Good news for the Los Angeles area as Santa Monica High School placed top honors today at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C. The bowl was created in 1991 "encourage high school students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in these fields," according to KCBS. North Hollywood High School, also competing, tied for sixth place after losing to Santa Monica. The Los Angeles Department of Water......

A fire on a service truck near the NoHo Metro Red Line Station will cause a minimum of 10 minute delays this morning. Earlier today, the truck came in contact with electrical rails about 100 yards inside the tunnel, prompting it to catch fire. Difficult for Los Angeles Firefighters to extinguish the fire with high voltage running through the rails, Metro shut down the train system for safety reasons and prepared buses in case the......

This week's Sepulveda Blvd explosion took the life of firefighter Brent A. Lovrien, and as the LAFD mourns the loss along with Lovrien's friends and family and the city at large, the sacrifice so often made by our firefighters is on many minds. Prior to this week's tragedy, a fundraising event to benefit Fire Family Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that provides "financial assistance to Firefighters, their families and charities that support the fire......

Hollywood: A man was shot to death early this morning near the southbound 101 freeway off-ramp at Van Ness Avenue and Harold Way. Yesterday, a man lying on the sidewalk allegedly attacked officers with a knife, prompting them to shoot him after one officer was cut. North Hollywood: The body of man was found last night in the alley of the 8000 block of Laurel Canyon (cross street, Strathern). Police suspect that the man overdosed......

View Larger Map In what Los Angeles Fire Department officials called a "dramatic collision," a full size white SUV, brand new still with paper license plates, tumbled off the southbound 170 Hollywood Freeway off-ramp late Saturday night onto Burbank Blvd. barely missing an LAPD squad car that passed by the very same spot just moments before. It was said the sergeant saw the crash, feet away, in his rear view mirror. It appears that a......

It was a tense Good Friday for those in the vicinity of the 4300 block of Club Vista Drive yesterday in Palmdale when the attempt to serve an arrest warrant on a man wanted for a 2004 North Hollywood murder barricaded himself inside a home for several hours and the neighborhood went into lockdown mode. The Daily News explains yesterday's events and how they impacted area residents: Several blocks around the Club Vista Drive home......

The city seems to have gone completely mad. From a 16 year-old shot in Northridge to a 70 year-old stabbed to death in Hollywood, Sunday was just another day in what is starting to feel like an out-of-control crime wave. In just the last few months, a man stabbed people in a movie theater while they watched a horror movie, a woman stabbed her own mother, and a man dressed as a skeleton terrorized......

Two North Hollywood news items melded into one last night when, as reported on LAist, a US Marshal walked in on a robbery in progress at an auto parts store in NoHo Arts, fatally shooting one suspect who is believed to be the "Skeleton Bandit." The robber had recently unsuccessfully held up a local Jack in the Box and a mini mart dressed in an outfit initially described as a skeleton costume, but as reported......

View Larger Map *UPDATE, Weds. 3/5, 10:00 a.m.: The suspect who was shot is believed to be the North Hollywood-area's "Skeleton Bandit." He died in hospital from his injuries after being removed from the scene. *UPDATE, 11:24 p.m.: The alleged robber who was shot by the U.S. Marshal is now at the hospital in critical condition and the suspected accomplice is still at large according to Officer April Harding of the LAPD. So how was......

Photo by ChazWags via Flickr He already served a month of jail time when he was convicted last Spring, but today, sleazy wannabe slumlord Darren Stern, who also goes by Henry Shalom, was ordered to pay millions back to rent-control tenants that he mistreated in order to get them to move out so he could raise rents, eventually selling the buildings at "inflated" prices, according to CBS2. The money will be split and given......

Deacon Booze has returned! Yes, your favorite Steely-Dan-inspired happy hour listing is back on track for March, and we still need your hott hott tips! I recently fell victim to a devil of a gastrointestinal virus (sexy!), and so was unable to ingest any kind of liquid other than Top Ramen broth, but I am happy to say that my convalescence is complete, and I am ready to drink. And drink. And drink! Send......

When plain old ski masks just won't do, what's a neighborhood robber to do? For one thief in such a predicament, the solution was to don a skeleton costume and to hit up a Jack In the Box and a mini mart in North Hollywood in an attempt to get some cash. The heist at the Jack In the Box on Lankershim was a bust, and so was the mini mart, where, according to ab7.com,......

Russian Tatiana Aryasova won the LA Marathon, and the $100,000 "Banco Popular Challenge" with an unofficial time of 2:09:32*, beating out the top "elite" male runner, Laban Moiben of Kenya, who clocked in with an unofficial time of 2:13:50. The petite Aryasova is in peak shape; she recently gave birth and resumed her training rapidly. Both runners received the keys to their new Honda Accords thanks to the race's sponsor, Honda of America, whose headquarters......

As reported yesterday on LAist, a car-to-car shooting took place on the 101 Freeway between Hollywood and Universal City following a verbal dispute that took place between the occupants of two vehicles on Hollywood Boulevard. 26-year-old Bunthan Roeung was shot by one of the four black male occupants of a black Chevy Impala, and was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai hospital. The vehicle exited the freeway at Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, and the driver......

A verbal spat turned into a shooting incident today on the 101 Freeway. The disagreement began between the occupants of two vehicles on a surface street in Hollywood, says cbs2.com, and the "suspect's car followed the other vehicle as it traveled onto the northbound Hollywood Freeway." The heated exchange escalated into gunfire, as the occupants of one vehicle fired shots while on the road, "wounding one passenger and grazing the other." With the gunfire bringing......

Zombie Joe's Underground takes on "The Raven" and other Poe stories tonight. / Photo by Ctd 2005 via flickr. FILM The Silent Movie Theatre concludes its “Love Hurts” series with the noir-ish tearjerker Brief Enounter. Directed by David Lean, Brief Encounter deals with an illicit affair between a housewife and a married doctor. A train station serves as a prominent backdrop for their weekly trysts. 8 pm // Silent Movie Theatre // 611 N.......

Fallout from the massive Westland/Hallmark meat recall scandal continues to affect Southland restaurants, stretching from San Diego to Ventura County. The California Department of Public Health has released a document listing every food purveyor which has purchased the recalled beef -- and at 59+ pages, it's a doozy. Chances are very good you have purchased or ingested some of Westland/Hallmark's product at some point, since markets and restaurants across the city are represented. My......

Santee Village Apartments | Photo by atomicshakespeares via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr It's not the same thrill as being singled out as a draft pick when it's the police who want you: "An arrest warrant has been issued by the Irvine Police Department for St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Scott Spiezio on six charges stemming from a Dec. 30 incident." Police in Burbank are investigating the mysterious death of 47-year-old Glen Giles,......

This apartment complex next to the NoHo Metro Red Line was rumored to have many gang-related police calls when it opened | Photo by lavocado@sbcglobal.net via Flickr So that's why cops were all over the Valley this morning. The Daily News is reporting that around 200 cops raided 15 homes, arresting 16, in an early morning operation called "Wild Card" which is "the police department's effort to challenge a particularly active and violent clique......

"orange chair with cushion," by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr A steady stream of Koreans moving into the northwest San Fernando Valley suburbs is giving the traditional K-Town in LA City a run for its money. Now you Valley-ists might not have to travel over the hill for karaoke bars. Japanese and Los Angeles police detectives solved a 26-year-old case of a Japanese business man who allegedly shot his wife......

LAist Featured Photos Pool contributer delara-photos submitted this shot of an exit sign that calls to mind elements of surrealism or, at the very least, makes you wonder "exit to WHERE, exactly?" From the position of the sign, it looks like the way out leads to either the big blue sky, or the mountains that curtain the San Fernando Valley. The photo was taken in North Hollywood. Photo by delara-photos via the LAist Featured......

February may well be the month of the year we think about love the most, but our local schools are banking on us sharing our love with them right now, too. This month, a project called "LA Loves Its Schools" is taking place. It's a donation drive based on the pages of DonorsChoose.Org that calls for caring individuals to pitch in a little to help local schools, classrooms, and teachers get the things they need......

For over seven years, the Rebels of Comedy have created a warm and welcoming environment in one of America's most notoriously vicious industries. The comedy troop regularly brings Los Angele venues the biggest names and best up-and-coming talent in stand-up. Tonight, the Rebels will put on two shows at the Hollywood Improv featuring Joe Rogan (Fear Factor) and Ahmed Ahmed (Axis of Evil Comedy Tour and Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Tour), plus a wild......

As we reported earlier, the two-month Writers Guild of America strike is nearly over. WGA-East members voted heard about the proposal earlier and West members weighed in at 7 p.m. Some are already questioning the deal, but most expressed relief that the work stoppage is about to come to an end. Stay tuned to LAist for excellent coverage. A man was shot this morning in North Hollywood by an alleged gang member who approached......

Not sure how to cap off your Super Tuesday voting experience? Why not grab a drink with LAist! We'll be at the Seven Grand in Downtown from 7-9 p.m., and your first drink is free if you're sporting the hottest accessory in town tomorrow: Your "I Voted" sticker! 21+ only, please. The body of a 32-year-old woman who fell off a cliff late Saturday morning near Chantry Flats on Mount Wilson has been recovered. Recovery......

Everyone's inside watching TV right now | Photo by manmadepants via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Oceanic Air flight 815 from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles crashed in mid-2004, killing 318 passengers. Six, miraculously survived. Markland at blogging.la draws the connections from LOST to Lost Angeles. North Hollywood Auto Vs. Pedestrian hit-and-run leaves pedestrian dead. Stay safe out there! Double dipping in that Superbowl dip today? "Three to six double dips transferred......

'Santa Monica Subway: Alternative 4' is one of the 17 routes presented by Metro Last night, a packed room of community members at LACMA listened attentively to Metro present nineteen options to serve the Westside. This first in a series of three public input meetings (two more meetings next week) was exciting -- wheels are in motion to get Los Angeles moving, even if that reality be around ten years from now. One of......

Jim Wirt is a St. Louis native living in LA, but most people know him as Gay Bigfoot. The 42-year-old North Hollywood resident moved out to Los Angeles in 1996 and is a local artist who recently found himself in the middle of some online censorship when he tried to get one of his pieces printed on a t-shirt. Here's his story... You're an artist, you had some art you wanted to put on a......

Bright Umbrellas in Chinatown for a Less than Bright Day Crews are still working to restore power to some 3,600 Edison and DWP residents that lost power due to heavy rains and winds over the past two days. North Hollywood, Granada Hills, Porter Ranch, Pomona, Torrance, Stevenson Ranch and - gasp! - Beverly Hills residents were affected. Candles, people. More rain is on the way so gather ye umbrellas while ye may. Tons of......

Yes, we know that rainy days and Mondays can get you down. And doubly so today. But you can turn that mood around by stepping out tonight to one of these great events. Just watch for puddles. TALK Jill Leovy probably writes the Los Angeles Times best blog (excepting LAist’s own Adam Rose, natch). She chronicles almost every murder in LA to give a human element to what would be another crime blotter. Tonight Leovy’s......