Adrienne Crew

We were appalled to read in Court House News that, in this day and age, an indictment on slavery charges have been filed against an Irvine couple in Los Angeles Federal Court. Abdel Nasser Eid Youssef and Amal Ahmed Ewis Abd-Motelib are charged with bringing a minor girl to the United States through visa fraud, then holding her for two years and forcing her to work in their home. They allegedly threatened harm to...

On Wednesday, Councilman Ed Reyes submitted a new proposal to get rid of grocery-bag blight. While other city leaders advocate following the lead of San Francisco and ban the free distribution of grocery bags in supermarkets, the Environmental News Network reports that Councilman Reyes wants manufacturers of plastics and officials in grocery chains to partner with him on bag cleanups and recycling programs. "San Francisco has the wherewithal to charge that much. San Francisco...

Queen of the Crenshaw and '40s and '50s jazz and blues legend Mickey Champion shakes her ass and breaks your heart Thursdays at Little Pedro's from 9PM-late. There's NO COVER, $3 rum n cokes, $4 boilermakers (that's a shot of whiskey and a bottle of MGD for you kids), it's all ages, and there's FREE fried chicken and cornbread around 10 PM. If you haven't seen Miss Mickey before or don't know anything about...

February 4th is a big day. It's National Wear Red Day, a promotional effort cooked up by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to raise awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. Locally, today is the deadline to register to bid for property auctioned off by the LA County Treasurer and Tax Collector office. If you dream of owning property in LA but lack the big bucks, here's a chance...

After a late dinner on Tuesday at Puran's Los Feliz, we spotted a sign on the door of Dragonfly Du Lu, a children's store on Hillhurst, alerting parents and caregivers about efforts to organize a Waldorf School early education program on the Eastside for the nursery school set. Interested folks can call Dragonfly Du Lu at 323 665-8448 to get the organizer's contact info. Pass it on, even if you did read THAT Salon.com...

Gosh, it's warm out. Just 2 wet weeks ago all we craved was soup and now our thoughts have suddenly turned to ice cream. Pat Saperstein's blog, Eating LA, gives us the (er) scoop on recent ice cream developments in LA : Beautiful downtown Glendale has two new ice cream operations, but I can only recommend one. The new branch of venerable Persian ice cream parlor Mashti Malone's has opened a gleaming, clean shop...

A columnist for the Gilroy Dispatch investigates a matter that's been bugging us all winter: how come the bells on the Hollywood Freeway look rusted already? We already knew about Caltran's mission bells project that follows the original El Camino Real, which linked the 21 California missions and follows much of U.S. Highway 101 but the answer surprised us. [A reader asks] "I'm calling about the bells lining the El Camino Real along Highway...

Ruth Reichl, author, Editor in Chief of Gourmet Magazine and former food critic for the Los Angeles Times, will converse with Irene Borger about her adventures in disguising herself at restaurants during her stint as a critic on April 11th at 7 PM as part of the Central Library "Aloud" lecture series. The talk, called "Dancing with the Stars," is sure to be popular so save the date and make your reservations now by...

We were amused to read the following exchange with ninth-grader Kay Goldberg in New York magazine's "Look Book" feature. New York caught up with Miss Goldberg on the corner of Bleecker Street and West 11th Street to ask her about her street ensemble. Q: Where did you get this outfit? A: I got my shoes at, I don't know, a Converse store? My rainbow tights came from this vintage boutique called Hidden Treasures in...

Court House News.com reports that film director Robert Altman has been sued by a neighbor in Los Angeles Superior Court on allegations that a defective retaining wall allowed mud and debris flows to damage the neighbor's property. Well, that's one player who got sMASHed for taking short cuts......