Jessica P. Ogilvie

Irma Rodriguez, 59, was standing behind her car in South Los Angeles when she was hit by another driver, injuring her so badly that both of her legs had to be amputated. The accident happened in August, and since then, the grandmother and mother of four has had to adjust to a new way of life.

Ladies of Silver Lake, have you been trying to find that one special man with the biggest...beard on the east side? Well then, make your way down to the Silver Lake Public Library tonight, where the lenders of the written word will host the first annual Beard and Mustache Competition.

In tonight's Extra, Extra, a lesbian couple denied lodgings at a Hawaii bed and breakfast has filed suit, two men charged with a Halloween hate crime will stand trial, and Vanessa Bryant will probably be a very wealthy woman after her divorce from Kobe. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

A man in his 60s was beaten and tied up during a home invasion and robbery in Sherman Oaks last night, reports City News Service. The assailants forced their way into the home on 4900 block of Matilija Avenue near Westfield Fashion Square at about 8:30 p.m. after knocking on the door and saying they had a package for the couple who owns the home.

We've done our best to document the recent criminal goings-on of the Explorers program, a program in which teenagers are welcomed into police departments to learn the tricks of the trade. In just the past few months, at least two officers have faced charges of having sex with underage girls who were part of the Explorers.

This weekend marked the beginning of L.A. County's "Avoid the 100" anti-DUI holiday campaign, and what a successful campaign it was. City News Service reports that from Friday at 12:01 a.. to Sunday at 11:59 p.m., 598 arrests of drunk or drugged drivers were made. That tops last year's numbers, which netted 510 arrests for the same weekend.

The mother of Kelly Thomas, a schizophrenic homeless man who was beaten to death by police officers earlier this year, is suing the Orange County District Attorney in order to gain access to records involving her son's demise. According to the OC Register, Cathy Thomas' attorney, Brian Gurwitz, claims that Cathy is a victim and so has a right to see the details of what happened to her son that night.

Updates on Bryan Stow have come in steadily since he was beaten at Dodger Stadium earlier this year, but so far we haven't heard from Stow himself. Next Monday, NBC will change that by airing the first interview with Stow himself, in which he can be heard having a brief conversation with reporter Nancy Snyderman.

Five men, three of whom are members of the East Coast Crips gang, were arrested on charges of taking minors from the Inland Empire to North Hollywood to work as prostitutes. The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports that Darrius Sutton, 21, Chad Phillips-Miller, 23, Darius Burks, and Leprinceton Burks, 27, and Edwin Franklin were taken into custody on December 8, after an investigation by the Los Angeles Innocence Lost Task Force.

Ricardo Aldana, a male teacher at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, was fired yesterday after being accused of molesting a female student who was 14 or younger at the time. But students aren't reacting well to the news, and today, some showed up to school wearing t-shirts that read "Free Aldana," reports the OC Register.

More information is becoming available about Sarah Mason, the young woman featured on the cover of TIME magazine as "The Protester." At 25 years old, Mason's face was captured by L.A. photographer Ted Soqui at Occupy L.A. and turned into one of Shepherd Fairey's iconic images to grace the front of the glossy magazine.

Melinda Star Guido is one of the smallest babies in the world to survive a premature birth. Delivered by cesarean at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center over the summer when she was just 24 weeks old, Guido weighed 9.5 ounces and was tiny enough to fit in the palm of doctor's hands, reports the AP.