Jason Toney

Just a few hours after we mentioned KABC's new helicopter yesterday, they were able to take it out and use it in the coverage of a high speed chase. The chase ended with the fatal shooting of the suspect. Two stations covered the event but calblog notes that with the new camera you could watch the tires disintegrate, the suspect talk on his cell phone and several other details you hadn't been able to...

Channel 7 has a brand new toy. KABC debuted a high definition news helicoptor on Monday. It is the first in a series of moves that will eventually bring the entire newscast into Hi-Def. Do we really need that? We know there's great value in watching sporting events in HD but do we want to watch real life police shootouts and fatal car accidents and local fires with that much clarity? What about the...

It's not TV. Hell, it's not even HBO. Z Channel was one of the first pay cable television stations and probably the first to showcase what high quality, niche TV could look like. Founded by Jerry Harvey, who met a most tragic end in 1988, the station was all about independent and art house flicks for its run...before it was overtaken by the pay movie channels we enjoy today. IFC and Xan Cassavettes want...

Getting used to the high life is going to be tough for last Saturday's Super LOTTO winner. The $56 million dollar jackpot was won by one lone ticket holder according to Sang Lee who owns the Broadway Food Center where the ticket was sold. Ms. Lee informed Lottery officials that the winner told her that he was too busy working to claim his prize and didn't want to disrupt his place of business today....

We wonder what's going to happen when a large group of Star Trek nerds head to the Embassy Suites LAX for the finale of Enterprise while a large group of Star Wars nerds prepares for the final week before Revenge of the Sith hits theatres across town. Will there be a rip in the space-time continuum? How about a disturbance in the force? Will Star Wars kids don their stormtrooper armor and teleport south...

We don't mean to be all-Arianna all-the-time today but while the launch of her new blog seems to be the talk of the town today, she's doing something cooler later this week. On Thursday, she'll sit down for a conversation with the amazing Anna Deavere Smith at 826LA. There are lots of things to like about Ms. Smith -- like her consistent casting as key government figures in films like "Dave", "American President", and...

After much discussion and publicity for Arianna Huffington's foray into celebrity group blogging, The Huffington Post launched this morning. It'll be interesting to see how timely the blog stays. Initial posts by the well known names cover well treaded topics like gay marriage and the death of Hunter S. Thompson. We will always appreciate any opportunity Harry Shearer has to take a closer look at the oddities and inaccuracies of news media and Laurie...

The week that was finally caught up with us. We planned on having a relatively light night on Friday with Ben Lee (and Har Mar Superstar) at the Troubadour and then waking up bright and early for the Revlon Run/Walk. Part A was a grand success. While the crowd was very tame, Ben Lee was animated and thankful for the final audience of his American tour in support of his new album Awake is...

We can't tell you anything about the new xbox 360 that made its debut for the first time at the shoot for the MTV special that will air next week other than that, fanboys, you need to turn it upright. It stands, baby. We were asked not to scoop the show, though, so we're not going to but we can tell you what to expect. The celebrities in attendance played head to head in...

A rumor started earlier this week running from email to email, IM window to IM window, phone to phone amongst the Southern California black community that the freeway shootings are gang related and that the "Mexican Mafia" is targeting black men wearing white tee shirts in retaliation for stolen drugs. Yesterday, it expanded to include specifics about attacks happening on Cinco de Mayo at area high schools. Despite the LAPD's assurances that they've found...