*UPDATE: 4:30 p.m. After six hours the 101 eastbound at the 405 was reopened. No witnesses have come forward with information about the incident, which is believed to be a car-to-car shooting that took place following a dispute. Police are asking for any witnesses to come forward to help the investigation. This is the second post-argument car-to-car shooting on the 101 in the Valley this year. *UPDATE 10:40 a.m.:The eastbound 101 at the 405 has......

Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr It's official: Police have identified the Green Skeleton Bandit who was fatally shot earlier this week when he was caught in the act of robbing the AutoZone in NoHo by a US Marshal. He was 24-year-old Lawrence Dean Smith Jr. of Palmdale who used a knife and wore a skeleton-themed sweatsuit in his robberies. Fight for the right to ficus! Local activists in......

Photo by Andrew at Here in Van Nuys A couple weeks ago, Andrew Hurvitz at the Here in Van Nuys blog snapped this photo of the Sherman Way tunnel under the Van Nuys Airport and questioned the state of security. "Is it just my foolish and suspicious imagination that sees this tagged up tunnel as something which raises questions about security at Van Nuys Airport?" he asked. "This is evidence that security right on......

A 33-year-old white woman from Sherman Oaks, now living in Eugene, Oregon, has made national headlines today as news comes that her memoir was largely fabricated. Last week, Margaret Seltzer who goes by the pen name Margaret B. Jones was featured in the New York Times' Home & Garden section in a fascinating story about her book, "Love and Consequences." One LAist reader explains her fascination about it in an e-mail: I read the home......

There's something scary about this scene that took place a few weeks ago in Glassell Park, which ended with LAPD Officers shooting two alleged gang members, injuring one and killing another: The Nissan suddenly stopped and Daniel Leon, 22, and Jose Angel Gomez, 18, jumped out and began shooting at officers, Leon with an AK-47 rifle and Gomez with a handgun. Now, this past week, we hear of three more officer involved shootings. Are criminals......

UPDATE, 8:50 A.M.: One suspect has now been arrested and the LAPD says the man who was shot and killed last night by officers was apparently holding a camera tripod according to the LA Times. This is all sounding eerily similar to last week's Glassell Park shooting. Last night before 7:00 p.m., a Van Nuys LAPD division unit stopped a car. Then things went wrong says the Daily News: Two officers from the violent crime......

Still Life with Seasonings, by Alex Kehr via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr An investigation by the Daily News found that, as the DWP has increased rates they continue to issue cars to more than 100 employees who are free to take them home. Proponents of the program say the cost of the vehicles is offset by the tax breaks the department receives from the hybrids they drive. Other people say, You're shitting......

Photo by puck90 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr An update to this week's tragic Oxnard junior high school shooting: The 15-year-old victim was taken off life support after his organs were donated today. 49-year-old transient Steven Emory Butcher was found guilty of starting one of the largest wildfires in state history. The Day Fire began on Labor Day in 2006, burned over 162,000 acres and took a month to put 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,......

As we reported earlier, the two-month Writers Guild of America strike is nearly over. WGA-East members voted heard about the proposal earlier and West members weighed in at 7 p.m. Some are already questioning the deal, but most expressed relief that the work stoppage is about to come to an end. Stay tuned to LAist for excellent coverage. A man was shot this morning in North Hollywood by an alleged gang member who approached......

KNX1070 is reporting that "a police manhunt is ongoing West of a Washington Mutual bank at Ventura and Topanga Canyon in Woodland Hills. Authorities are searching for two armed kidnapping suspects." Things were something close to touch-and-go late this afternoon on the Blue Line near 5501 S Long Beach Ave when a female pedestrian fell near the tracks as a train passed by, but did not have any direct contact with the train itself.......

Video by Zach Behrens/LAist LAist and Video The Vote teamed up to visit Dharma & Greg/Pump Up The Volume actor Mimi Kennedy over at her Van Nuys polling location where she is the poll inspector. She also happens to be the National Chair of the Progressive Democrats of America and sits on the California Election Protection Network. In the video, see the spot you're supposed to check if you are registered as a non-partisan......

Inside a Fatburger location in Van Nuys Lovie Yancey, who launched what eventually became the popular Fatburger chain of burger-and-fries joints, died January 26th of pneumonia here in Los Angeles. Initially called Mr. Fatburger, the fast-food restaurant first opened in 1947. Hoping to capitalize on the burger trend that was becoming increasingly popular, Yancey dropped the "Mr." in 1952 and by 1981 was offering franchises of what was now known as "The Last Great......

Andrew Hurvitz, who many know from Here in Van Nuys, snaps this shot of the behemoth Rice Bowl image at Wilshire and Vermont and submitted it the LAist Featured Photos Pool. Some love the architecture and art: Even though I find this neither simple nor minimalistic, I like it a lot!" Some hate it: "That is an ugly, architecturally inept building." The LA Times doesn't like it either. Photo by Here in Van Nuys......

LA's homeless population is filling up local shelters, with some trying to gain permission from officials to allow people to stay inside 24 hours a day. Extra cots have been set up, and shelters like the Union Rescue Mission are at capacity. Many Southern California Edison customers found themselves without power last night thanks to the weather. The primary concentration of outages was in the Lake Arrowhead area. Traffic woes: Roads through Griffith Park were......

Street flooding on Rossmore Ave in the Hancock Park of Los Angeles when storm drains became clogged by debris. | Photo by Jonathon Alcom (Sundogg) via the LAist Featured Photos Flickr pool. Through 10 a.m. this morning, here are the rain and snow totals in inches from the National Weather Service. Rain Downtown LA -- 3.43 Long Beach -- 2.85 Santa Monica -- 2.69 Bel Air -- 3.39 Beverly Hills -- 4.20 Hollywood --......

Photo by Here in Van Nuys via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency is testifying to a Congress panel that he was not pressured into shutting down California's attempts to create its own global-warming laws: "It was Johnson's first appearance on Capitol Hill since he acted last month, and he drew the ire of not only Boxer, his usual critic, but other Democratic senators whose states......

Fairfax Avenue is the Bomb!!! Declining enrollment and rising costs means less expansion and construction to help relieve overcrowding in LAUSD schools. The LA Times reports that "since the fall, the school system has canceled plans for 19 new schools and additions to existing campuses in South Gate, Bell, Van Nuys, San Fernando, Sun Valley and central Los Angeles, among other areas, citing new enrollment projections." Kids, you don't mind sharing that book, do......

"Paper or Plastic?" is the somewhat innocuous and expected question we're faced each time we check out at the grocery store. But what if that question came with a price tag, like 15 cents for every plastic bag we required when making a purchase? Or what if we banned the bag altogether? If a Van Nuys man's proposal becomes law, shoppers might have to pony up the cash in order to carry out in plastic.......

Turns out "Economic Roundtable" talks really happen at round tables. They also happen in the backyard of a campaign supporter in Van Nuys, in the case of this week's visit from Democratic Presidential nominee-hopeful Barack Obama. The Illinois Senator held the discussion a the home of Mimi Vitello, and was apparently not daunted by the large rake that rested against the wall behind him. LAist Featured Photos pool contributor Jonathan Alcorn (aka Sundogg) captured......

Red Shoes makes for a nice contrast with the distinctive blue tile floor of Silver Lake's Intelligentsia CoffeeVan Nuys is real nice, isn't it, Senator Obama? Today the Democratic presidential nominee hopeful held a roundtable discussion in the residence of supporter Mimi Vitello in beautiful Van Nuys. Today's visit is part of Obama's local campaign efforts and his desire to meet with those who have fallen victim to the country's tough economy. And speaking of......

MacArthur Park | Here in Van Nuys/Flickr In 2004, live-feed cameras, paid for by donations, were installed in MacArthur Park. Police said crime went down. Then the cameras started not working, maintenance was not happening. Crime is supposedly on the increase. Example: last Fall, among hundreds of people in the middle of the day, a 23-day-old infant was shot by a gunman. Did the cameras help? "The unfortunate tragedy was like a highlight. It......

Given its proximity to the LA County Museum of Art, this army of decorative lamps easily seems like an art installation...but actually in this case a lamp is just a lamp, and these lovely ones are gathered here awaiting a more practical installation. Still, they look pretty damn cool! and as an adept reader points out, it is an art installation! From LACMA's website:Transformation plans have grown to include a number of large-scale outdoor......

It seems the Valley isn't the place to be if you're a gang-affiliated criminal. One year ago, Mayor Villaraigosa held a press conference in North Hills at the LAPD's Mission Division, mapping out their plan for a crackdown on gangs. This past Thursday he returned, along with Police Chief William Bratton, to the same spot to announce that the plan had been successful. The Daily News reports on Mayor Tony's proud assertion, and 2007 statistics:......

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......

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......

Vitals details in the killings of two South LA residents who were found shot to death in their 11th Ave apartment remain unknown. The LAPD was notified late Monday afternoon of gunshots heard, and soon after discovered the bodies of Shelton Sumerall, 32, and Monica Youngblood, 23, both of whom suffered fatal shots to their heads. The motive and a shooting suspect have not been determined. A Van Nuys man was stabbed yesterday when he......

Why aren't you ice skating this weekend? All right, fine, so it's close to 60 degrees fahrenheit out today, but it's crisp and sunny, and it's the holidays. Why not grab a friend, your family, or a special someone and try some footwork on ice? There are a couple of popular outdoor rinks to check out, including Downtown on Ice--Outdoor Skating at Pershing Square (schedule) which is $6 per session plus skate rental, and......

TV character actor John Berg was found dead at his Van Nuys residence Sunday afternoon. Berg took his own life by carbon monoxide poisoning using a hibachi grill. He was 58. "He died as a result of suicide ... from suffocation," Lt. John Kadas of the coroner's office said. "A hibachi grill was used inside his bedroom. It's a fairly common form of suicide where it's put inside an enclosed space and then lit up.......

As traffic worsens on Ventura Boulevard, a new L.A. City report found that developers could add 3 million square feet of commercial space to the Ventura Boulevard corridor under current zoning rules. If you thought getting from Sepulveda to Van Nuys down Ventura was bad before. Umph... Not sure what to buy that ragamuffin who has everything this holiday season? Franklin Avenue found a great set of Lego-ish toys featuring people in casts, babies......