After a two-year investigation into alleged Medicare fraud involving homeless patients, federal agents raided three hospitals this morning: City of Angels Medical Center, Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center and Tustin Hospital and Medical Center. The schemes involved defrauding the state and federal governments out of millions of dollars by using homeless skid row residents. A top executive at City of Angels was arrested as well as one other person, according to the LA Times. City......

"Running is one of the most dangerous things you can do," explained Brian Humphrey, Spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department and a previous Community Emergency Response Team instructor. "People can lose their lives when they run, especially when windows or glass mirrors are near. You should duck, cover and hold." Various videos surfaced yesterday on TV and online of people doing the exact opposite. People ran, something that could be disastrous in a larger......

Metrolink service was restored to normal speeds at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, according to Denise Tyrrell, Public Information Officer for the transit agency. "Afternoon commuters are cautioned to anticipate 15-30 minutes delays as we recover from earlier service delays," she said in an e-mail. Interruptions and delays occurred earlier today because all tracks had to undergo mandatory post-earthquake inspection.......

Glad I wasn't in that aisle when this happened. This is from a security camera inside Incycle Bicycles in San Dimas. In the below video, watch at least 7 people sprint to and out the door. In most cases, going outside is not recommended, but in a bicycle shop where things don't seem very secure in the first place, that might have been the best sort of action. Thoughts?......

Ralph Tollett looks at the damage to his son's building in Pomona, Calif. on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg) We can't emphasize enough that this earthquake is considered a "moderate" one and caused relatively little damage throughout the region. However, with that said, some damage and a handful of minor injuries did happen. Today's quake, a 5.4, was just one percent of the energy of the 1994 Northridge 6.7 earthquake, according to......

A sidewalk is closed off because of debris that fell as the result of an earthquake (AP Photo/Ric Francis) All still minor damage being reported throughout the Southern California region after this morning's earthquake, but here's a photo of some cement bricks fallen on a sidewalk in downtown Los Angeles in the 300 block of South Broadway. It appears they may have been swept up into a pile.......

At the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, there was some damage to what looks like lighting and tables on two floors after this morning's 5.4 earthquake in Chino Hills. Flickr user, Jason Sherwin, quickly snapped photos and uploaded them to the web.......

Air Traffic Controller Stuart Smith adjusts a runway traffic monitor from the tower at Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles | AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File Acting Mayor Wendy Greuel (Mayor Villaraigosa is on vacation in London) spoke to the press at 1:50 p.m. today updating what was happening within the city limits of Los Angeles after this morning's earthquake. At the same time, the LA Fire Department reported, in an e-mail alert,......

Google Trends provides insights into broad search patterns by users on Google. A look into what is being searched nationally this afternoon is obviously the earthquake. Today's 5.4 magnitude quake was only considered "moderate," which is big enough to knock things off shelves and cause minor damage to buildings. However, Google searches across the country are intensely focused on the incident. The majority of top 100 trends ("hot trends") are quake-related. U.S. Google Trends......

Screenshot by K. Moriarty via Flickr Whether it was the shaking or a surge of readers checking the LA Times' website, it was shut down temporarily after the 5.4, 11:42 a.m. earthquake in Chino Hills.......

"I am totally serious. My Ob/Gyn was IN my vagina and an earthquake started rattling the room!" tweeted MissRFTC. She was later interviewed about the experience: "Was just interviewed via phone by senior writer at CNet about my vaginal earthquake experience." On a more serious note, VentureBeat cited Twitter's importance in instances as such. "Well before the information was anywhere on the major news outlets, tweets (Twitter messages) were flowing in at a rapid clip.......

Did you feel that? Yes you did. That was a 5.4 magnitude earthquake (preliminary reports stated that it was a 5.8 and then 5.6) out of the Chino Hills area that struck at 11:42 a.m., according to the USGS, who considers this to be a "moderate" earthquake. Chino Hills is 29 miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It was a nice and long one too. 10 seconds? 20 seconds? (or maybe out time perspective was......

That's just a sunset, but pretend it's a fireball, okay? | Photo by Travis Hornung via Flickr There is still no explanation of the fireball that soared through Southern California skies yesterday morning at about 10:40 a.m. "I was in downtown Los Angeles on the 31st floor of my office and just happened to look out the window to see a bright white streak disappear behind the the San Gabriel Mountains. It was over......

Photo by WTL photos via Flickr As temperatures easily reach over 100 in some parts of the region, it is affecting those who are vulnerable. An 90-year-old woman driving in San Bernardino County died when she stepped out of her car to search for her husband who left the car for unknown reasons. They were found 50 yards from their car and the 116 degree heat killed Virgil Sanders and the husband had 2nd......

Photo by cheesee via Flickr As Spring turns to Summer this weekend, the temperatures are expected to mark the season change with a bang starting today. The National Weather Service is predicting today's temperatures to range from 95 to 105 in region's valleys. Downtown is expected to be in the 90s and beaches should stay normal (upper 60s, low 70s). Friday is supposed to be the worst: 109 degrees on Friday in the Valley?......

One week after Gov. Schwarzenegger declared a statewide water drought, the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California has issued a water supply alert to the 18 million people in the six counties it serves, which includes Los Angeles County. The alert is the second of three steps to impose water rationing. “A ‘water supply alert’ does not mean less water being supplied; it means that the water being supplied is severely depleting reserves, and......

One of the largest counterfeit currency rings in Southern California has been broken up after a three-month investigation leading federal agents to arrest five people. One of the caught suspects is a 35-year-old Sherman Oaks man, "who who allegedly cut the counterfeit bills and glued them together," according to the Daily News. The ring allegedly made and distributed between $5 and $6 million in twenty and hundred fake bills. ABC7 on-air news said the operation's......

There are many staple travel books to have on your shelf if you live in Los Angeles. There's 60 Hikes within 60 Miles for the outdoor adventure inclined. For those who want to stay a little closer to home, Erin Mahoney's Walking LA is a fun one (related, Mahoney owns Chill Out LA, a spa, beauty, yoga and pilates site and e-mail newsletter, which just relaunched with a new design last month). And today, from......

After a 5-month investigation, the Associated Press found that Los Angeles drinking water has traces of Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications. "To be sure," the AP noted "the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose." Across the nation, the report found tainted water supplies in 24 major metropolitan areas, five of those in California: Los Angeles: 2 (meprobamate and phenytoin)......

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......

Artist and forager Nancy Klehm will be holding the last of her highly unique cooking classes at Echo Park gallery/performance space Machine Project this Monday, March 10th, from 6-9pm. There are still a few spots left (tickets cost $85 for members, $95 for non-members), so head on over to the website to sign up for a lesson on making your own fermented fruits and vinegars. Fruit wine sounds like a fantastic way to take......

Photo by Lush.i.ous via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Speaking of that 14-car pile-up this morning on the 101 freeway, how about this fact via the Daily Breeze? There's a near $11-billion price "cost to society" due to car crashes according to a study called "Crashes: What's the Cost to Society?" According to the study -- conducted on behalf of the American Automobile Association by the transportation policy firm Cambridge Systematics --......

I hope you haven't had enough of the Great Coffee Debate that has been ROCKING the Southland ever since hip joints like LA Mill and Intelligentsia have hit the scene. (Although you all know that we prefer a cup of the working man's brew, Dunkin' Donuts coffee, over here.) A new coffeehouse, Lot 44, is set to hit downtown sometime this spring. Downtown blogger Angelenic has the, um, scoop from founder Ariel Graham: “We......

Photo by pink_fish13 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Police are investigating the tragic shooting death of Los Angeles High School's Jamiel Shaw. The football MVP was gunned down by gang members last night. The 17-year-old's mother is on her second tour of duty in Iraq. The suspect in last week's shooting at a South LA bus stop is facing 15 felony counts and was arraigned today on the charges. The 24-year-old......

Photo by woolennium via flickr It's March 1 and in addition to it being the first official day of spring (in Southern California at least -- cuz we said so): -- Exhibition season is on in Florida and Arizona -- Opening day is less than one month away -- Countdown begins for Malingering's photoessays on the best and worst of the '08 Dodgers (and their fans) Individual Dodgers game tickets are on sale to......

Photo by Skampy via Flickr For the second time in recent months, the federal government tells California that they ">cannot tell cars, and now, ships to lower their emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency argues that "unlike smog and diesel fumes, climate change is a global problem, not a state one," says the LA Times in their leading California section article today. And the EPA is right, it is a global problem. But time is......

Earlier this month, San Diego-based singer/songwriter Tristan Prettyman (MySpace) and G. Love & Special Sauce (MySpace) performed a two-night stint at the House of Blues in West Hollywood as part of their current tour. The duo collaborated on the song "Beautiful", from G. Love's album Lemonade, which was performed last year on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Prettyman, who has been referred to as "the female Jack Johnson," also collaborated on the Lindsay Lohan-themed......

One of my favorite food writers, Jeffrey Steingarten, once did an elaborate and methodical taste test of several different varieties of tap and bottled water. After much research and even more adjectives, he came to the shocking conclusion that New York tap water was most pleasing to the palate. And now Los Angeles tap water has every right to brag as well: it won the award for best municipal water at the 18th annual......

The use of sonar by the Navy off the shores of Southern California has prompted vehement opposition by animal rights and environmental groups, and earlier this year a court order put in place restrictions on the practice. However, reports that a dolphin's death in late January on the island of San Nicolas might be linked to the Navy's use of sonar in a training exercise has once again brought the issue into the spotlight. The......

Photo by puck90 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr An update to this week's tragic Oxnard junior high school shooting: The 15-year-old victim was taken off life support after his organs were donated today. 49-year-old transient Steven Emory Butcher was found guilty of starting one of the largest wildfires in state history. The Day Fire began on Labor Day in 2006, burned over 162,000 acres and took a month to put out.......