The Los Angeles County Coroner's office has released the cause of death report for actor and National Football League star Bubba Smith, who died in August in Baldwin Hills. Smith was 66. The first listed cause of death is listed as "acute phentermine intoxication." So basically, Smith's death was in part caused by an OD of diet pills. more ›

Bubba Smith, a former NFL player for the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers, who segued successfully into an acting career, has been found dead in his Baldwin Hills home. He was 66. Smith, known by many as Moses Hightower in the long-running "Police Academy" movie series, also appeared on television, including in a couple episodes of "Married...With Children." more ›

So after LAist got over the initial shock of Melinda Doolittle (the best singer this year) getting the boot from American Idol last week, we had to sit through tonight's reality -- one hour of two OK performers, their three songs and packaged childhood retrospectives. Tonight's second-to-last show pitted the beatboxer (Blake Lewis) against the 17-year-old power singer (Jordin Sparks). They each sang their favorite song from a past show, a cover song they'd... more ›

Our pals at Londonist are the first to jump on the orgy of Best Of lists, so heres what they have to say... A list for LA? Got to be film related, but because we don't have a film industry anymore I've had to alternate between a great flick of 2006 (with a British connection) and an associated great Brit. Don't worry you'll see what I mean. So in reverse order: 10 - Steve... more ›

the good news - The Valley's Orange Line bus is a big hit: after just 7 months, it carries 22,000 passengers a day. It wasn't expected to reach those levels for another 14+ years. more ›