Michael Mersola was the executive of a wealthy construction and real estate family business in Burbank. But then in the early 1990s, there were reports that Mersola was hanging around high schools in Burbank and luring girls with pot, housing and cash. more ›

Every Monday morning, Rick Orlov of the Daily News and Steve Hymon of the LA Times write their weekly "what's going on at city hall" columns. Orlov brings an interesting story about City Council Member Dennis Zine, who represents the 3rd District in the West Valley. Zine has been given a cease and desist order from Warner Bros. over a lapel pin he has used for years as a political token to supporters. It... more ›

Making the fight that "Los Angeles is not Manhattanizing," William Fulton of the School of Planning, Policy and Development at USC lays down the groundwork on what LA was supposed to be and why it never happened in one of the single most informative articles about Los Angeles that we've read in recent months:In the 1970s, when L.A.'s suburbs began sprouting, the city adopted, in 1974, an innovative general zoning plan that called for... more ›

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco. more ›

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic night" and sang a custom version of Madonna's "Borderline" to a much-beleaguered board member. more ›

The good thing about Chicago is that the beach that lines its Eastern border is all public beach. That's not so true about the city's suburbs. And in Malibu, it's tricky at best (remember the whole Geffen debacle?) But there are workarounds and if you want to get your sexy nerd tan on, the Los Angeles Urban Rangers have announced their "Malibu Public Beaches" Safari: The "Malibu Public Beaches" safaris will show you how... more ›

interview by Carolyn Kellogg A year ago Tony Pierce took over the reigns of LAist, and I have to say he's done wonders with the place. It's bigger and shinier and got a gorgeous crowd standing out front (that's you). Will he tell us what it's like behind the LAist editor's curtain? Can we ever really know the man, the blogger, Tony Pierce? Carolyn Kellogg: Where'd you grow up, Tony? I was born in... more ›

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. more ›

The concept of being an over-18 male virgin in LA isn't a foreign one to LAist, if it wasn't for that night in the Honda in Ventura a few days after our 21st birthday (thnx Michelle) who knows how long it may have taken us to lose it. But no way would we have gone on MTV to be taped for Suburban Virgin, a new show the teen-orientated former music network is now casting... more ›

It's hard to find people as passionate about LA's underrated downtown as some of the folks at LAist, but we have to admit the readers of Los Angeles Downtown News might give us a run for our money in the downtown passion department. In particular a reader by the name of Frederick, who had a "glass half empty" response to the downtown BID's recently published (and very self-congratulating) 2006 Demographic Study of New Downtown Residents and called out his fellow downtowners for bringing a suburban ethos to the center city. more ›

In what could turn out to be a long, expensive, and revealing lawsuit, Tommy Lasorda, the great former manager of the LA Dodgers, swears that he will sue if the tell-all autobiography "Secrets of a Hollywood Super Madam" is released on Thursday. Hollywood madam Jody "Babydol" Gibson was popped eight years ago for pimping out high-priced hookers, porn stars, and Playboy models throughout 16 states. She was given three years but served less than... more ›

Next for the New York Times in LA: Gangs "At twilight on Friday, in the heart of the territory of the latest notorious Los Angeles gang, a woman in a passing car calls out a tip to Officer Dan Robbins, sending him racing toward a corner and a man he believes is a member of the 204th Street gang." (New York Times) Occidental College claims Obama "U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is usually described as... more ›

by Evan Storey Maybe it's already time to store away your memories of this year's Sunset Junction Street Festival, or maybe, as in my case, they're a bit too hazy to even give it a try. Nevertheless, as yet another non-native I feel it worthwhile to comment on the admirable atmosphere that my other non-native friends and I experienced. Growing up in the suburbs of Phoenix socialized me into assuming you can force a... more ›

Book people are the luckiest people in the world because they get to read what they love while on the job. So we envy Robyn Kamimura, the assistant Promotional Director at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena. She organizes book signings for authors and gets to meet and greet the celebrated and the strange everyday. Robyn contributes to the books column in the Arroyo Monthly magazine. She also writes a kick-ass email newsletter for the store. You can sign up for her weekly dispatches here more ›

by Mae, 24, Detroit The City itself is interesting enough in its own right. Although known for its thick layer of smog enveloping the downtown like a shroud so suffocating that on sluggishly unclear days the buildings are indistinguishable through the toxins permeating the air, the city is strangely beautiful. Sections of the downtown are clean, free of the refuse one would presume would litter the streets. Few transients linger about--during the day, at... more ›

Clowns are scary. Especially in the parking lot of a shopping center in the suburbs as your mom waits in an SUV. more ›

LAist understands that Angelenos do a lot of things while driving that they shouldn't. more ›

Londonist prepares a Happy Birthday bath for Buddah this week and then things get all cliched. A madman goes on a rampage while axe-wiedling and London's mayor warns an American diplomat to avoid the kitchen if the heat bothers him so much. more ›

Sometimes you just can't win, can you? With gas prices at an all-time high, and a seemingly neverending rush hour on LA freeways, this LAist poster decided to ditch the car and take Metrolink -- yes, public transportation -- from the northern suburbs to the day job in downtown LA. more ›

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We hadn't seen much connection between the riots in Parisian suburbs and Los Angeles but according to Fred Hutchison at Renew America, the connection is obvious: our liberal mind is just too addled to see it. more ›

We heard it through the grapevine - actually, through Neil Gaiman's weblog - and we're just about to lose our minds. Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, the famous South Bay independent bookstore, has closed its doors after 50 years. more ›

Speaking of walking, we noticed that this 3/14/2005 Los Angeles Times story about a growing grass-roots movement that encourages the growth of walking-friendly neighborhoods and suburbs has a SoCal slant- more ›