Lindsay William-Ross

Debra Bowen has conceded the election As the final ballot count continued after Tuesday's Special Election, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen conceded in the race to fill the vacated 36th Congressional District seat, leaving the runoff to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn (D) and businessman Craig Huey (R). From Bowen's statement: “Since Tuesday’s election, my staff, legal advisers and election experts participated in the ballot review process to ensure a full and...

Scott and Jean Adam (via Quest) The man accused of killing local couple Jean and Scott Adam after hijacking their yacht in the Gulf of Arden has pleaded guilty in a federal court in Virginia, according to the Associated Press. Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali of Somalia is "among 15 suspects from Somalia and Yemen facing charges related to the February hijacking of the yacht Quest." The Adams were Christian missionaries based in Marina Del...

Photo by Melon Bee via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr An arboretum is, in essence, a collection of trees, though by contemporary definition, it is a place dedicated to conservation of and education about trees. Now Santa Monica is beginning to explore the possibility of being "the first city-wide arboretum in the world," according to The LookOut News. The idea, which was first brought up for public discussion earlier this week in...

It's 6:20 on a Thursday evening, and you're supposed to meet a friend for a drink at one of the restaurants on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. So, uh...where is there a free parking spot? As of today, iPhone and Android users can tap into vacant spaces in Studio City with Parker, the real-time parking app. The launch of the app in Studio City was marked at an event featuring the participation of City...

Photo by Rainforest Action Network via Flickr Activists from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) dressed as iconic characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse were arrested this morning during a protest and banner-hanging outside the Walt Disney Company's Headquarters in Burbank. The group unfurled a 35-foot banner reading “Disney: Destroying Indonesia’s Rainforests," and blocked the company's main entrance early this morning, as part of an ongoing campaign. RAN Forest Campaigner Robin Averbeck said via news release...

A plain ol' affordable bowl of pho (Photo by Jennifer Gaillard via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) A recent reader e-mail prompted us to look into the possibility of there being a really (really, really) expensive bowl of pho out there. Our reader writes: "I heard that Tiato restaurant in San ta Monica will have a Pho Noodle with KOBE beef for $5,000.00 a bowl. Is this true?" The answer: Yes. First:...

Air Rescue 5 hauls the marijuana on board (Photo courtesy LASD) Authorities have removed about 1500 pounds of marijuana, assembled into about 31 bales with an estimated worth of $750,000, on Catalina Island, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The marijuana, and one male suspect, were spotted by a captain and deputy from the LASD's Avalon Station yesterday, who observed the suspect interact with what the authorities considered "suspicious items" wrapped in...

In today's Extra, Extra we've got a couple of burger (news) bites, Dwell-ing with Jonathan Adler, Bogart-ing a trademark, railroad safety and more. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

Photo by magnetic lobster via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The Los Angeles Zoo is struggling to meet its payroll, and with the current state of the city's budget, there isn't likely to be an influx of cash streaming in from the coffers any time soon. One solution on the table is to turn the Zoo over to a private operator who can afford to run the attraction, according to the Press-Telegram....

Photo of the Salton Sea by lostlosangeles via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr As a cost-cutting measure, "the California Department of Parks and Recreation has come up with a list of 70 parks statewide that it will close by July 2012," reports KCET. Of the 70, just 13 are located south of San Luis Obispo, however of those 13, six represent half of our Desert State Parks. For those who make the...

Photo by antith3tic via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Voters had their say in the City and County of Los Angeles yesterday in a trio of close contests. In the City's General Municipal Election, a pair of education runoffs saw narrow triumphs for the Board of Education District 5 seat in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Community College's 5th Seat. In California's 36th Congressional District, a Republican candidate has...

In this file television image broadcast on Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV shows Osama bin Laden at the wedding of his son in January 2001. (AP Photo/Al-Jazeera/TV, file) From beautiful Canoga Park, California comes this timely release about the coming together of current events and, well, porn. I mean--it's Canoga Park, after all. In what we would surely hail the "Press Release of the Day" if we were to do such a thing comes word from...