Photo by digablesoul via Flickr What is a slight inconvenience and change of habit to most people is freaking others out. Official as of yesterday, the Valley is getting a new area code, 747, that will overlay the proud 818 (come on, 747 is much cooler than the 310 overlay, 424). "I think it's too much. It's crazy," a Van Nuys resident told the Daily News. "I think people would feel much better if......

A view of the Valley from Sherman Oaks | Photo by Dan Wuh via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Hear that sound? That's not a jetliner landing at Van Nuys Airport. Those are moans and groans about the impending new area code overlay in the San Fernando Valley. A March 24 judicial decision recommended that the 747 overlay, which would require Valley residents to dial 1 plus the area code within the......

Yesterday, hundreds of Valley residents headed towards their front and backyard lawns, picking orange and grapefruit trees, lemon bushes and other juicy fruits in name of one of the largest single-day community food donation drives in the city. Around 20,000 pounds of citrus was gathered at Citrus Sunday, a project run by Councilman Greig Smith who represents the 12th district. Residents drop off the fruit to various Valley fire stations and it all ends up......

One of the most difficult things about running--or any exercise regimen for that matter--is simply getting started. Joining a running group or club is a great way to ease into it, and so today and in future installments of Workout Wednesday, we will explore the many running groups in the area you can choose from. We'll start with Team in Training. I joined Team in Training, or TNT, as it's often referred to, because like......

Nick's, home of delicious breakfast burritos, by Rebecca~James via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Remember when we told you that Los Angeles tap water was the best tasting in the world? Turns out that our delicious H20 might have been sprinkled with delicious drugs. The AP found that a multitude of pharmaceuticals, like antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million......

It's a new record for Los Angeles -- $3.49 a gallon, as of this morning reports KFWB 980 AM. The price of the barrel, also at an all time high, is $105.10. This comes as Metro is looking to cut bus service across the Los Angeles area. Last night, 12 of the threatened lines were voted upon by the San Fernando Valley Governance Council. "Some schedules and routes will be modified but none will be......

The MTA says it's time to cut the lines--20 bus lines, that is. Because of low ridership and operating costs, the city's transit system is looking to trim the fat from their service. The current proposal being voted on consists of the elimination of 20 bus lines and reduced service on 24 other lines, for a total of 375,000 service hours cut altogether. The Bus Riders Union is vehemently opposing the proposed cuts, with spokesman......

A 33-year-old white woman from Sherman Oaks, now living in Eugene, Oregon, has made national headlines today as news comes that her memoir was largely fabricated. Last week, Margaret Seltzer who goes by the pen name Margaret B. Jones was featured in the New York Times' Home & Garden section in a fascinating story about her book, "Love and Consequences." One LAist reader explains her fascination about it in an e-mail: I read the home......

"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......

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist A few weeks ago, we reported on Senate Bill 1142, which would widen the use of enforcement cameras in California from intersections to roadways where photos and video could capture speeding cars on streets, ultimately sending the violator a ticket in the mail. Senator Dutton's office said it was a spot bill and later released a statement to highwayrobbery.net, an enforcement camera advocacy site: "Senator Dutton will not move any......

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......

What's in a name? Well, for residents and leaders who have won the battle to keep the San Fernando Valley designated as "America's Suburb," it means everything. The Census Bureau released today their official ruling that the iconic SFV--home to shopping malls, car dealerships, and Valley Girls--can keep the designation first assigned in 2005 that allows for data compiled to be limited to the immediate area, which will help its 1.8 million residents see......

A member of the Los Angeles Police Department's elite SWAT team was shot dead in a gunbattle with a barricaded suspect in the San Fernando Valley this morning. * UPDATE: The suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police around 7:30 a.m., leaving the death toll at 5 (AP). The Mayor has lowered city flags in honor of the officer killed on duty. Randal Simmons, 51, a 27-year veteran officer with the LAPD,......

Don't forget: LAist Super Tuesday Election Party tonight at Seven Grand! Details and RSVP here. Did you have any problems voting in Los Angeles today? The Los Angeles Times and LAist report on problems in the precincts, especially for non-partisan voters. Is it still a long strange trip if it's only just begun? The last remaining members of the Grateful Dead are reuniting tonight in San Francisco to show their support for Obama. The......

Fire: La Salle Avenue Elementary School sustained damage today, but no injuries were reported, due to a fire on the second floor this afternoon. Rain: A small tornado did indeed land on shore last night in Ventura County which is probably what led the NWS to issue last night's tornado warning for LA. It was an "empty air station hangar at the Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu" that took the hit, losing its......

Fairfax Avenue is the Bomb!!! Declining enrollment and rising costs means less expansion and construction to help relieve overcrowding in LAUSD schools. The LA Times reports that "since the fall, the school system has canceled plans for 19 new schools and additions to existing campuses in South Gate, Bell, Van Nuys, San Fernando, Sun Valley and central Los Angeles, among other areas, citing new enrollment projections." Kids, you don't mind sharing that book, do......

Turns out "Economic Roundtable" talks really happen at round tables. They also happen in the backyard of a campaign supporter in Van Nuys, in the case of this week's visit from Democratic Presidential nominee-hopeful Barack Obama. The Illinois Senator held the discussion a the home of Mimi Vitello, and was apparently not daunted by the large rake that rested against the wall behind him. LAist Featured Photos pool contributor Jonathan Alcorn (aka Sundogg) captured......

It seems the Valley isn't the place to be if you're a gang-affiliated criminal. One year ago, Mayor Villaraigosa held a press conference in North Hills at the LAPD's Mission Division, mapping out their plan for a crackdown on gangs. This past Thursday he returned, along with Police Chief William Bratton, to the same spot to announce that the plan had been successful. The Daily News reports on Mayor Tony's proud assertion, and 2007 statistics:......

Last night's powerful rains beat down on Los Angeles, and Southern California in general, with a vengeance. Widespread power outages, mudslides, and flooded roads are just some of the consequences of the overnight downpour. Most of the road flooding occurred in the San Fernando Valley, reports the Daily News: "Among them, Forest Lawn Drive between Memorial Park and the Los Angeles Zoo was closed because of excessive run-off, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Jason Lee......

Rain, rain, don't go away, don't come again another day! Wet weather is on its way. And not a moment too soon for some portions of the city. A lack of water in the Valley might slow growth: "West San Fernando Valley Councilman Dennis Zine said he called for the mandatory water conservation in new development after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plea for voluntary water saving was largely ignored by Angelenos." You know all that......

Back in November, it was announced that the West Valley would be getting an additional LAPD station in a former sex toy manufacturing plant on Schoenborn Street between Owensmouth and Canoga in Canoga Park. Tentatively called the Northwest Division, it will serve Woodland Hills, West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka when it opens this or next year. Those neighborhoods lay within Council Districts 3 and 12, both represented by LAPD Reserve Officers, Councilman Dennis Zine......

LAPD detectives in the San Fernando Valley have an unusual series of convenience store holdups on their hands. Eleven late night robberies have occurred in the past month from North Hollywood to San Fernando, with two women as the gun-wielding perps. The Daily News reports that the pair's m.o. is to hit 7-11 stores between midnight and 4 a.m. They don hooded sweatshirts, and while one stands watch at the door the other holds the......

If good things come in threes, it seems bad things come in twos, at least today in LA: Edward Gage, a 31-year old Lancaster man, has been arrested for an alleged Christmas Day rape of a 16-year-old girl. When Gage's victim ignored his attempts to get directions as she walked to a friend's house, he pulled her shirt and tried to remove her clothing. She punched him in the face and got away! Francisco Santiago......

As 2007 winds down to its close, local law enforcement agencies anticipate the year's homicide numbers to be lower than the low set in 1970. The Daily News is reporting that "As of Dec. 15, 379 people had been killed in Los Angeles this year, with about 200 of those incidents gang-related. The overall homicide rate is down 17 percent from last year." In 1970, 394 people were killed in Los Angeles. More cops in......

Details continue to emerge about the strange case of the woman whose body was found at a towyard the day after she died in a car crash in the San Fernando Valley. The woman had been driving with her son, who now claims that his epilepsy caused him to crash the car -- and to forget he had his mother in the car with him. He believes a seizure may have led him to......

How's this for a lede? "If you get in a car crash in the San Fernando Valley, there's about a 50-50 chance you'll flee the scene - and get away with it." Ha! That's almost instructional. In a comprehensive report on hit-and-runs by the Daily News, it is found there is a lot of hitting, running and general douchebaggery in Los Angeles. Yes, we all knew that after day one, but here are some......

Last Thursday, pornstar and director (and Fleshbot Crush Object, link NSFW) Dana DeArmond (MySpace) and her boyfriend Daniel (MySpace), along with pornstars Justin Long (NSFW) and Jon Jon (NSFW), were featured guest speakers in Professor Kassia Wosick-Correa's Sociology of Sexuality course at UC Irvine. According to TIME, the study of pornography on a collegiate level originated in the early 1990s, as the article mentioned Professor Linda Williams' Film and Rhetoric course at UC Berkeley,......

Norman Mailer, the controversial and beloved novelist and winner two Pulitzer Prizes died today in New York City of acute renal failure. The author of almost 50 books, Mailer lived a life beset by tragedy, triumph and tribulation. He once ran for Mayor of NYC and was almost stabbed to death by one of his wives. Mailer was 84. Out of the ashes of one fire in San Diego, a man sold a charred,......

The first time I was in Compton, I didn't even know it until later when I was at a restaurant looking at the menu and noticed the address. It appeared the world's stereotype was wrong, maybe gone or I just happened to be in the "right" part of town. "Compton is beautiful, there are horse ranches there," a co-worker who grew up there told me at a previous job a few years before my......

Can we please do the OPPOSITE of adding fuel to these fires? A Sun Valley day laborer has been charged with arson after he was caught attempting to start a blaze in the Woodland Hills area earlier this week. Do you use your cell phone? Of course you do. The future of this important device lies in the hands of visionaries, such as the ones who are attending MobileCampLA on Sunday. And you too......