Callie Miller

Suspected package thief (Photo by KTLA-TV) A real-life Grinch is among us! Melanie Kathleen Astin has been arrested in Newport Beach for stealing UPS, FedEx and other packages from the porches of homes all over the city, according to KTLA. After packages started missing and being tampered with a few weeks ago, a family setup a hidden security camera to keep watch on their porch. The camera captured a woman as she pulled up...

Santa Monica resident Damon Vix has put up a large public sign that says "Religions are all alike - founded upon fables and mythologies" in protest of the nativity scene in Palisades Park, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. He says religious displays should not be on public property and questions "the city's decision to allow an entire city block to be taken over for a month so that Christians can put up...

The daily scenes of downed trees, washed-away homes, mud-caked hillsides and flooded streets will be expensive. Lt. Gov Abel Maldonado declared a state of emergency yesterday for Los Angeles and damage from the storm is expected to reach $60 million, according to LA Now. How did we get to $60 million so quickly? Two key areas need most of the resources.

The latest storm in a series of storms has made the weather so nutso out there, we need a special logo and a catchy sound byte for Mega Christmas Stormwatch 2010. Stay safe out there and use this handy map of road closures and evacuations to plan alternate routes as you travel for these wet and wild holidays. How mad is it out there? The evidence:

President Obama signed a bill today that makes the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy a thing of the past for gays in the military, according to the LA Times. Obama said this was yet another step in a long string of civil rights struggles to bring about a unified nation. He spoke to a crowd of 500 military leaders as well as members of Congress, gay rights advocates and service men and women and said upon signing, "We are not a nation that says 'don't ask, don't tell.'

Photo by Renee Silverman via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr GET SOCIAL Royal/T is hosting Tokyo Social Club: Christmas Edition tonight with specialty cocktails, free sweets, live music, some schwag bag love from Love Shack Parties and gourmet tacos by Chef Sean Chaney. Get your tickets to this Japanese-Style holiday party and roll on out at 7 p.m. GET DEEP FRIED & DONATE If you're not heading out of town and could...

Linsday Lohan is being investigated for criminal battery after allegedly attacking a female staff member at the Betty Ford Center, according to KTLA. After returning 10 minutes past her curfew, Lohan was required to take a drug and alcohol test and got into a heated exchange that led the staffer to press charges. Gossip site TMZ has linked her "missed curfew" to a night out at a bar with roommates and said the exchange...

After serving all or part of multiple prison sentences in other countries for sexual misconduct convictions and being extradited back to the U.S., Michael James Dodd, 61, was sentenced in Los Angeles yesterday to nine years in prison for traveling to Cambodia to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, according to LA Now. Dodd had a "financial relationship" with the girl's family and gave them food and $200 a month while conducting a sexual...

As the year comes to a close, the lists of what went down this year are ever-plentiful. One list that caught our attention is LA Weekly's Top 10 Los Angeles Bans of 2010, which takes a look at all the things that stopped being legal in our city this year. From fast food bans, plastic bag bans, pet shop bans and smoking on your own patio bans, Los Angeles got a serious dose of "no" this year - all under the guise of making things safer for Angelenos. But are all these bans good for us?

Despite the results of a three-month investigation that found 20-year-old Ani Voskanian was texting when she struck and killed an 80-year-old Glendale man, her attorney says that's just not so, according to Glendale News-Press. Voskanian appeared in court yesterday for her arraignment hearing but it was delayed after her attorney said he needed "more time to review the case."

Chart of Jaywalking Fee Breakdown created by Blogdowntown The hullaballoo about "zero tolerance" on downtown jaywalking tickets was loud and long and unresolved in our comments. Is the city greedy and overcharging? Or is there more to the story? Now there's a chart to either fuel your frustration or quell your qualms. Blogdowntown has put together a fantastic chart using Los Angeles Superior Court data that helps answer the $190 question: where does that...

0-year-old woman was arrested yesterday after a three-month investigation showed she was texting when she drove through a stop sign and struck and killed an 80-year old Glendale resident. The arrest prompted Glendale mayor Ara Najarian to voice concern that Glendale is suffering from a "distracted driver epidemic," according to Glendale News-Press. Over 2,300 traffic collisions have occurred in Glendale in the past year. 660 resulted in injuries, six were fatal, and sixty-four of these reported collisions involved pedestrians.