Lindsay William-Ross

Thanks to Christmas Day falling on a Sunday this year, today is a legal holiday, and that means things are quiet in Los Angeles, with many offices and services closed or limited.

Headed out tonight? Don't forget that Metro is giving free rides on all Metro bus and rail lines tonight into the wee hours of Christmas Day, 9 p.m. and 2 a.m.

The Wilshire Grand Hotel, at the corner of Wilshire and Figueroa, is closing its doors, and will be torn down and replaced by two new skyscrapers.

In today's Christmas Eve-eve Extra, Extra we've got Radio Free Silver Lakes Best of list, our contribution to the French fashion scene, a new life for a little lot in Hollywood, and more news of the day. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

Griffen Kramer, the 18-year-old Thousand Oaks High School quarterback found dead in October at a buddy's house, died of a heroin overdose, according to toxicology reports released by the L.A. County coroner's office.

In today's Extra, Extra we've got a Golden Girl tackling a new gig, knit goods and supplies are the bomb, a cat who can stop a baby crying, and more news bites of the day. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

It's time for year in review posts, and while there are certainly more than a few everywhere on the web, today we were drawn to KCET's look back at 2011 in Los Angeles mural art.

Is your flight headed out of Los Angeles International Airport today? Or are you picking someone up from the airport? If so, bring a heaping pile of patience, because today happens to be one of the busiest travel days of the year at LAX.

Does the weather where people in the U.S. and around the globe live make them happy? That's what an iPhone weather app's "Happiness Index" seeks to determine. Weathermob has taken how users feel about the weather win their city and ranked the findings from most to least happy.

PETA's president has written a letter to Damon Vix, one of the atheism advocates who is seeking equity in the Santa Monica's annual holiday display event, asking if he will relinquish a vacant "nativity scene" spot for a PETA sign.

Tyler Okonma, a 20-year-old rapper who goes by the stage name "Tyler the Creator," created a ruckus on Sunset Boulevard last night when he was arrested for "allegedly vandalizing sound equipment and attacking a sound engineer at the Roxy nightclub in West Hollywood," according to KTLA.

On December 21, 1940, celebrated American author and Hollywood scenster F. Scott Fitzgerald collapsed and died inside a West Hollywood apartment. He was 44 years old.