As the government faced a shutdown yesterday, local news station KPCC quietly decided to temporarily suspend the spots that it runs for Planned Parenthood, whose services were being used as a wedge issue in the fight over spending in Congress. LA Observed ran the dictum that came down from "programming honcho Craig Curtis" more ›

Nothing says lovin' like the best chefs in Los Angeles teaming up with some of the most reliable providers of reproductive health care, and it's all coming to Santa Monica this Thursday as Planned Parenthood presents Food Fare, its annual fundraiser. more ›

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) has changed it's recommendation for the onset and frequency of Pap smears for women. Until this week, medical guidelines have called for women to get annual Pap smears, which check for cervical cancer and other cervical and reproductive abnormalities, beginning no later than three years after becoming sexually active, or at age 21 (whichever comes first). more ›

Having and raising a child can be a joyous thing, but it can also cost a small fortune. And in this unstable economy, many families are opting to do a bit more planning when it comes to prospective parenthood. "In Southern California, Planned Parenthood says that compared with last year’s first quarter, requests for vasectomies were up more than 30 percent in the first three months of this year at its clinics in San Diego and Riverside Counties, where 64 of the procedures were done," today's New York Times reports. more ›

After all you've learned about sex this week here at LAist, it would be such a shame if you forgot a condom at the last minute. more ›

Last Tuesday was the Barack Obama-rama at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake. Organized by Electrocute's (MySpace) Nicole Morier, the fundraiser featured performances by the Copenhagen-based Wolfkin (MySpace) and locals The Polyamorous Affair (MySpace), the aforementioned Electrocute, Willoughby (MySpace), The Bird and the Bee (MySpace), Hard Place (MySpace), and The Lady Tigra (MySpace), as well as booths for Planned Parenthood and the Obama campaign, a voter registration drive, and a raffle that included Obama Hope campaign posters donated by Shepard Fairey. more ›

Earlier this month, local electropop duo Electrocute (MySpace) -- previously covered here -- performed at Bordello (MySpace) in Downtown LA. more ›

• Sacramento to California's teachers: I love you, but I just can't pay you. Thousands of teachers across the state this week could receive pink slips in the wake of the $14.5 billion budget gap. Teachers to Sacramento: I'd like to see you try and force us out.
• The Air Quality Management District loves clean air so much they decided to impose fines on those who burn wood in fire places when the pollution is especially evident outside. "It's a fair trade off," they say. "Hands off my chimney," some homeowners responded.
• In political news, Wyoming professed their love for Obama by handing him a caucus win and Bush continues to be enamored of torture.
• On Tuesday, a Veterans Thrift Store owner returned a box with $30,000 that was left inside some clothes she was sifting through. She received a cash reward because the family loved that there are still some honest people out there. The thrift worker said she will send some of the reward to Mexico so her mother can have an eye operation and will use the rest to buy a digital camera.
• No love lost: A whistle blower claims that the state's Planned Parenthood overcharged the government close to $180 million for birth control pills. Planned Parenthood hasn't issued an opinion because they haven't seen the lawsuit yet.
• Birds and water lovers said, Where's the love as they looked on to the dry vestiges of the empty Silverlake reservoir. Now that the reservoir is free of the carcinogenic bromate-tainted water that was discovered a few months back, the LADWP can commence patching and other necessary repairs, Metroblogging said.
• How much do you love sunlight? At 2 a.m., it's officially time to set your clocks ahead one hour.

The Advocate, a pro-life student-run UCLA magazine, released it's quarterly issue (.pdf) this week with an investigative report on sketchy fundraising practices at Planned Parenthood. Their lede reads: more ›

Pope Benedict yesterday, trying to impose whatever influence he has left on the world, threatened to excommunicate Catholic politicians if they aid in their support of abortion. He also said that they should not receive communion. The Pope was asked whether he supported Mexican Church leaders threatening to excommunicate leftist parliamentarians who last month voted to legalize abortion in Mexico City. "Yes, this excommunication was not an arbitrary one but is allowed by Canon... more ›

Dear Sabrina's Vagina is a weekly column that gets published when the parts connected to the vagina get up off their ass and reply to poorly written letters, very poorly. If you feel the need to have a vagina berate you with insulting comments please send all messages here. Otherwise, you can visit the author here and watch her yell at countless amounts of other people. Dear Sabrina's Vagina, Recently I went on a... more ›

Meet Nora Stein, a 28-year-old Californian by way of Texas, on a mission. Nora educates the public about reproductive issues and laws being debated in our country through social gatherings, house parties, and her grassroots campaign, the “Choice Lounges” which she has been directing in a partnership with Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles since February 2005. She puts the “social” in social activism. more ›

It's been a while since LAist shared the dish on local food events, so we're doing our best to recoup and serve up a tasty mouthful of food tidbits today. more ›