best known as the popular morning host of La Raza 97.9 (KLAX-FM) in Los Angeles. His picture (like you see to... more ›

While CalTrans expects heavy delays in and out of North Los Angeles County on I-5 beginning today through New Years Day (plan ahead), the Valley gets to celebrate more Orange Line sweetness (prepare to salivate). Today at 10:30 a.m. marks the official opening of the new Canoga Station at Van Owen and, well, Canoga (duh). It comes packaged with a 611-space Park & Ride Lot, the largest in the West Valley. But more importantly,... more ›

LAist has ten pairs of tickets to give away for Wednesday's MySpace Records record release party at The Key Club. more ›

... I was invited to share some of my vintage Rose Parade slides on KTLA’s live Rose Parade pre-show. My segment was scheduled at 6:10am. Frankly, I’m not used to getting up that early and I was worried my 1977 SEARS alarm clock that I got while still in high school, wouldn’t go off. Sure enough it didn’t. Thankfully I managed to wake up just in the nick of time. Nearly in a panic, I raced in the dark to Pasadena and found my way to “the set,” on the front lawn of the Tournament of Roses Mansion, the Former Wrigley Chewing Gum Estate. Before I knew it the segment was over and I was free to go.