Callie Miller

Petula Clark is not the only one who knows that downtown is where you can go to forget all your troubles and all your cares. In the past year, 1,800 new apartment units have been added to downtown, according to blogdowntown. That's 54% of all new apartments added in Los Angeles County! That's...whoa. Despite the increase in available space, the rents in downtown are also getting a little bit...whoa.

Your Creative Morning will be extra-delectable on December 17th. Alissa Walker, associate producer for KCRW's "DnA: Design and Architecture" and proprietor of Gelatobaby blog, has just been announced as the December speaker for Los Angeles/Creative Mornings. Walker was recently named as a USC/Annenberg Getty Arts Journalism Fellow for her writing on design and urbanism and she spends her time in L.A. tending to her drought-tolerant garden, walking all over the city and eating gelato. All without a car. Imagine that: L.A. without a car. Delicious.

It's not a bird, it's not a plane, but it is a short, fat spacecraft that has no pilot! An unmanned X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle spacecraft that looks like a squat space shuttle landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in the wee hours of the morning after spending seven months in space, according to the LA Times. The Vandenberg Air Force Base says the pilotless space craft conducted "experiments" and "completed all the on-orbit objectives" while up in space on its maiden voyage, but

A man wanted in connection with the slaying of Ronni Chasen fatally shot himself at a Hollywood Hotel tonight just as Beverly Hills police were serving a search warrant there, according to the LA Times. UPDATE 9:46 PM: The "person of interest" that shot himself at the Harvey Apartments this evening has been under police surveillance for some time, according to the LA Times. Detectives received information that the man would be in his apartment and when they approached him in the building's lobby, he refused to cooperate, then "pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the head."

Alexis Neiers, who served one month in jail in connection with the much-covered "Hollywood Bling Ring" that targeted Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Orlando Bloom, was caught today by probation officers in her Westlake Village home with heroin and a fake Florida ID, according to KTLA. The 19-year-old was taken into custody and could face three years in prison for the violation. She continues to talk about her jail cell next to Lindsay Lohan's...

Are dropping crime rates proof of the need to hire more LAPD officers or is it time to maintain the status quo? Police Chief Charlie Beck is clashing with the police union over new LAPD hires, according to the LA Times. Union leaders would like to halt the hiring of new LAPD officers and instead use that budget to fill open civilian jobs. Beck disagrees, citing his department's ability to "balance safety and finances" and that recent drops in crime rates over the past several years prove as much.

Tonight in Extra, Extra we continue the day of the dog news, ponder red fountains, fret over library taxes and mourn the loss of Broadway Deli. Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports

A 62-year-old South L.A. man has been convicted after he was seen having sex with a female German Shepherd mix under a freeway overpass, according to KTLA. Arrested earlier this year for the assault on the dog he adopted from a shelter, Wade Strickland plead guilty to cruelty and lewd conduct and has been placed on three years' probation. He is also required to attend 24 animal care counseling sessions and is prohibited from...

Did you build the butterfly habitat in Venice? Did you? Or you or you? A very cool someone has built a monarch butterfly sanctuary in a rundown Venice lot, according to the Venice Patch. The habitat was discovered a few weeks ago, on the side slope of a lot on the east side of Pacific Avenue and 29th.

What do you get when you help twenty kids cross the street safely outside a school in Florence? A serious beating. According to CBS Los Angeles, a man and a woman have been arrested on charges of beating a crossing guard and...wait for it...stealing her whistle and sign. What the...? The 59-year-old crossing guard tried to stop a black Ford Expedition from entering the intersection to protect kids she was attempting to ferry safely across.

Mad Men embodies many things to many people. You might dig Bert Cooper's art and shoeless ways, loathe Pete's ambition or swoon over the Draper's while rooting for their eternal happiness/ruin. Of all the books and merch associated with the hit show, Dyna Moe's Mad Men: The Illustrated World is one of the few that doesn't take itself too seriously which is why you should check out her signing at Book Soup tomorrow evening at 5 p.m.

Earlier this week, we wondered who put the E. Coli in our Emmental. KTLA reports that the Bravo Farms E. Coli and Listeria recall is now affecting your local Whole Foods store. Seven cheeses bearing "Distributed by Whole Foods" stickers have been recalled, so unless you'd like to do the kidney failure dance, check your fancy cheese stash and toss them out: Sage Cheddar, Silver Mountain Cheddar, Chipotle Cheddar, Premium Block Cheddar, Premium White...