Never a good thing in the first place and never a good time for the Los Angeles commuter, a bank robbery late this afternoon northwest of the Westwood and Olympic intersection has shut down streets in the area. An armed robber described as a male black wearing a mask robbed a bank and split. Some streets were shut down as the LAPD routinely checked the area, but as one cop plainly told us in the......

Problem #1: Home sick with the flu. Problem #2: Unemployed (not necessarily a problem per se - I rather enjoy it, but the check hasn't arrived.) Hence Problem #3: My gym's spa is under construction, with the steam room out of order and the sauna marred by jackhammers and the workmen's radio. Bringing the vaporizer into the bathroom and turning on a hot shower doesn't have the same effect. Where can I go to......

Last week Monday, Metro released a series of service enhancements and additions including the new Gold Line schedule. In the additions bucket came two new Metro Rapid lines, both starting in Downtown. The 728 runs between Downtown and Century City, mostly along Olympic Blvd. A ride review by Wad at MetroRiderLA finds that the busy thoroughfare "has a cross-cultural crosstown aspect" as it runs through Central American community of Pico-Union, Koreatown, Little Ethiopia, South Carthay......

About the above photo by Jonathan Alcorn: "Sept 15 2007 Los Angeles, CA - A firefighter was injured in a fire that broke out tonight in a single-story commercial building in East Los Angeles and produced a plume of smoke visible throughout the Los Angeles basin, a fire official said. The fire was reported at 6:17 p.m. at 2840 E. Olympic Blvd. and extinguished after an hour and 45 minutes." Don't forget to enter......

He goes by the moniker "Bandini" and his mission is to find the city's best tacos. Sound like an ill-conceived Food Network show (maybe not, come to think of it--who do we talk to about a pitch meeting?) or what? Actually, it's the premise of a local foodblog called--what else?--The Great Taco Hunt. And here are his picks for the 10 Best Taco Trucks he frequented in 2006. 1.Tacos El Korita -East Olympic Blvd and......

Jonathan Gold just might be both the first and last word on food in the city. His Counter Intelligence column is the centerpiece of his coverage of consumption in the Eat/Drink section of the LA Weekly; many of his findings are tidily compiled in a book of the same name that we urged you to buy earlier this month for the person on your list who's ready to take their dining out to the......

If you've ever driven from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (which we like to consider our shadowy sister city of Sin), then you've seen this sign. But did you know the story behind it? The rich essay of hucksterism, snake oil, and one con man that lurks beyond the curtain of Zzyzx Road? Our first big revelation is: it's pronounced like ISAACS, not PHYSICS. And whoever said LAist wasn't educational? Zzyzx Mineral Springs and......

You might be an old hand at Texas Hold 'Em, have memorized Phil Gordon’s poker tips and scored big in Vegas. So what? You’ve never taken down a champion. Now’s your chance — in Koreatown. On July 22, you can go mano-á-mano with Tuan Le, the 27-year old World Poker Tour Champion of no-limit Texas Hold 'Em, for just a $50 buy-in. Last tournament he played, he walked away with more than $4 million.......