Celebrity, politician, or regular joe, foreclosures can happen to anyone. It happened to U.S. Representaive Laura Richardson in Sacramento and now it's happening to "heeeeeeeere's Johnny" Ed McMahon at his Studio City home. McMahon is fighting it, but is $644,000 behind in mortgage payments. "Mr. McMahon broke his neck in a fall about 18 months ago and hasn't been able to work," said Howard Bragman, a spokesman for Mr. McMahon, per the Wall Street Journal.......

As you drive "over the hill" from the Valley to Hollywood along Laurel Canyon Blvd., there's a sign there asking for donations to save some plots of land from development. No, it isn't a citizens' group or a non-profit for wilderness, it's a government agency. "Donated funds needed immediately to save these six acres under option by part agency," it reads. In a cash-strapped time for governments, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is asking......

While ordering tacos this past weekend, Pat at Eating L.A. noticed that Cardone's Deli on Sunset had been replaced by a new place called The Vegan Spot. "There are seriously a lot of vegan places in Silver Lake and Echo Park already. (Cru, Flore Cafe, Elf, at least four Thai places, etc.) So we're just wondering, are there really that many vegans on the near-Eastside?" One Food Network chef say Tapas could be the next......

Photo of a burger from The Counter by Malinger/LAist There's two bits of good news and one part bad. First, the good: The Counter, of Santa Monica make-your-own-burger fame, is opening a location in Studio City at Laurel Canyon and Ventura Blvd. It was supposed to open this past Winter, but due to stringent health code standards and rumored pressure from future competitors making it harder for them to start business, the opening of......

Photo of Next Door Tapas interior by Zach Behrens for LAist Next Door Tapas is a swanky and intimate little lounge in Studio City, perfect for a weekend or late evening bite -- just don't plan on being there before 6pm. Despite the 5pm opening that's advertised on most review websites, we showed up at 5:30 only to find half-dressed tables and an unready staff. The wine menu was quick to arrive once we......

Meet the future location of Studio Oaks Park where a grassroots effort is the only way this strip of unusable, rat-infested land will become a park. In Los Angeles, if you really want to get something done, you've got to take it upon yourself. In the southeast Valley, residents are doing just that.......

I recently finished reading Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food", and I couldn't wait to get out to the Studio City farmer's market this morning. I stuck a couple of twenty-dollar bills in my back pocket and threw a "Ventura County Fair!!!" tote bag over my arm. $22.50 and about half an hour later, I lugged this load home: one bunch of sweet carrots, one large head of cabbage, one bunch rainbow chard, three......

And you thought your monthly rent was high... TMZ has gotten their hands on some paperwork form Love Shack Trust sent to Britney Spears over her Malibu rental home. Says TMZ: "The documents, dated February 14, states that Brit was more than two weeks late in paying her $35,000-a-month rent. A $2,100 late charged kicked in, which was not paid. The documents state that Love Shack must either pay up or "surrender and deliver up......

Cobblestone, Cheese souffle, and coffee @Panera | Photo by Lindsay William-Ross/LAist Occasionally breakfast-time can't be a thing of luxury. Granted, it's the most important meal of the day, but it's also not something we all get to sit down for and order up a spread of tantalizing goodness, particularly if its a weekday and there are things that need to get done. Breakfast criteria then equals: Coffee, sustenance, and free wireless internet. This is......

We seemed to have missed Santa Monica based Krandon as a Wednesday night resident at Molly Malone's. The lightly meditative and chill alternative indie band's name comes from an abandoned James Joyce play written in collaboration with physicist Neils Bohr according to the band's MySpace page. If that's a little too esoteric for you, our Wednesday night pick this month is a little more down home folk style, but with a loud presence -- Brian......

So I'm a fairly new resident of Studio City, and am still discovering little surprises on this side of town. Driving down Ventura, I have twice noticed a small, nondescript building bearing a sign with the letters ICA at Colfax Ave., which, upon closer examination while sitting at a red light, rest above the casually printed name "Intercontinental Absurdities." Clearly, this was something that called for investigation. It sounded a bit like something out......

Near the Studio City-Sherman Oaks border on Moorpark Street at Longridge near Fulton is a new spacious and clean contemporary feeling coffeehouse. M Street Coffee opened about a month ago serving the regular fare of espresso, macchiato, americano, cappucino, and chai teas. Eco and vegan friendly, they have organic frappes, soy and organic milks and fruit smoothies with raw vitamin complex add-ons. All are served in eco-friendly containers. According to a Chowhound review, Gene Liebenau,......

Some say photo agencies are hiring gang members to follow Britney with cameras | Photo by pointnshoot via Flickr Yesterday's Britney Spears conservatorship hearing was like a ghost town. You see, only lawyers representing both sides of the family were there and in the end, father James Spears' temporary control over her life and estate was extended until at least March 10, allowing him to handle financial matters at the moment such as her......

For over seven years, the Rebels of Comedy have created a warm and welcoming environment in one of America's most notoriously vicious industries. The comedy troop regularly brings Los Angele venues the biggest names and best up-and-coming talent in stand-up. Tonight, the Rebels will put on two shows at the Hollywood Improv featuring Joe Rogan (Fear Factor) and Ahmed Ahmed (Axis of Evil Comedy Tour and Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Tour), plus a wild......

We've never been to the Celebrity Center for a concert, but we can vouch for Cowboy (not Country!) musician Dave Stamey if you're into that kind of thang. Still, for those inclined to roots music, The Arthur Adams Band will be at the Baked Potato in Studio City playing blues. The Arthur Adams Band @ The Baked Potato Editors, Hot Hot Heat, Louis XIV @ The Wiltern Manic Hispanic, Death by Stereo, GG Elvis &......

The paparazzi's extreme Britney coverage is costly to taxpayers | Photo by pointnshoot via Flickr It took the LAPD nearly "two dozen police officers, a helicopter and a special team" to block roads and escort Britney Spears in an ambulance with covered windows from her Mulholland Drive Studio City Home to UCLA Medical Center early yesterday morning. They even had a code name, The Package, for her so paparazzi listening to police scanners would......

Having once been employed "Sephora-adjacent," I spent almost every lunch hour smudging, applying, testing, and sniffing my way to beauty heaven. In my younger years, I broke beauty rules with abandon: avoided sleep, smoked, drank, and wore tons of makeup (to bed!) without a care. I'm now in that precarious position of aging skin - a hormonal roller-coaster that brings three unwelcome guests: wrinkles and zits, with the odd allergic reaction. Like Ebenezer Scrooge,......

Get your green drink on tonight. WORDS Author and USC professor Gina Nahai and actress Bahar Soomekh (Crash) read from Nahai’s latest book Caspian Rain – about a family falling apart just before the Islamic revolution in Iran. Immediately following, there’s a discussion of the changing lives of women of the Middle East, and relationships between Iran’s Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as how these communities interact in Los Angeles, “home to the largest......

Ryan Adams sucks and Matt Costa is all the way in Long Beach, so if there's anything worth checking out tonight that you probably haven't done, then it's some salsa dancing in Studio City with Johnny Polanco (pictured right). His band has "contagious Latin Music that is truly appreciated by the dancing connoisseurs." Rock. Johnny Polanco y Su Conjunto Amistad @ Mama Juana's Bone Thugs-N-Harmony @ Crash Mansion Poison the Well, The Locust, Dance Gavin......

Update on why Ventura Blvd. in Studio City was shut down this afternoon by the LAPD: according to the North Hollywood Police Division, the shooting took place at De Soto Ave and Gresham St. in Chatsworth. Later, the suspect's car was found at the Studio City 7-11, prompting the LAPD shut down the area to search (hence all the helicopters). The suspect was later found in the city of Fontana and was arrested without......

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So, looking forward to the Golden Globes tomorrow night? If you like lists being read aloud (and, really, who doesn't?) then NBC has a show for you. But, wait, there's more! Since the news conference announcing the winners will take one hour, NBC is filling the other two hours originally scheduled for the Globes with a "Dateline" special, including interviews to be conducted by Matt Lauer with some actors that are up for some......

1. Go to the beach, all bundled up, and see how beautiful the water is when it's gray and white. 2. Check the weather and say things like, "WTF? I live in Southern California for a reason, dammit." 3. Go ice skating downtown in Pershing Square and see good bands. 4. Slather cream over my cracked hands and bitch about paper cuts. 5. Freak out when my Studio City street floods in the rain due......

Just because the federal government can legally rob a medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles, it doesn't mean you can too. On Friday, in two separate incidents in the Valley, a dispensary on Cahuenga Boulevard in North Hollywood and Golden State Collective, 10369 Balboa Blvd., in Granada Hills, both got robbed in takeovers. On Sunday, the Granada Hills robbers were caught, according to the Daily News:During the heist, one shot was fired, ricocheting off......

In media, saturation is key. This weekend in Los Angeles, there are two storms wrecking their havoc on our city; one of them involves buckets of rain, and the other involves Britney Spears. Both of them are causing different kinds of deluges. Rainfall totals aside, Britney's most recent series of very high profile breakdown-ing, meltdown-ing, custody losing, and hospital admitting actions has caused a media frenzy, which probably doesn't come as much surprise to most.......

As of 12:30 a.m. tonight, 10,300 LADWP customers went without power throughout the city, primarily due to downed wires from the weather, according to a press release from the city agency. Crews have been deployed to the scattered outages, affecting the following areas and number of customers: South LA 1,153 Cheviot Hills 1,442 Knollwood 151 Mid City 561 Granada Hills 12 Belair Estates 4 Country Club Park 29 Studio City 38 North Hollywood 3,257 Westchester......

Ed LaDou, the father of modern California-style pizza, has died of cancer at age 52 in Santa Monica. LaDou is best known for his work at Wolfgang Puck's legendary Spago; LaDou was the first to experiment with unusual and innovative pizza toppings like duck and smoked salmon, and he also helped develop the menu for the casual dining chain California Pizza Kitchen. From The LA Times: "Ed really set the tone for the pizza,"......

This photo of Britney Spears has nothing to do with tonight's incident, but is still ridiculously funny CBS 2 11 O'Clock News Live is reporting that six LAPD units, one ambulance and a fire engine were dispatched to Britney Spears' Mulholland Drive home at 8:00 p.m. tonight over Spears and Kevin Federline's ongoing custody battle (earlier today, we reported that Spears' lawyers gave up on her). We've learned Spears has refused to turn her......

If you're not mall-ward bound, frantically baking fruitcake, cleaning house for arriving relatives, or headed to LAX, there are still plenty of things to do tonight in LA. FILM "Yippee Ki-yay, mother..." You get the idea. The Aero Theatre is showing a badass Christmastime double feature tonight. On the bill is the original Die Hard and 2003's Bad Santa, starring Billy Bob Thornton. Ah, the familiar holiday cinema classics. 7:30 p.m. // Aero Theatre......

Even though I've eaten at Studio City's Caioti Pizza Cafe a bunch of times in the past, I never knew there was a bizarre urban legend associated with the casual eatery. Apparently, one salad on their menu is purported to induce labor in expectant women. Today's "Only in LA" column in the Times checks in with the restaurant to see if the myth still holds. Steve Harvey explains, "The trend supposedly began after some very......