Lindsay William-Ross

A person, thought to perhaps be a transient, was struck and killed this morning by an Amtrak train in Downtown Los Angeles near Union Station. The victim was hit by train 562, departing L.A. for San Diego, according to ABC7. The incident took place at approximately 6:20 this morning at Santa Fe Avenue and 8th Street near the 6th Street bridge, notes LA Now. The passengers and crew of the train were not injured....

The race for three open seats on the West Hollywood City Council has been a tense and tight one, and with only unofficial vote counts available and several hundred provisional and/or Vote-By-Mail ballots left to count, the race has not been won, according to the City's election site. Leading the pack as of the current count are Abbe Land (2,548), John D'Amico (2,471), and John Heilman (2,359). However, both Steve Martin (2,026) and Lindsey...

Photo by Lindsay William-Ross/LAist With under 12% of the registered voters in the City of Los Angeles either going into their polling place or filing a ballot by mail, the March 8th Primary Nominating and Consolidated Election saw to it the passage of the bulk of the measures and the maintaining of the status quo in most council districts with the re-election of incumbents. Voters opted to approve the Library Tax (Measure L), and...

If you were wondering how good dineLA Restaurant Week was this winter for the local economy, the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau shared some numbers today. Plus: dineLA Restaurant Week will return this fall with two more weeks of dining deals October 2-7 and October 9-14, 2011.

Need something to do tonight? In today's Pencil This In we've got the Pac-10 Basketball Free Fan Fest at LA Live, the opening reception for "Wall Works" at SMMoA, and rocker Exene Cervenka performing her new album at the Redwood Bar & Grill.

Lohan in court (Screenshot) While Lindsay Lohan is due in court tomorrow for another go-'round of the necklace caper case, the Venice jewelry store who is accusing the actress of lifting the $2500 item says they're auctioning off the item in question for charity, according to ABC7. This is the second instance Kamofie & Co. is making headlines for raising money on the back of the case; earlier this week the store sold their...

Photo by nist6ss via Flickr Shoppers in Santa Monica, you'd best be bringing your own bags to your neighborhood stores from this day forward, as today is the day the city's ban on plastic bags goes into effect. If you forgot to pack those re-usable canvas bags in your Prius before hitting the Whole Foods, though, relax: City Hall is giving retailers a six-month grace period before enforcing the ban, reports the Santa Monica...

When Charlie Sheen took his batshit crazypants antics to Twitter on March 1, he had tens of thousands of fans before the first Tweet even went out. How did people know it was the "real" Charlie Sheen, tiger's blood, sweat, and tears? That little blue "verified" check mark meant that the folks at Twitter knew it was the real deal, and not the account "squatter."

Is it the neck laden with big, blingy gold chains? The omnipresent sunglasses, walking stick, or dapper hat? The animal print mixed with bold-colored garb? Sure, at Halloween, (and year-round on some L.A. streets) it's easy to spot the pimps in the crowd. Now a case before the California Supreme Court has arrived at the deciding point of when a pimp becomes a pimp, according to the AP via CBS2. The issue is tied...

Rozlyn Papa's "Bachelor" photo (ABC) Rozlyn Papa might have gotten the boot from the ABC romancereality series "The Bachelor," but her lawsuit against several adult-oriented websites has gotten the go ahead in Los Angeles Superior Court, reports the Daily Breeze. The onetime contestant on the show's "On the Wings of Love" season says she was falsely identified as the talent in a sex video. Lawyers for spank-aiding sites like PornHub.com and Peeperz.com said though...

Unrelated anchovies as found in a market in Italy (Photo by Paul and Jill via Flickr) Sure, it's a classic pizza topping joke, but today in Redondo Beach, extra anchovies are a real problem. Millions of the dead fish were found this morning floating up to the surface, says the Daily Breeze, and with the sun warming up the area, officials are scurrying to get rid of them, while trying to determine what killed...

An Orange County substitute teacher was accused yesterday afternoon of being drunk on the job, and an investigation is now under way by the Sheriff's Department. The teacher, a woman whose identity has not been released, was covering a 6th grade dance class at Carl Hankey in Mission Viejo, a K-8 school in the Capistrano Unified School District, explains KTLA. The sub's allegedly booziness was first noticed by a student, who told another teacher...