Carolyn Kellogg

target this - 46 cities will be getting counterterrorism grants in a new round of funding from the Department of Homeland Security. The good news is, we're on the list. The bad news is they're only passing out a total of $270 million. adding insult to injury - A woman who paid $125,000 to a Beverly Hills matchmaker sued after not finding the right guy. Yesterday she was awarded $2.1 million in the case...

show on the road - Mayor Villaraigosa heads to Sacramento today to make his case for a takeover of LAUSD. As his big push begins, the pushback is also getting started, with legislators making noises about opposing the Mayor. But they're making wussy noises: Jackie Goldberg tells the LA Times "A lot of people up here are former school board members who don't want to see a mayor take over the district," which sounds...

What do bloggers do over a 3-day weekend? Well, Caroline on Crack hits the new Bodega Winebar in Santa Monica and likes what she drinks, eats, and pays. Eating LA undertakes the daunting, if delicious task of creating a guide to the food at Farmer's Market. And Jessica Ritz hops a plane to Spain and promises to write about the wine there. Losanjelous sends food intern Samosa Mel to Magees Donuts in West Hollywood;...

as far as El Segundo - Despite high gas prices, the RV park at Dockweiler State Beach was booked solid for the holiday weekend. RV owners there told the Daily Breeze that their recreational vehicles get about 8 miles per gallon. to W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N - 14-year-old David Pruden, a student at Placertia Junior High School, will be heading to Washington to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee this week — it will be on...

The weeks starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney's best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. Houstonist is there to start compiling the punditry when when the guilty, guilty Enron verdict comes down. This guy seems to be able...

streets of the city - West Magazine in the LA Times turns its attention to the overlooked hippie film Cisco Pike. Buried at the time of its release, never released on video, the movie is now out on DVD; the paper says it's worth a look. It follows Gene Hackman, Kris Kristofferson, Karen Black and Harry Dean Stanton through the streets of 1970 Los Angeles. deadly crash - A 22-year old woman racing through...

disaster - An early morning earthquake in Indonesia has killed 2,500 and injured thousands more. As rescuers begin to comb through the affected area, near Yogyakarta, those numbers are sure to grow. stunning survival - When the Nissan Sentra flew off Mulholland and crashed 200 feet below, eight teens packed into it — including two in the trunk — lived to tell the tale. filling the tank - Drivers waited up to eight hours...

Dear Jen, I've been happily attached to the same gal for over 15 years now, so my understanding of what goes on out there in humpity-bumpity land is limited to what I see from time to time on the internet. And what I see makes me wonder about a coupla things: what's up with condom use and pubic hair? OK, condoms first. From what I see, everyone is slurping each other from top to...

sign of the times - Long time Los Angeles signmaker Wayne Heath has died at age 87. Among his innovative, glorious creations are the Felix Chevrolet sign at Figueroa and Jefferson and the signage at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas. deadly OC crash - Steve Ambriz, a councilman in the city of Orange, was killed yesterday when an out-of-control pickup smashed into his Toyota Camry. in the wrong place - Two animal activists...

LA-based writer Jim Ruland had a story on NPR's Day to Day Wednesday about a book — The Third Policeman — that flashed in a brief scene in the TV show "Lost." The show's fans flocked to the book, a 1940 comic novel written by an Irishman, hoping to find clues to the show's mystery. Aha! People who watch TV do read. Fans of the movie White Oleander probably know that it was first...