After a long hiatus, The Like are back tonight. | Photo by WishByNight via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr "I've never seen so many people dancing on stage throughout a band's set," described LAist News Editor Andy Sternberg, who went to the Foxboro Hot Tubs' show at the Roxy last night. "Billy Joe was loving it." Tonight, the Green Day side project heads down to Alex's Bar in Long Beach. The website says no......

Tonight we say goodbye to McNulty, Bunk, Freaman, Greggs and the rest of the cast of The Wire Back in June 2002, a crime drama from the minds of former Baltimore Sun writer David Simon (who spoke at USC earlier this week) and former Baltimore police officer Ed Burns made its debut on HBO. The Wire was more than just another cop show, it was an examination of both sides of the Baltimore drug......

So The Torrance Police Department busted these four people living in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. It turns out that they weren't tipped off by his Afghan rocket launcher, or the imitation police badges, or even the "Anarchist Cookbook" and other illegal books. They were busted because the police where there looking for drugs, and apparently ended up hitting the jackpot. The house was located near the intersection of 190th and Rindge,......

First, some non-tonight news. This is for Sunday, but you should know now. The Police have added a second Hollywood Bowl show on Wednesday, May 28. They play with Elvis Costello. "General on-sale begins March 9 - that’s this Sunday - at 10am," says LosAnjealous. And how about some American Idol News? Despite local Samanta Sidley of Alex & Sam getting snubbed from moving on in the competition, another local, Chikezie, a 22-year-old from Inglewood,......

A puppet show without Kermit: Concrete Folk Variations at The Manual Archives / Photo by Susan Simpson MEET THE PO-PO The public’s invited to meet the police and talk about safety issues at a neighborhood meeting between the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council, the Glassell Park Safety Committee and LAPD. Senior Lead Officer for Atwater Village Gina Chovan, gang detectives and City Attorney Donna Wong will be in attendance. 4 pm // Glassell Park Community......

Santee Village Apartments | Photo by atomicshakespeares via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr It's not the same thrill as being singled out as a draft pick when it's the police who want you: "An arrest warrant has been issued by the Irvine Police Department for St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Scott Spiezio on six charges stemming from a Dec. 30 incident." Police in Burbank are investigating the mysterious death of 47-year-old Glen Giles,......

This apartment complex next to the NoHo Metro Red Line was rumored to have many gang-related police calls when it opened | Photo by lavocado@sbcglobal.net via Flickr So that's why cops were all over the Valley this morning. The Daily News is reporting that around 200 cops raided 15 homes, arresting 16, in an early morning operation called "Wild Card" which is "the police department's effort to challenge a particularly active and violent clique......

The Daily Breeze is reporting that police were searching earlier this morning for a possible gunman at California State Dominguez Hills in Carson: Two students apparently reported around 8:30 a.m. they saw a gunman carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing a green jacket and no shirt, according to news reports. The alleged gunman may have also had additional canisters of ammunition around his waist and he was headed toward Lacorte Hall, an building of......

Photo provided to the press by the family of Eileen Orta For the second time in two months, police and rescue workers overlooked a woman's dead body in a vehicle that was in their possession. The Pomona Police Department announced today that the body of 22-year-old Eileen Nicole Ponce-Orta was discovered inside of her van on Friday. Police initially summoned the Orta family to remove the illegally parked vehicle before it was impounded. In......

Move a strip club into a neighborhood full of single family homes and you're looking for a big freak out. Skin is set to open at 3388 S. Robertson Blvd. (that's where Robertson, Exposition and Venice all meet) pending a police permit hearing set for tonight. A well organized South Robertson community effort has delayed the opening of the new local amenity at the border of Los Angeles and Culver City. "SKIN may have been......

Outside the scene of Heath Ledger's death in NYC | Photo by Tien Mao, Gothamist.com Gothamist, parent site to LAist, is reporting the death of Heath Ledger. "Actor Heath Ledger was found dead in downtown Manhattan apartment by the police. Some reports say he died from an overdose." Ledger lived on Broome street. Ledger was a rising star and actor from Australia, known for his work in Brokeback Mountain, which earned him a best......

The 4th St. bridge and 3rd Street is closed between Alameda and Central due to an explosion at 637 E. 3rd St. Unknown in nature at this point, the explosion left one LAPD officer with minor injuries who was transported to the hospital. Another officer in the patrol car was not hurt....

Bobby Fischer died this week. He was totally insane and totally brilliant, a prodigy and a pariah. In the world he inhabited, the only thing you could possibly do was throw up your hands and move to Iceland. Chess players, you know? Twelve California research institutions (including UCLA and USC) are in the running for $263 million dollars worth of valuable stem-cell research funding from the the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The body......

Video grab image from TMZ. Watch a video of the incident over there. Some of the most annoying and disgusting people in Los Angeles are the cut-throat paparazzi. There is a special circle in hell reserved for them. Last night around 11:20 p.m., Britney Spears was driving in Mission Hills in the Valley. LAPD Mission Division officers on routine patrol observed several vehicles traveling at a high rate of speed and making dangerous lane......

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Sheperd Fairey Mural Photo for Whiskerino by Osmany Rodriguez, LAist BFF Sons and daughters of Thebes, behold: this was Dennis Kucinich, greatest of men. Behold, what a full tide of misfortune has swept over his head: "The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that MSNBC is not required to include [Kucinich] in its scheduled Democratic presidential debate." In Xan-Vegas did Heidi Fleiss/ A stately pleasure-dome decree/ Where Sex, the profane river, ran/ Through caverns measureless......

The Police Commission approved earlier this month to agree with the LAPD federal consent decree that officers in specialized units dealing with narcotics and gangs must "disclose all of their sole and jointly owned assets, liabilities and income every two years. Refusal to disclose such information would bar officers from working in those units." And refusal is what they will do if the city writes the policy down as law. 500 LAPD officers in these specialized units will request transfers or retire before abiding by this 'draconian' financial disclosure requirement....

The community of Watts seems to be undergoing a shift in atmosphere, reports the Daily News, as the area's gang violence has been decreasing, thanks in part to the Watts Gang Task Force. In terms of statistics, homicides were halved last year from the year before--11 in 2007 as compared to the 24 in 2006, and 2007 saw "a three-month stretch without a single slaying. Gang homicides for the approximately 1-square-mile home to an estimated......

The answer is yes, there was good chance that these two domestic violence related homicides could have been prevented. If it took place in another part of the city, say the Van Nuys area, Eagle Rock, Hollywood, South LA, or even the Pacific Palisades, something maybe could have been done. Though, in Tunjunga where two murders took place yesterday, under the jurisdiction of the the LAPD's Foothill Division, the funding just wasn't there for a......

(c) Andy Summers and courtesy of TASCHEN" src="http://laist.com/attachments/la_andy/andy_summers_crowd.jpg" width="640" height="403" /> Amoeba was not quite as crowded last night for Andy Summers' "I'll Be Watching You: Inside The Police 1980-83" book signing as was the Austin record store that the photographer, author, and erst-while guitarist for The Police captured in B/W from the set of a 1980 in-store appearance. But Summers was kept busy for over two hours signing copies of the impressive, nearly......

Andy Summers will be at Amoeba Music tonight @ 6pm to sign his just-out book from Taschen, I'll Be Watching You: Inside The Police 1980-83. There are so many things we could say about this man, about this band, about this book. But all you really need to know is that Andy Summers, guitarist for The Police, is a kick-ass photographer and he's documented three phenomenal years of The Police touring the world. You could......

Jeffrey Lawrence Weaver was sentenced today to 40 years to life in prison for the killing of a man whose remains were left to rot in a Van Nuys storage unit. Weaver is one of two men convicted in this case. Today the "judge said he would recommend that Weaver never be released on parole" because of the extreme nature of the killing. The couple found this weekend dead of an apparent murder-suicide have been......

The week in Los Angeles bookish events from Monday, January 7th - Sunday, January 13th. Readings, signings and bookish events this week include Andy Summers, Jami Attenberg, Judith Freeman, Alice Fulton, J.A. Jance and Robert Gottlieb....

The Los Angeles Fire Department is reporting an 8 vehicle traffic accident at 1301 S. La Brea with 2 critical and 11 minor patients reported thus far. No extrication was needed and further details are forthcoming. In an event most likely to be unrelated, shots were fired on Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills around 3 p.m. today. "A gunman in a black Mercedes-Benz fired several shots along Wilshire Boulevard Wednesday, but no one is believed......

Photo by Ryan Jesena in his Photo Essay of Burning Man 2007 2007 was a year of incredible growth for LAist. Us, the writers, you, the readers, found and discovered much of Los Angeles and we look forward to even more in 2008 with more hyperlocal coverage, more neighborhood explorations, more local news, more arts and events and more food (got suggestions? e-mail zach(@)laist.com). The most recommended story of the year was Malingering's CrossFit......

Unemployment is no longer an issue for LA's population of feral cats. The stray and often unfriendly felines that are known for populating local neighborhoods and prowling the streets for food and shelter have been put to work as rat-catchers for the LAPD in some of their stations through the assistance of The Working Cats program of Voice for the Animals. The non-profit organization explains on their website that a feral cat is defined as......

L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. just announced that Mischa Barton was pulled over at 2:46AM this morning while driving in the 900 block of north La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood. According to the police report, her vehicle was seen "straddling two lanes of traffic and failed to signal when making a turn." And what's "straddling two lanes of traffic" code for? Driving drunk. Once it was determined that she was "under the influence of an......

California Highway Patrol Officer Joshua Blackburn, charged with stealing $1 million worth of cocaine being held as evidence, has had his arraignment postponed at his lawyer's request until early next month, KTLA is reporting. The 32-year-old Murietta man (pictured) has been with the CHP for six years, and remains in the Orange County Jail on $4 million bail. His arraignment had been scheduled for yesterday, but the alleged drug nabber's attorney has stated that he......

Last night, 20 year old Ricardo Hernandez was killed by gunfire in a gang-related shooting in Pacoima. The incident took place in the 11800 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The Daily News is reporting the arrest of 30 year old Pablo Serrano who is "veteran documented gang member possibly trying to make a name for himself." The incident and subsequent arrest occured when during a routing air patrol the police "began following a speeding car......

It's starting to feel like a Michael Connelly novel chock full of mob hits and urban noir. The Pink Elephant liquor store in Los Feliz, a mysterious suitcase and body parts found in a dumpster. Much is still unexplained after the body's discovery on Friday, which broke in the news last night. A store worker was throwing away boxes at the store on the 1600 block of Western Avenue when he noticed the suitcase and......