Jessica Ritz

While big box stores are turning the retail landscape of this country into an undistinguishable monolithic entity, creative retailers like Lyvonne Hill, owner of Grometville in Silver Lake, help beat back this trend while adding to the character of our neighborhoods. Seemingly superficial activities and consumer choices nevertheless are tied to the texture and appeal of life in Los Angeles (even though we all know opportunities to shop and consume are not the end...

As part of LAist's commemoration of World AIDS Day, the LAist Interview this week features Shoshanna Scholar, Executive Director of Clean Needles Now. CNN is a grassroots needle exchange organization which also provides a range of crucial services related to HIV/AIDS prevention. Unlike other types of education and outreach efforts, Shoshanna's line of work deals with one of the more controversial aspects of harm reduction programs. Shoshanna has much to report from the trenches...

As part of LAist's commemoration of World AIDS Day, the LAist Interview this week features Shoshanna Scholar, Executive Director of Clean Needles Now. CNN is a grassroots needle exchange organization which also provides a range of crucial services related to HIV/AIDS prevention. Unlike other types of education and outreach efforts, Shoshanna's line of work deals with one of the more controversial aspects of harm reduction programs. Shoshanna has much to report from the trenches...

Cooler, crisper weather seems to be accompanying Thanksgiving week in the Southland this year, so locals who stick around town (a subject of debate on LAist comments today) can enjoy this season's bonus of "winter" weather along with our regular local gastronomic bounty. For those who haven't yet settled on their menu, a day or so remains to peruse the plethora of Thanksgiving culinary suggestions, recipes, and other relevant information that's out there. Keeping...

Cooler, crisper weather seems to be accompanying Thanksgiving week in the Southland this year, so locals who stick around town (a subject of debate on LAist comments today) can enjoy this season's bonus of "winter" weather along with our regular local gastronomic bounty. For those who haven't yet settled on their menu, a day or so remains to peruse the plethora of Thanksgiving culinary suggestions, recipes, and other relevant information that's out there. Keeping...

Local entrepreneur Phil Holland has made a deep impact on Southern California. A real estate developer, he also founded a local institution, the Yum Yum Donuts chain (who can resist the chain's icon featuring a donut with the ability to lick its own lips, let alone a donut with lips?), and developed entrepreneurial education programs for aspiring independent entrepreneurs. These programs are distributed via free online courses at My Own Business.org, classes and publications....

Local entrepreneur Phil Holland has made a deep impact on Southern California. A real estate developer, he also founded a local institution, the Yum Yum Donuts chain (who can resist the chain's icon featuring a donut with the ability to lick its own lips, let alone a donut with lips?), and developed entrepreneurial education programs for aspiring independent entrepreneurs. These programs are distributed via free online courses at My Own Business.org, classes and publications....

The Architecture and Design Museum continues to showcase Los Angeles's finest with "34 Los Angeles Architects." The exhibition opens tomorrow with a reception at 7:00 PM, 8560 W. Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood (exhibition remains on view through February 22, 2005). According to the A + D Museum, the exhibition contains "a wide representation of an open-ended view of modernist architecture in the fertile architectural ground of Los Angeles - a cutting edge 21st...

The Architecture and Design Museum continues to showcase Los Angeles's finest with "34 Los Angeles Architects." The exhibition opens tomorrow with a reception at 7:00 PM, 8560 W. Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood (exhibition remains on view through February 22, 2005). According to the A + D Museum, the exhibition contains "a wide representation of an open-ended view of modernist architecture in the fertile architectural ground of Los Angeles - a cutting edge 21st...

Critics rarely make proclamations in mainstream print publications such as "we're all sucking on the same pop cultural crack pipe," or emphatically proclaim unbridled anticipation of indulging in a "foul, foul show." That's why LAist is grateful that Heather Havrilesky, the Salon.com television critic, is here to tell us what stinks and what's good, and she does it with prodigious and hilarious frankness. This tell-it-like-it-is approach has attracted a loyal readership who gladly fork...