Kristy Pyke

Hollywood Arts, a non-profit targeted at providing arts education for high-risk youth, has announced Michael Yo from E! will host this year’s Dream Awards, which will be held at Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles on November 13. The third annual award ceremony is Hollywood Arts' big fundraiser geared toward raising funds for the school’s new facility. With a little over 100 students ages 18 to 25 and around 40 students 13 to 17, the organization says...

In years past a birthday meant presents, phone calls from family, and most recently thousands of “Happy Birthday” notes on your Facebook wall from people you haven’t talked to since the third grade. But now Facebook may be changing the way they do birthday feeds, altering the culture of birthdays once again, according to Inside Facebook. First they brought back the upcoming birthdays option on the right side bar, no longer hiding it under...

Urban Lab: Chantilly Clad Rendering Long Beach is getting a new piece of public art and performance space all in one. Called ‘Urban Lab: Chantilly Clad,’ this temporary art project uses port-related materials to create a stage in an empty lot that can be used for outdoor performances, workshops, and other events. Officials from the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and the Arts Council for Long Beach are hosting the new public art project...

photo by Lori_NY via Flickr With today apparently being National S’mores Day we thought we’d see if there were some good recommendations out there. LA Weekly did a round up of six of the best spots to get s’mores around Los Angeles. Their list includes Luna Park, Gyu-Gaku, the Munchie Machine, Gotta Have Smore, etc....

Robert Rizzo, 56 (Huntington Beach Police Dept.) City Managers all across Los Angeles are currently in the limelight after as we all probably know by know, the LA Times published an article revealing many shockingly high salaries. It was revealed that former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo made more than $1.5 million -- after all his annual compensations were factored in -- which is more than President Obama makes. The average salary for other...

Cotton fields outside of Bakersfield would be replaced by the new power plant. | Photo by Will Evans/California Watch Some question what President Obama meant when he said BP was going to “pay” for the tragedy in the Gulf considering BP is currently receiving around $308 million in federal grants to build a power plant in Southern California. BP co-owns the company Hydrogen Energy California (LLC) with Rio Tinto that is the current recipient...

Photo from official website of National Night Out 2010 The nation carries on the tradition of National Night Out tonight with events taking place in cities all over the country with things like live jazz, food, boxing, block parties, karate, carnivals, cookouts, and competitions. In Los Angeles alone, there are 44 events planned. The free events were created to spark community involvement and catalyze communication between the police enforcement and community members. The mission...

Good news and bad news surround billboard issues in Los Angeles this week. The bad news is that even after significant efforts from the Los Angeles City Council to crack down on illegal supergraphics, advertisements continue to be found on private property causing frustration and dismay to many community members.

Photo by bochalla via Flickr US Senator Dianne Feinstein’s bill to increase punishment for marketing drug candy to children passed the Senate last week and is now in the House. Current law makes it illegal to sell drugs to anyone under the age of 21, but Feinstein goes one step further and wishes to double the punishment -- or triple if the crime is repeated -- for anyone who markets these candy flavored drugs....

Department of Public Health: Life Expectancy in Los Angeles County Life expectancy has increased in the Los Angeles County to an average of age 80, but the statistics released today don’t warrant complete celebration. A report by the Department of Public Health (DPH) titled “Life Expectancy in Los Angeles County: How long do we live and why?” (PDF); suggests there are major discrepancies of life expectancy between people groups both racially and geographically. The...