The Westwood rooftop standoff involving an alleged vehicle thief ended in a fury of bean bag projectiles followed by a swift arrest of the suspect. more ›

Failed negotiations for the lease for the AMC Avco Center 4 in Westwood mean the movie theatre is going to shut down on Sunday. AMC was unable to come to agreeable lease renewal terms with the landlord, Avco Corp., reports the LA Times' Company Town blog. more ›

On the heels of National Bank Transfer Day, UCLA students joined forces with Occupy L.A. - and the rest of the statewide anti-big bank movement - on Wednesday to protest cuts to higher education and public services. The Refund California Coalition organized the L.A. march, which took place in the downtown financial district at 4:30pm. Over 100 UCLA students remained on their turf to protest. more ›

If you work or live between Westwood and Hancock Park, prepare for a commute nightmare this evening, courtesy President Barack Obama, who arrives in town just in time for rush hour fun. We list some affected streets (and share some Twitter bitching for amusement/comfort). more ›

Westwood topped a list of the best neighborhood for trick-or-treaters in Los Angeles. The real estate website Zillow plugged in a bunch of factors to come up with its list: the value of homes, crime data, population density and walkability. more ›

President Obama is set to fly out of Los Angeles International Airport this morning at 10:30 a.m., on a flight bound for Denver, Colorado. The Commander-in-Chief still needs to get from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, however, to his flight, and that means traffic will be affected. more ›

From the folks who brought you the marvel that was Carmageddon comes The Rampture--no, it's not a traffic-inspired disaster movie, but rather a nickname bestowed upon the several days of closures the eight Wilshire Boulevard on and off ramps to the 405 Freeway will undergo at various times in November. more ›

July is National Ice Cream Month. To celebrate, we'll be reviewing some of our favorite ice cream spots -- and some new ones, too -- all this week. more ›

"Ching Chong Ling Long" means many things: It means you're an airheaded UCLA student ranting about Asian schoolmates in the library. It means "I love you" to one songwriter. It means a clever marketing ploy for a Chinese food delivery service in Westwood. But when it comes to the latter, one politician says it simply means "racist." more ›

Remember (former) UCLA co-ed Alexandra Wallace and her "racist rant" video about Chinese students on their cellphones in the library? While for one creative man, her ignorant (or faux-ignorant?) take on the Chinese language translated into "I love you," a new food delivery business serving the campus is embracing Ching-Chong-Ling-Long and hoping it means cash in the bank. more ›

On June 21, KCRW is presenting MMJ live for 250 members and guests at The Village studios in West L.A. Tickets are available for $125 exclusively for KCRW members at 10 a.m. today. If you have any doubt about dropping the cash, clearly you are not aware that My Morning Jacket puts on as good a live show as any touring band today, as evidenced by last night's YouTube stream from Louisville, produced by Todd Haynes. more ›

A Metro bus driver was taken to the hospital and treated for a "stress reaction" when an underground electrical transformer bank exploded Tuesday morning in Westwood causing a manhole cover to fly up from the street and strike the back of a bus parked near the UCLA campus, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Los Angeles city fire officials, reports LA Now. more ›

With a decisive focus on the massive I-405 corridor, a transit project back by The Transit Coalition and The Regenerative Communities Project was presented yesterday during a joint House-Senate hearing in Los Angeles on transportation, and the 30/10 plan to implement several transit projects in the region as expediently as possible. more ›

When rumors swirled that Urban Outfitters in Westwood wanted their brand new Banksy painted over, the internet cried foul. Now Urban Outfitters is responding, and explains that it is not the store, but rather the property management of their retail space in Westwood, who wants the "Crayola Shooter" colored over. more ›

Demonstrators in Westwood are filling the streets in front of the Federal Building in support of the anti-government protests happening for a fifth day in Egypt. Members of the local chapter of Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) are planning to gather through the afternoon, reports CBS Local, while a separate demonstration is set outside the Egyptian Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard, "where protesters will call for an end to about $1.5 billion annually in U.S. economic and military aid to the Mubarak regime. That group plans to join the Westwood demonstration about 2:30 p.m."
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Westwood condo-dwellers who object to converting lanes on busy Wilshire Boulevard into Metro Rapid bus-only lanes twice daily during rush hour periods insist a one mile segment of the proposed 8.7 mile stretch be exempted. Now the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority says that exemption won't render the project ineligible to receive federal aid for bus rapid transit endeavors, according to LA Now. more ›

Diners who grabbed at bite at Jerry's Famous Deli in Westwood last month may have gotten a little extra something with their pastrami on rye. "The Los Angeles Health Department announced Wednesday night that an employee of Jerry’s Deli in Westwood [...] has been diagnosed with acute hepatitis A," according to NBC LA. more ›

A one-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood nicknamed "Condo Canyon" is proving to be a wrench in the works for proposed bus-only lanes that could improve the commute for transit users, according to the LA Times. more ›

It's been on and off, delayed, banned and fought over for decades, but it has finally happened. The Metro Board of Directors this morning unanimously approved extending the Purple Line 9.5 miles to just past the 405 Freeway. It was one of five alternatives to choose from -- others included a West Hollywood spur and taking the subway all the way to Santa Monica. more ›

In today's LA Times, Martha Groves profiles UCLA Professor and "parking rockstar" Donald Shoup. If you don't know about him, you should, as he's someone local whose ideas about urban planning are affecting cities everywhere. One of his most frequently cited concepts is not subsidizing free parking, putting it at fair market value and using the revenues to improve that neighborhood directly. more ›

There are some great lunches to be had in this town, and we want to celebrate the midday meal. So, let's do lunch, shall we? more ›

Summer is about to end and that signals a new academic year at UCLA. Nearly 40,000 students, mostly undergrads, are attending the university this year, according the school. That means more traffic, but also a more lively Westwood Village. 9,500 students moved on campus over the weekend. Other stats include 4,700 freshman, 3,400 new transfers and 3,000 international students. 57,651 had applied for Fall 2010 admission. Classes begin Thursday. more ›

Calling all pie lovers! Today is the day: It's KCRW's Second Annual "Good Food" Pie Contest. Over 200 pies have been entered in five categories, and a panel of well-known foodfolk judges are ready to taste them all. Head over to the Taste of Beverly Hills venue to see the pies, watch the final round of judging, catch a cool apron show, and see the winners be announced. The event is FREE--though it's at the Taste of Beverly Hills venue it's NOT a ticketed event. Street parking abounds. Plus...you get to eat PIE! more ›

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More details are coming out about Tuesday's Westside Subway Extension meeting in Beverly Hills. Well over one hundred residents came out, many of them in opposition of a proposed route that would connect a Rodeo Drive station to the middle of Century City. Although residents support the subway, there are fears of what tunneling under homes and schools would do, such as earthquake danger, vibration, noise and other issues. more ›

Throughout the last couple of years, Metro has taken the Westside Subway Extension to the public over and over and over again. Last week was the beginning of the latest round of community meetings where residents can get the latest and greatest (you can read LAist's reporting of the new data here) and have the opportunity to voice their opinions on the record. Those meetings continue through July 1st. more ›