Andy Sternberg

Mayor Villa (will his soon-to-be-ex-wife really let him keep the Raigosa?) is proving to be quite the crafty politician this summer, weaseling his way through some rather public, personal crises. We can now add the Gopher Issue to the list of Tony V's lamest and greatest excuses. In spite of his call this summer for Angelenos to consciously conserve 10% more water, the LA Times scoured DWP records and found that the mayor and...

By week's end, LA is littered with dozens of free rags. LAist reads the weeklies so you don't have to. If there's anything we missed, let us know, or better yet drop it in the comments section below. Downtown News dedicated about half of its July 30 issue to the long-awaited opening of Ralph's at Ninth and Flower. The cover story is here with more here, here, and here. Kathleen Nye Flynn examined the...

It's a full moon and the earth is shaking. Three small quakes within a hundred miles of Los Angeles in the past hour alone, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site. Perhaps unscientific -- though seemingly never "gamed" or exagerrated -- is the USGS "shake map" at right. Within 30 minutes of tonight's 3.2 magnitude shaker centered near Granada Hills, over 700 people went to the site to report shaking intensity. Hover over the...

The Downtown News is out with its annual Best of list. In the spirit of the awesome map that appears each week in the Downtown News, we're mapping the DTNews Editors' "Best of" picks. Play along by clicking on any placemarker below and adding your rating/photos/comments. MapKit.display();...

Sir Richard Branson's SFO-based harem of nubile air carriages wants you on board. Beginning this morning, cut-rate tickets are on sale for LAX-SFO flights on Virgin America. 5 flights daily are scheduled to shuttle between the two airports starting August 8 -- with coach seats going for $44 each way (before tax). First-class Virgin tickets are also offered at the introductory price of $149 each way. While numerous airlines have been grounded, bought out, or...

Using the latest and greatest Internet tools, the Los Angeles Fire Department is setting an example for public communication and ubiquity in the information age. After being notified via text message of a "traffic collision with entrapment on Sherman Way," we paid a call to LAFD for an update on their ever-expanding Web endeavors. We caught up with veteran LAFD firefighter and public service officer Brian Humphrey during one of his 24-hour shifts in...

The greatest surprise performance at the 24-hour Live Earth was not Kanye West and John Mayer joining the Police on "Message in a Bottle." Hell, no. It was Spinal Tap (reunited) with some help from Metallica (they actually laugh) bringing down London's Wembley Stadium with hits like "Stonehenge" and "Big Bottom." Madonna's gypsy-hobo-punk performance -- fully choreographed -- of "La Isla Bonita" with Eugene and Serge from Gogol Bordello was also surprisingly excellent (watch...

The biggest international benefit concert since Live8 Live Aid of all time is ON. The 24-hour affair began around 10 p.m. PDT Friday and concludes late Saturday in Jersey. And we must rock because... why? Whelp... Al Gore said so. Yes, the former Veep who let some derelicts pickpocket his presidency before performing an Academy Award-winning PowerPoint presentation in An Inconvenient Truth is taking green global. Why not turn "can rock 'n' roll save...

The Communications Workers of America released their initial (small) data sample revealing the molasses-slow pace of U.S. broadband connectivity. And tech-savvy, forward-thinking California clocks slower-than-average speeds. Blaming your new AT&T or Time-Warner or Verizon or Al Gore simply isn't going to fix the Internet, the union warns. Even Canada ranks significantly higher in broadband speeds. Take the speed test, play with the interactive data, or grab the PDF. Hmm. Maybe if we just just...

5. The Melbourne, Australia-based sextet will perform a high-energy, boogie-inducing set featuring songs from their third LP, "Places Like This" (due August); so if you've seen them before, it's time to go back for more. AIH incorporates what's best described as Australian bush yelping reminiscent of early Midnight Oil while managing to sound at times like the B-52s, Gang of Four, Devo, and Talking Heads. Oh, and vocalist / multi-instrumentalist Kellie Sutherland has a most...