$3.55 for unleaded. Check, albeit annoying. $3.79 for performance plus. Ugh, okay, check. $9.38 a gallon for high performance. Che-- wha???!?!?!!!? LAist Featured Photos photographer Movie Lover snapped this shot on the Westside. "While driving past a gas station in Brentwood, CA a while back, I noticed that the price had gone up. Way up." Yeah, no doubt. Let's see, April Fool's Day is next month. It's not a six upside down. This doesn't look......

The city of Ventura has been taken off the map. Specifically, the Greyhound Bus Line service map. This week the company shut down the station in Ventura, and wiped it off their route, to the surprise of many who had been hoping to hop a bus out of town. So is busing it a relic of a bygone era? One possible reason behind the elimination of the stop is "Greyhound’s owners are trimming costs," according......

I recently finished reading Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food", and I couldn't wait to get out to the Studio City farmer's market this morning. I stuck a couple of twenty-dollar bills in my back pocket and threw a "Ventura County Fair!!!" tote bag over my arm. $22.50 and about half an hour later, I lugged this load home: one bunch of sweet carrots, one large head of cabbage, one bunch rainbow chard, three......

Fallout from the massive Westland/Hallmark meat recall scandal continues to affect Southland restaurants, stretching from San Diego to Ventura County. The California Department of Public Health has released a document listing every food purveyor which has purchased the recalled beef -- and at 59+ pages, it's a doozy. Chances are very good you have purchased or ingested some of Westland/Hallmark's product at some point, since markets and restaurants across the city are represented. My......

Photo by xctmx via Flickr State Senator Sheila Kuehl is at it again, but this time it's not about speed cameras in Beverly Hills, it's about writers and other artists getting their fair share of residuals. In a press release from the Writers Guild of America, they explain the problem of underselling television series and movies and what SB1765, the "Fair Market Value Bill," aims to do:Since the major media networks in the United......

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist A few weeks ago, we reported on Senate Bill 1142, which would widen the use of enforcement cameras in California from intersections to roadways where photos and video could capture speeding cars on streets, ultimately sending the violator a ticket in the mail. Senator Dutton's office said it was a spot bill and later released a statement to highwayrobbery.net, an enforcement camera advocacy site: "Senator Dutton will not move any......

UPDATE, 4:12 P.M., FRI., FEB. 15: KNBC reports that the Oxnard boy has been taken off life support and "his organs have been given away." UPDATE, 7:00 A.M., TH., FEB. 14: The shooting is now being treated as a murder case with possible hate crime motives. Go to our latest story on the Oxnard school shooting here. UPDATE, 5:33 P.M., WED., FEB. 13: Contrary to what CNN said below, the shooting victim, Lawrence King, is......

Fire: La Salle Avenue Elementary School sustained damage today, but no injuries were reported, due to a fire on the second floor this afternoon. Rain: A small tornado did indeed land on shore last night in Ventura County which is probably what led the NWS to issue last night's tornado warning for LA. It was an "empty air station hangar at the Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu" that took the hit, losing its......

Roger Avary, the Academy Award-winning writer of the 1994 cult classic Pulp Fiction, was arrested this weekend on charges of manslaughter. The arrest stems from his involvement in a car accident Sunday night in Ojai that left his wife injured, and one other person dead. Avary, who was at the wheel, was booked on suspicion of DUI, and his passenger, 34-year-old Andreas Zini, a guest of the Avary's from Italy, was taken to the hospital,......

Frequent LAist Featured Photos Pool contributer Jonathan Alcorn (aka Sundogg) shares with us this incredible shot from yesterday of the efforts to locate a young boy who went missing in the waters off Point Mugu. He explains:Jan 12, 2008 - Point Mugu , CA, USA - A search and rescue diver jumps from a Ventura County Fire Dept helicopter to continue recovery efforts for the body of a 17-year-old boy who was swept off......

No direct link, but ABC7 has a large red breaking news banner at the top reporting that "Fox Hills Mall in Culver City is locked down while police search for a stolen car suspect." The leaning tower of Pisa. Check. The leaning tower of Hollywood? Double check. The Sunset + Vine building appears to be leaning. Timber! Donda West, mother of Kanye, who passed away after plastic surgery at a local hospital died from......

If good things come in threes, it seems bad things come in twos, at least today in LA: Edward Gage, a 31-year old Lancaster man, has been arrested for an alleged Christmas Day rape of a 16-year-old girl. When Gage's victim ignored his attempts to get directions as she walked to a friend's house, he pulled her shirt and tried to remove her clothing. She punched him in the face and got away! Francisco Santiago......

The Geminid Meteor showers are set to peak this week, especially on Thursday and Friday. Um, great date night, anybody? Astronomers studying the phenomenon, David Levy and Stephen Edberg, are terribly enthused: "If you have not seen a mighty Geminid fireball arcing gracefully across an expanse of sky, then you have not seen a meteor.' Those guys are serious!!! "The Geminid Meteors are usually the most satisfying of all the annual showers, even surpassing......

I’ve been hearing about Civil War reenactments for a while now, but until this year I had no idea there was one a few miles from LA County. According to the official event website, this particular reenactment (hosted by the Richmond Howitzer Battalion) is the largest in Southern California. The participants, many of whom are veterans, pay the expenses themselves and the attention to detail is amazing. This year, the event took place Nov.......

Despite the risk of building a home, selling a home and moving into a home in a high risk fire zone, companies, homeowners and governments still find it acceptable finds the LA Times today. "This is a land rush into danger," said Roger Kennedy, former director of the National Park Service and author of a recent book on wildfires. "A land rush by people who do not understand what they are doing and who......

It certainly doesn’t sound like a musical from the 50s. Among other things, it includes kidnapping, a dance-off, literal shotgun weddings, one woman moving in with seven men, and an opening number in which the main character expresses thanks for an unknown woman’s beautiful "hide." But these elements come together to create the thoroughly enjoyable musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. For the last two weeks the Cabrillo Musical Theatre Group has presented this energetic......

Welcome to the all fire, all the time edition of Extra Extra! The weather is not expected to abate until tomorrow, and fire fighters are still days away from containing major blazes. The New York Times is liveblogging the fires; they are reporting that over 500,000 people have been forced to evacuate so far (although other reports are estimating up to one million people have had to flee their homes). The Daily News is......

Good thing the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) put out a Red Flat Alert (move your car if you live in the hills or you could be towed) last night for today -- a major brush fire began this morning around 5:50 a.m. near Tampa Ave and Sesnon Bl (yo, Valley, people, this is Porter Ranch) in Los Angeles County territory according to alerts from the LAFD. In the name of mutual aid, the......

If you leave any lights on tonight between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., your house is going to burn down because the DWP is going to oversurge the system to punish people who hate the environment. Just kiddin', but keep Lights Out LA in mind when the clock strikes eight. If you put your mind to it, anything can happen, right? Ventura County's chief executive, Johnny Johnston who is retiring, is credited with returning......

This video is a few weeks old, but the story is still developing:The council has sent the church a $40,000 bill for police services and sent a letter to the secretary of Homeland Security asking for personal assistance to end the city and church stalemate. Emotions were more muted Monday night, after several weeks of heated rhetoric on all sides of the debate. Homeland Security over this? More at the Ventura County Star.......

If you thought earthquake season was over -- you were wrong! A 3.9 shaker hit the Lake Elsinore area earlier this afternoon. Maybe that explains the unseasonably warm weather today? Today in Shitty Traffic: parts of Wilshire are being closed off due to reports of a "suspicious package," Defamer is reporting that "the LAPD has closed the eastbound traffic of Wilshire Boulevard at Veteran Avenue to Westwood Boulevard." Hopefully justice will be served here:......

A fire has just been reported in Simi Valley and it appears to be near the 118 freeway at Madera. Those planning to travel to or from this area in the next two hours might want to adjust your route. A couple photos after the jump.......

Not letting the bedbugs bite is getting harder than ever these days. Deeming it "troubling" and "unacceptable," Mayor Tony is urging federal officials to take steps to prevent a repeat of this weekend's Customs and Border Protection computer glitch that stranded some 20,000 travelers. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag warning - signifying a higher risk of wildfires - for the L.A. County mountains that will remain in effect until Wednesday......

We're all used to tests by the Emergency Broadcasting System, but, thankfully, rare is the occasion when you hear those sounds, see that screen, and it's NOT a test. That all changed today when I was eating a little lunch and the above image popped up on my TV screen. And it could not have been more nebulous. What this alert told me was that we were having a "civil emergency." Unfortunately, there was......

- Pod Killer: 4 dolphins have been shot to death and discovered between Carlsbad State Beach and Oceanside Harbor between May 29 and June 5. - Tweaked: More police officers, extra cones, Scott Avenue, a lane on the 110 Freeway = better Dodger Parking? You be the judge. - Finally: The disputed Union Rescue Mission, which will serve more than 200 women and children off skid row and into transitional housing, can finally open its......

• The Atwater Village Newbie's wife, Mrs. Newbie, wins the Atwater Village Street Fair cookie contest - AVN • Al Sharpton met with Sheriff Lee Baca today regarding Paris Hilton - Fox 11 • Former Fox 11 TV reporter / LAPD sergeant Rod Bernsen cleared of accusations that he touched two 12-year-old boys in a hot tub - LA Times • Deadly auto accident on the PCH near the Ventura County line claims one......

Love it or hate it, Twitter does not appear to be just a passing fad as some suggest. You may find such nano-blogging tools to be annoying vehicles for unsolicited TMI, overly mundane ramblings, or instances reminiscent of grade-school crushes and "cyber-stalking." But how you view / receive / ignore your tweets is left up to you. You'd be surprised how much you can say in 140 words. But once you start receiving Twitter......

This dog delivers beer! Click here to find out how. Photo by C-Monster. Larry Birkhead to World: I told you so! Sleazy paparazzo beats off human parasite, fake prince, former bodyguard and clump of seaweed to prove he's Anna-Nicole's baby-daddy. -TMZ Howard Stern cozies up to Birkhead, says Papa Larry can spend as much time as he wants with little Mealticketlynn. World's #1 Mom Virgie Arthur expected to sue for custory. -TMZ MSNBC punishes......

- The map (pictured above -- "Geles County" is Los Angeles County) that hit the scenes a couple of years ago now has a plan behind it - MetroRiderLA - Six Flags Magic Mountain is staying put, sans two rides: Flashback and Cyclone - SFVBJ - At least the promise of a new LATimes.com is going to be better than LA Weekly's most recent weberration - LAO - LACityNerd joins Council District 13, kinda......

LACityNerd comments on LA Curbed's commentary on Daily Bruin's article about DOT's proactive enforcement of cars in driveway aprons at sidewalks. We've had our own parking problems in Westwood, but as to parking in aprons, you deserve a ticket -- it gets in the way of our bikes. As one commenter on Curbed said, "Living in the City 101: YOU CANNOT PARK ON THE SIDEWALK." NPR reports that in Los Angeles, 67.8 percent of......