As we mentioned earlier today, Los Angeles native Baron Davis is headed home and he's bringing his beard and 21 points per game with him. The former Crossroads School and UCLA standout came to a verbal agreement with the LA's other team, making the Clippers suddenly relevant and a playoff contender. Baron credits the community for his decision telling ESPN, "I'm happy with where I'm going. A big reason is because of the impact and......

A trio of hopeful NBA stars who played their college year(s) in Los Angeles were drafted #3, #4, and #5 in the NBA draft tonight. Following the predictable 1-2 draft picks of Derrick Rose (to Chicago) and Michael Beasley (to Miami), O.J. Mayo, who starred as a freshman guard at USC last year was selected by Minnesota with the #3 pick. UCLA teammates Russell Westbrook, a defensive whiz and the first pick in this years......

Bill Clinton canceled his UCLA Commencement Speech scheduled for this Friday due to the "never-ending" labor disputes between University of California officials and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (it's not the first time for a celebrity to drop their speech for the same issue). But today, Bill Clinton will speak to outgoing eighth-graders from Riviera Hall Lutheran School in Torrance. Why this school? Clinton's nephew Tyler --son of Clinton's brother, Roger-- is......

LA Lakers defeat Boston Celtics 87-81. What an ugly game. Pau Gasol was Ga-soft again. Lamar Odom sat on the bench with foul trouble most of the game. So leave it up to Sasha Vujacic to take up the slack. With 20 points he was the only Laker not named Kobe Bryant to score double-digits. The Lakers were more aggressive as perfectly shown by Jordan Farmar in the second quarter. After getting pushed by......

Coming up on Sunday, June 29 at UCLA is Jewish Geography: Place, Design, Memory, Imagination, a festival presented by Nextbook, an online magazine that also produces events showcasing Jewish culture. Details are available at Nextbook.org, as are $15 passes for the day (no reserved seats for panels, so get ready to stand in line). Among the many notable literary sorts appearing that day are graphic novelist Ben Katchor (Julius Knipl: Real Estate Photographer) and......

LACMA is free today with live music and art workshops. / Photo by pink_fish13 via LAist's flickr pool. There are plenty of non-grilling-related events going on about town, so if you’re not firing up a BBQ today, might want to check a few out. FILM The ArcLight in Sherman Oaks is hosting a “Summer at the Drive In” series – and tonight the summer lovin’ begins with Grease. See pre-Pulp Fiction John Travolta dance......

Interesting interview with Menotti Go next weekend to UCLA to see the Medium, an opera by Gian Carlo Menotti, who sadly passed away last year. Seating is extremely limited, but you guys are in for a treat because its playing four days in a row, it’s FREE, and it’s in English. You can also join us in our dubious distinction as the oddest group of people ever (see the comments). The opera is structured......

"I was sitting in Starbucks studying when all of a sudden these dudes started playing music outside the window and all these people started mobbing around them," explained UCLA student and LAist contributor Henry David. "I was like zoits 'it's the Kooks!'" And so it began: The Kooks invaded Westwood after an unannounced stop in Venice. About 150 people packed out in front of the Village Theatre as the famous band pulled up like rockstars......

More than 100 students from UC Irvine, UCSB, UC Riverside and UCLA attended to protest Wednesday at UCLA. After a meeting of the UC Regents, a group of them were arrested by campus police. When they were released later that night, they sent out this statement regarding their position: The UC Regents Committee on Finance voted overwhelmingly to increase student fees by 7.4 percent for the 2008-2009 school year. This was all done on......

Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr SALSA & MERENGUE DANCING Dance Downtown kicks up its heels tonight for the first installment of the summer-long Friday night series. Free admission to anyone who feels like trying a little salsa out on the Music Center Plaza. Beginner lessons are at 6:30, and a live DJ provides the tunes from 7:15-10. 6:30-10 p.m. // Music Center Plaza // 135 North Grand Avenue,......

Notice that all of the San Fernando Valley is covered except Studio City and Toluca Lake. Other parts of the city that fall into the hot zone are on the Eastside and South LA | Map via Dept. of Water & Power This map shows summer average daily temperatures for the microclimates of the City of Los Angeles and was performed by the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at UCLA. The two temperature zones were......

Photo of the now destroyed Mann National courtesy of Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library. Copyright Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library. Is Westwood making a comeback? The LA Times thinks so, in today's article on the burgeoning real estate development in UCLA's backyard. But isn't this a story we've heard a million times before? It goes something like this: Westwood used to be a great pedestrian area, then it fell......

Photo by Jean-Pierre Stoop, courtesy of UCLA Live Having broken into the international dance scene in 1987, Belgian choreographer/director/filmmaker Wim Vandekeybus is bringing a quasi-retrospective of his work to UCLA Live and Royce Hall for two performances of Spiegel on Friday and Saturday, May 2-3. Translating the title as "Mirror," the ninety minute intermissionless work includes excerpts from his groundbreaking What The Body Does Not Remember (1987) and six of his twenty subsequent creations.......

Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD, died at his home near Basel, Switzerland on Tuesday. Hofmann synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) in 1938 and five years later became the first person to experience a full-blown acid trip. On April 16, 1943, Hofmann inadvertently absorbed a little LSD-25 compound in his fingertips at the Sandoz laboratory (now Novartis) where he worked. In a note to the lab director he described what happened next:“I was......

The LA Times Festival of Books offered something for everyone this weekend. The many panels, author interviews and signing booths were exciting for bookish nerds like us. If you weren't into the bookish side of the book festival, however, there was plenty to whet your appetite. Literally. The food court was full of smoked meats and organic treats and live music could be enjoyed from many open plazas on the UCLA campus. There was even......

Cowboys invade suburbia this weekend at the City of Santa Clarita's annual Cowboy Festival. / Photo by puck90 via LAist's flickr pool. PERFORMANCE The Pacific Resident Theatre remembers the life and works of author William Saroyan (Human Comedy, The Time of Your Life) through music, readings, and guest speakers in honor of Saroyan’s Centennial (1908-2008). This is a one-night only show. 8 pm // Pacific Resident Theatre // 703 Venice Blvd., Venice // $12.......

Photo by Ric Francis/AP It was a year ago today that a student gunned down 32 people in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech. The incident was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Today at UCLA, college students, alumni and family members of gun violence victims participated in a lie-in on the campus in memory of the victims killed at the tradegy. Nationally similar events were held to remember the tragedy. School campuses have......

Photo by kpe II via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr GRAFFITI German graffiti artists, known as Herakut, takes over the walls of Carmichael Gallery starting tonight. The artists will be there celebrating their first show stateside. Open bar. 8 p.m. // Carmichael Gallery // 1257 N. La Brea Ave, West Hollywood // (323) 969-0600 // Free DRIVE-IN Hedwig and the Angry Inch is shown tonight on a giant wall while you sit......

Even Current TV caught the UCLA Undie Run bug a couple years ago. If you missed this last quarters action, here's the photo gallery.......

The paparazzi's extreme Britney coverage is costly to taxpayers | Photo by pointnshoot via Flickr Citing that there are already laws on the books, the LAPD opposed a proposal to make a "personal safety zone" paparazzi law to the Police Commission today. 3rd District Councilman Dennis Zine introduced the idea after the LAPD used $25,000 to transport Britney Spears to UCLA Medical a mere 6 or so miles in order to keep her safe......

It all started in the media with Britney Spears. Staff at UCLA Medical snuck an unauthorized look at her medical records which led to the hospital looking into firing thirteen employees, suspending six others and disciplining six physicians. And UCLA admitted to the LA Times this wasn't the first time staff had spied on Spears' records leading to sackings. It happened in 2005 when she gave birth to her son Sean Preston at Santa Monica-UCLA......

This week's classical pick takes us to the Westside (believe it or not) with the Seattle Symphony making their debut at Royce Hall. The Seattle Symphony is headed by Gerard Schwarz, who has turned this once struggling group into a top notch orchestra that is recognized internationally with the help of frequent recordings and its support of American composers. Although they are often known for their performances of later 20th century repertoire, the symphony......

American Idol eat your heart out. The men's NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament is down to its final four teams, and for the first time all four #1 seeds are in the Final Four since the Tournament started seeding in 1979. This should prove to be great ratings for CBS and a great watching experience for all of us. UCLA Bruins vs Memphis Tigers. Tigers coach John Calipari completely changed his offensive philosophy this......

Returning to Westwood after a five year absense, Montreal postmodern dance company La La La Human Steps brings its newest explosion of clasical technique, high speed dancing and punk attitude to Royce Hall this weekend through UCLA Live. Choreographed by Artistic Director Edouard Lock, "Amjad" re-fashions the romantic ballets that inspired it through the voracious dancing of nine extraordinary movers, film and original music composed and played live on stage by Bang on a Can's......

Dodgers defeats Giants 5-0. A 5-0 win to usher in the 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. The Dodgers looked like World Series contenders against a Giant's team many expect to lose more than 100 games. Jeff Kent hit his 18th opening day RBI with a two-run homer in the first inning, the most among active players. Brad Penny pitched 6 2/3 innings of shut out ball in which he admits he was subpar while......

Photo by Try Hank via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The "severely decomposed" body of an infant has been found in Santa Ana. An area resident saw a dog playing with something unusual, which turned out to be the baby, whose body has been taken to the Orange County coroner's office for an autopsy. Police may now be ruling yesterday's 101 freeway death a suicide, reports the Daily News. Initial reports intimated......

Via GOOD Magazine's blog, we find Andy Bower's video report for Slate.com on the "stupidest bike lane in America," which happens to be in the same neighborhood as one of the most respected schools in the nation -- UCLA. The 275 ft. class II bike lane runs on Gayley between Levering and Weyburn Avenues (interactive map below, lane marked in orange, try finding it!) If you've got a stupider bike lane, he welcomes you......

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the level......

At UCLA, spring break officially begins today after exams, but as tradition states, on the Wednesday of finals week, students must undress and run like there's no tomorrow (it's rumored that former President Bill Clinton will join in on the next Undie Run before he addresses graduates at the main commencement ceremony in June). As usual, here's some of the craziness that took place, beginning at the Strathmore tunnel.........

Rockets 104, Lakers 92 - Pau Gasol is out indefinitely with a sprained ankle, but losing your big man is no excuse if you ask Houston. The Rockets have won 22 in a row and 10 straight since Yao Ming went down. Los Angeles is now looking up at Houston, who owns the West's best record at 46-20 -- one game ahead of the Lakers. Kobe Bryant had 24 points, but most impressively held Tracy......