Emma G. Gallegos

If you've ever known more than a handful of white students figuring out how to pay for college, you might have heard the claim: there aren't as many grants and scholarships for white students as minorities. But it's just not true, according to a national report by financial aid guru Mark Kantrowitz.

In tonight's Extra, Extra, Dennis Zine is still cracking down on art supply stores, fees for downtown's art walk are climbing and why Mother Nature loves your hybrid. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

The state has fined a dozen hospitals in the state for making mistakes that killed or injured patients. The mistakes run the gamut from giving methadone to the wrong patient to leaving a sponge inside a patient after surgery, because a nurse wanted to hurry off to her lunch break. State officials say these fines focus attention on preventable medical errors.

A local plein air artist is making bank with a painting whose subject freaked out bankers and police. In the process, the artist Alex Schaefer discovered that being suspected of terrorism was good for his livelihood. The painting that earned him a visit from detectives also earned him $25,200 on eBay.

One of the founders of Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance is firing back at a piece by LA Weekly that delved into the tax records of the organization. Reporter Amanda Becker concludes that the high-profile fight over jacked-up city fees aren't what killed the festival this year and its youth programs — it's the high overhead for a mismanaged program.

Okay, we're not saying there is life on Mars, but if there is, these Martians should be all set to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11 this weekend. Workers added a little piece of the twisted rubble from the Twin Towers into the design of both of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity that were sent to Mars in 2003.

Kjerstin Gruys, a UCLA grad student working on a thesis about body image, has decided to stop checking herself out in the mirror for an entire year. Yes, even though halfway through her mirror-less year — which is next month — she's getting married. Her rules are pretty thorough, and if she follows them, she won't be seeing any images of herself the entire year.

In tonight's Extra, Extra, hipsters help the homeless, the Karate Kid wants to go Gaga and volunteers for a ballot measure don't want talk of cross-dressing anywhere near their kids' curriculum.

Check out links from around the -ists, including stories about expensive pot in Chicago, one professor's proposal to legally protect ugly people and a strip club built with HIV/AIDS funding.

It's just what it sounds like, you crazy baby.

Two USC students were shot at party last night, after the host accused the shooter of stealing his Dr. Dre "Beats" Headphones, according to The Daily Trojan. The suspect drew a gun and shot a man and woman who had stepped in to help the host. The male victim, an undergraduate student, was seriously injured after being shot in the chest, while the woman was shot once in the hand. Both are expected to survive.

The FBI arrested Kinde Durkee, a big-shot Democratic campaign treasurer trusted by everyone from Councilman Dennis Zine to Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Friday. Durkee's arrest at her firm's office in Burbank, first reported by to The Orange County Register, was the first hint for many of her clients that anything might be awry.