Andy Sternberg

The cast of the upcoming installment of the "Twilight" trilogy (er, tetralogy?) were forced off Vancouver Island early this morning due to the tsunami warning triggered by the magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan. But the evacuation of cast members, which included Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner did not go down without drama.

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, one of 14 Japanese baseball players on 2010 Major League rosters, still hasn't heard from his brother. His wife and children live with him in L.A. but he is concerned about several friends from Sendai, where hundreds of bodies are reported to have washed ashore following the tsunami. "I started looking at the pictures, and the pictures got worse and worse," Kuroda told ESPN through a...

Everybody wins according to Spirit Airlines announcement today of $1 one-way fares from LAX to Las Vegas. The low-cost airline will fly five daily round trips between LAX and LAS starting May 5. Book today and fly for $1 each way between May 10 and June 15 (go on, there are still plenty available at $1 and more at $19). With taxes and fees the $2 round trip fare comes to about $39.

You know those people that won't so much as breathe on their food before snapping photos of it from multiple angles? Oh, that's you?!? FOODIES is a brand-spankin' new web TV satire that pokes fun at L.A.'s food spotting, snack blogging, confectionary-pr0n engorged masses.

Los Angeles' 15-year-old smoking regulations are about to be expanded. Come Tuesday, smoking will be prohibited both inside and outside of restaurants. The ordinance, passed unanimously by City Council in January 2010, is likely to have a mixed reaction from restauranteurs, patrons, and passerbys in one of the greatest cities for year-round al fresco dining in the world.

CBS Outdoor will pay more than $4 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the City of L.A. alleging that six of its supergraphic advertising placements were not permitted. The terms of the settlement allows CBS Outdoor to continue to advertise using supergraphics, or "tall wall" billboards, on three of the four buildings in question, the exception being 1025 N. Highland.

Mazda is recalling 50,000 Mazda6 sedans after announcing that a spider could weave a web that might inhibit fuel tank ventilation which could lead to a crack that might lead to a fire. In other words, if you're the driver of a model year 2009 or 2010 Mazda6, zoom on over to your nearest dealer after March 25th for a de-spidering.

A 17-year-old Riverside County high school student was arrested Wednesday morning after threatening a teacher at his former school armed with a shotgun, knives and ammunition. The teen appeared at Lakeside High School in Lake Elsinore around 7:30 a.m. in the classroom of a former teacher who was able to alert another teacher. The teen, whose name hasn't been released because he is a minor, was quickly detained by police and booked into juvenile hall without incident, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

It seemed like it was just yesterday that Kutcher and Larry King were going head-to-head -- in a publicity stunt raising money for charity -- to see who could be the first to 1 million Twitter followers. That was April 2009. Today it takes less than 24 hours to reach one million -- if you're Charlie Sheen -- and apparently only the charity of Charlie Sheen's #tigerblood benefits in this case.

This year's prize winner is JR, an anonymous French street artist whose black-and-white portraits have been appearing across Los Angeles in recent weeks. We'll find out at 5pm exactly what JR's wish is (watch it live here). But what we do know is that he'll kick off his wish tomorrow at Phantom Galleries in Long Beach and you're invited.

Six charter schools will be shut down after being accused of cheating on 2010 standardized tests. The Los Angeles Board of Education voted this week to close the schools, saying there was insufficient response to the allegations. The schools are part of the Crescendo Organization.

229 marijuana collectives filed paperwork to apply for a lottery that will authorize 100 medical disipensaries to legally sell medical marijuana, according to the LA City Clerk's Office.