Callie Miller

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

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.

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...

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

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.

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.

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.

Boyle Heights shooting, Santa Monica deal site, Porto's Parking Passion, donation-stealing thieves, frozen tracks and more news of the day. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports

Rick Ordonez, once known in graffiti circles only as Atlas and charged in July with six felony counts of vandalism for spraying his cartoonish cats on public property, now has his own gallery show at Mid-City Arts, according to the LA Times. After serving 90 days in jail and completing 300 hours of community service, the show comes at a good time for Ordonez as it allowed him to "get back on track."