Temperatures are expected to rise to 113 degrees in some parts of the San Fernando Valley today, according to the National Weather Service. Also, a regional red flag warning has been issued, but the Los Angeles Fire Department has yet to call a city red flag, which would affect parking in hillside neighborhoods.......

Which one of these beautiful young ladies will be named America's Next Top Model in the show's 10th go-round? I am not ashamed to admit that Wednesday nights at my house are sometimes known as "Top Model" night. (Code word: "You wanna be on top?" natch.) I didn't watch the show for its first few cycles, actually, curbing my "reality"-based curiosity about the gaggle of leggy empty-heads with the pretty faces and the ridiculous......

The Los Angeles Fire Department has announced a Red Flag Parking Day that will begin tomorrow morning at "08:00 AM to Wednesday, January 2, 2008 08:00 AM or until further notice." Those who violate Red Flag Parking sign restrictions risk getting ticketed, but more likely being towed. This is not good timing for the Holidays, but fire knows no tactful way of saying "hello." Image provided by the Los Angeles Fire Department......

Preparations for the Tournament of Roses Parade According to the LA Times, the National Weather Service is reporting that a windy a New Years Day Tuesday could have sustained winds of 25 mph and gusts of winds that could blow small children away at 50 mph. Luckily, though, "Pasadena itself will probably be sheltered from the worst of the wind." Rain is likely to come next, however, it's expected later in the week, letting......

Making sure that many have a safe holiday, fire fighters will be on watch because of SoCal's low humidity and high winds, a perfect mixture for wildfire. As of this posting, the Los Angeles Fire Department has not issued a Red Flag Warning. Mountain and pass areas should expect 25-30 mph winds with "gusts up to 60 mph or more..." In the coastal mountains, the winds will be lighter, about 15-25 mph, with gusts up......

If you're looking for 20-25 ft. waves, you better at least head up to Point Conception or past Eureka for even higher ones. If 7-14 ft. waves are your style, then stay LA.The surf will build throughout today and tonight, peaking Wednesday. By Thursday, the swell is expected to diminish into the 5- to 7-foot range, Seto said. A rainstorm from the Northwest is expected Thursday through Saturday, bringing more than an inch of......

Today Pat Morrison explains that parking can be tough for people who live in the hills who have converted their garages into offices and spare rooms. Sure you can say, "awwww poor rich people, listen to the tiniest violin." But lots of people live and work in hilly areas of this town so hush. The mountains and hills that make Los Angeles beautiful also create a bowl for smog, as well as gullies and......

This weekend's red flag warnings rang true around 3:30 a.m. in the hills above Malibu. In six hours, over 2,000 acres have burned and at least 35 homes (of the multiple-million-dollar variety) are reported destroyed. Everyone in the Malibu Bowl area west/southwest to Point Dume have been ordered to evacuate as 35-40 miles an hour gusts are fueling fires over roads and canyon passes. At least 200 homes remain threatened all the way down to......

Not letting the bedbugs bite is getting harder than ever these days. Deeming it "troubling" and "unacceptable," Mayor Tony is urging federal officials to take steps to prevent a repeat of this weekend's Customs and Border Protection computer glitch that stranded some 20,000 travelers. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag warning - signifying a higher risk of wildfires - for the L.A. County mountains that will remain in effect until Wednesday......

If there is anyone who is prepared for an earthquake of a much higher magnitude than last night’s 4.5, Captain Stacy Gerlich of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) is that person. Gerlich, whose official title is Captain I/Paramedic CERT Program Coordinator Special Operations Section, Disaster Preparedness CERT Unit, is in charge of the complimentary program that trains Los Angeles citizens to prepare themselves, their families and their neighborhoods for disasters. This program is the......

We're not sure how you say bullshit in French, but there's a "controversial" film slated to screen at Cannes this week that should be called Red Flag. American indie film Last Looks has supposedly been blocked from entering France because it allegedly contains scenes of real deaths that occurred during the production. AP jumped on the "controversy," and even Film Threat bit, but the whole thing walks, talks and smells like a big fat fake.......

Some people have been asking what happened with Bachelors #1 and #2 since our dates earlier this week so heres a quick update. Bachelor #2- After the whole jetting out of my house after he wasn't able to pee situation, I was super disappointed (cause the date was great) and pretty weirded out. As I was nursing my hangover yesterday morning he called and apologized, said that sometimes when he drinks more than he should,......

- The map (pictured above -- "Geles County" is Los Angeles County) that hit the scenes a couple of years ago now has a plan behind it - MetroRiderLA - Six Flags Magic Mountain is staying put, sans two rides: Flashback and Cyclone - SFVBJ - At least the promise of a new LATimes.com is going to be better than LA Weekly's most recent weberration - LAO - LACityNerd joins Council District 13, kinda......

The Golden Globes came and went, all while many, if not more, watched the second two hours of Los Angeles being terrorized in 24 on FOX. It was still brisk for the stars on the Red Carpet and the weather is expected to continue in the 60's throughout the week with the lows in the 40's. Luckily, the fire department has determined that the Red Flag will be lifted this morning. People celebrated Martin......

If your lips are chapped, you know it must be a City of Los Angeles Red Flag Day. Welcome to yet another one in this unusual season. In other LAFD news, black ice gave them quite a scare when one of their own got pinned by a vehicle that went slippity slip! Maybe now government officials will no longer laugh at this writer when he makes complaints over unruly sprinklers. Pshaw! And please, do......

It's that time for the high winds and the low humidity to bring us easy access to fire. All the fire you need could come this weekend so don't be dumb and smoke in the hills. And beware when you park in the hills as well. As of 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, the city will be towing your ass out of there. What are we talking about? This is what we're talking about. This too......

What does a wind speed of 25 mph or more plus a humidity of 15% or less equal? It equals a Red Flag day where those two ingredients can easily bring out a fast moving brush fire in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which happens to be in those lovely hills many call home. Whether it's the Hollywood Hills or Sherman Oaks, people who live on old and skinny streets that would......

Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior. ~ Dee Hock Tunnel vision the keywords “Los Angeles city council” in the past few months and one might think LA is corrupt beyond belief. Sure, sketchy things happen: term limits on tomorrow's ballot attached to an ethics reform proposal, Brown Act questions, raised fees and raised salaries. But try this:......

One of KCRW's newer contributors, Associated Press TV writer Frazier Moore, is one of our favorites. Like many podcasts, we subscribe to his and it's always a delight to hear a fresh perspective on all things TV. Here is Moore on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: I have to marvel how this pales beside the real-life jam ABC put itself in last week with its factually disputed miniseries The Path to 9/11. Witlessly......

On Thursday LAist reported that Universal was running a trailer for the soon-to-be released film "Accepted", whose sole critical raves were from one source, Paul Fischer of Dark Horizons.com. At that time we could find no review on the website that stated that "Accepted" was a "total triumph" or "raucously funny". In fact the only place that we saw Fischer's praises for the film were on other blogs, where fellow critics were dissing Fischer.......

Noah Kagan at Okdork.com explores the differences between LA and Silicon Valley. "Do you think MySpace would have succeeded if it was started at Stanford? Do you think Google would have come out of USC?" "A settlement has been reached between the Disney Hall contractors and Gehry Partners LLP over the enormous cost overruns the building incurred." (Martini Republic) We're not really sure what to make of this yet, but LACityNerd finds ValleyNews.com, which......

Ever wondered why all those police cars were on your street last week? Do you miss detailed crime blotters from your local small town paper? Last Thursday, LAPD announced the redesign of their already slick site with even more slick features such as dynamic Crime Maps and E-Policing. That's right, just type in your address and view incidents in your neighborhood. Sign up for E-Policing and get e-mail updates from your SLO (that's police......

The Orange County wildfires continue to burn in the Cleveland National Forest. Firefighers say they're making progress; more than 500 are on the scene. But the region's red flag conditions continue. Authorities have issued a public health alert for the smoke in OC and in Long Beach too. A Burbank man was sentenced to a year in jail for sitting outside a Best Buy collecting cash for Katrina victims about two weeks after the......

Around 9am, the light went weird over downtown. Earthquake weather, maybe? No, it's fire. So far 800 acres in Orange County's Cleveland National Forest have burned. Authorities say that no homes have been threatened; the fire remains in the national forest. The wind is blowing west, towards Los Angeles; that's where the smokey haze comes in. This is obviously the time to mention that the National Weather Service has declared a red flag warning......

Fueled by low humidity and windy conditions, a wildfire broke out at 3:30 AM in the School Canyon area between Ventura and Ojai, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Firefighters are on the scene as the fire continues to move south, towards the city of Ventura. Parts of the LA metro area are under a red flag warning today. Update 10:00am: According to recent news reports firefighters are keeping the fires under control.......