Jennifer Perla and seven others, including her sister, were on the way to their Taft High School prom night at the California Science Center when the driver lost control, overturning the vehicle on the 110 Freeway. 16-year-old Perla, the only one not wearing a seatbelt, died when she apparently was thrown from the 2003 Chevrolet SUV. She was wearing a purple dress. "She looked so beautiful in that dress. She was stunning," her older brother told the LA Times. "You just can't imagine. It's horrible. Plain horrible... She was very popular in high school. Very friendly, very loving, beautiful." more ›

too cool The LA Times takes a special interactive look back at real estate hotspots and starts with the Pacific Electric building at 6th and Main. While the tour guide notes the building now has loft-dwellers who share rides to Coachella, he entirely skips Cole's PE Buffet on the ground floor. Cole's serves both a mean dip sandwich and fantastic beer on tap — between you and us, it's one of the best bars in the city. more ›

drop like a Stone Rolling Stone Keith Richards was airlifted to a New Zealand hospital after falling out of a palm tree in Fiji, where he was vacationing. It's serious, but it looks like he'll be OK. more ›

LA has unveiled a plan to spend $100 million on the homeless. The allocation includes many housing solutions, including establishing five "stabilization centers" around the city, which would be open 24-7 to provide services, treatment, and housing. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky says it's "a proposal of historic proportions." The Board of Sups is expected to vote on the plan next month. more ›

That disturbance at the Convention Center — would you believe it was a Fame-style riot? "Dozens of youths, some wearing gang colors, reportedly began to spar with vendors and dance on cars and disobeyed police orders to disperse," Channel 2 reports. Someone heard a balloon popping and thought it was a gun. The massive rally of police force seems to be, uh, disproportionate to the incident. more ›

Much like the New England Patriots, Taft High School seems like a team of destiny. The two time national Academic Decathlon champions have won the district tournament and move one step closer to another national championship. Their win comes on the same day that Governor Schwarzenegger called for the breaking up of LAUSD while throwing his support in the Mayoral race to Bob Hertzberg. more ›