Carolyn Kellogg

LA County Supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke will retire after 40 years in politics. She was the first African-American woman elected to the California State Assembly. While there will be many heartfelt farewells for the 73-year-old, more interesting will be the race for her seat. The 5-member Board of Supervisors controls the pursestrings for the County and is vastly powerful; so far, Mark Ridley Thomas, Herb Wesson and Bernard Parks are rumored to be possible...

A year ago, people in New Orleans were celebrating like crazy, going to parades, lifting their shirts, collecting beads and other plastic trinkets, all the while drinking with reckless abandon. We admire those who are there keeping the tradition alive there today, Fat Tuesday, and for the rest of Mardis Gras. Here in LA we can celebrate the undying New Orleans Mardis Gras spirit too. An excellent musical lecture from jazz pianist Henry Butler...

The leader of today's Hollywood birthday pack is Harry Belafonte, who turns 79. He's not just a guy who sang swinging calypso in the sixties (although it did swing). He's won a Tony, an Emmy and been a Kennedy Center honoree, and he's been an activist since the civil rights era. Today, when many his age are resting, he's flying to Venezuela with Cornel West to meet with Hugo Chavez. He's been politic (a UN...

Every week in Living in Sin, Jen Sincero provides advice for LA's sexually curious. e-mail Jen your question, which will be posted anonymously. Dear Jen, I am a 36 year old woman and I'm dating a guy who I like a whole lot. He's handsome, smart, laughs in all the right places, and, better yet, he gets me all hot and bothered. The problem is, he never wants to bring it on. I've never...

If you're undaunted by rain or the rain-induced traffic, you haven't grown soft like so many Angelenos. You know you won't melt! In other cities it rains all the time! Maybe you're just dying to get out tonight, but don't know what's going on. LAist contributor Jen Sincero will be performing in the two-woman show Spinster at the M Bar tonight in Hollywood; doors open at 7, play starts at 8pm. Comedian Paul F....

Pritzker Prizewinner Frank Gehry is LA's most famous architect; Disney Hall is his most famous hometown work. It could be argued that its architectural significance has helped revitalize downtown. We know, he overworks and underpays his staff. But we can't help it; we still like his buildings. Happy 77th birthday, Frank Gehry. Tony Award-winning actor Robert Sean Leonard, who's now working in Hollywood as a regular cast member of House, turns 37. So does...

We have a weather condition! Indeed, it is raining. Don't worry, it won't last. While news helicopters swarmed overhead and CNN broadcast the scene, Altadena residents were preoccupied with the welfare of the mountain lion that had wandered into a backyard yesterday. "We just want to make sure they don't have to kill it," one man told the LA Times. Our favorite detail: the mountain lion may have been hoping to have two plastic...

The roller coaster at the Santa Monica Pier. Photo taken last Wednesday, by the man behind the Western Flatline photoblog. Wheeeee!...

February 27 is a good birthday for beauties. Leading the pack is Elizabeth Taylor, whose breathtaking looks, acting talent and dramatic offscreen life have defined grand Hollywood stardom. She turns 74 today. But Joanne Woodward (who turns 76) is no small potatoes: she's also an Oscar-winning actress, a classic beauty, and has had a offscreen life that's undeniably cool — 48 years of marriage to Paul Newman. Melrose Place hottie Grant Show turns 44 today;...