Extra, Extra: Babies in Incubators, and Other Holiday Gift Ideas.

• 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 in incubators and a paralyzed with a huge smile on her face. Ahhhh, nothing says Happy Holidays like You'll never walk again.
  
• First the army used video games to attract soldiers, now a church in Torrance is using Halo to help build its membership level. Every afternoon, kids go to the Church to play the game, though officials are positive that everyone knows the real reason they're there. "I think people understand that this is part of our outreach," said Pastor Guy Takashima.
  
• Just because it's utilitarian doesn't mean it has to be ugly. Los Angeles City Councilmember Eric Garcetti helped create an AT&T funded pilot program in which a local artist painted on utility boxes in Echo Park and Downtown.
  
• Dockworkers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are demanding greater security in the wake of noose discoveries on five different occasions at the waterfront terminals. Wow, what's a brother gotta a do to not fear for his life?
  
• Phil Spector's new lawyer won't be ready for a new trial until September. His lawyer said he would need at least five months to study 10,000 pages of transcripts from the first, six-month trial as well as 35,000 pages of discovery provided by the prosecution. Plus, it takes a lot of time to grow that 'fro out.
  
• As the world meets in Indonesia to discuss the globe's environmental degradation, Los Angeles is moving ahead with plans to clean its air around the ports. State regulators enacted a strict air emission measure that will ban much of the current fleet of diesel trucks from all ports statewide. The California Air Resources Board will require all trucks to meet 2007 emission standards by 2014. At least we won't have to breathe in all that yummy, choke inducing air as we sit in rush hour. God Bless this city.
  
• And, finally, because we here at LAist love all of you in very special and unique ways, you still have a chance to win tickets to see Tori Amos in Downtown LA Dec. 16. The contest ends at 11:59:59 p.m. this Monday. Good luck!
  

Photo by Lush.i.ous via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr