Lindsay William-Ross

If you're headed in or out of Van Nuys tonight by car, let the driver beware: The Los Angeles Police Department have announced a sobriety checkpoint to be conducted tonight. The checkpoint will run from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Roscoe Boulevard between Woodley Avenue and Haskell Avenue. Officers will be checking drivers for proper licensing, as well as for signs of alcohol and or drug impairments. This checkpoint is part of the...

Photo by cat's_101 via Flickr It always starts with a suspicious smell: A 57-year-old Panorama City man was served with an animal hoarding search warrant by the Los Angeles City Animal Cruelty Task Force (ACTF) after a neighbor came forward to authorities about a troubling odor, and seeing cats enter--but not leave--the premises. The man, whose name has not been released, was keeping at least 96 cats in his motor home, which is located...

The San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's office has released information about the identity of the snowboarder who crashed and died at Mountain High Dec. 27th, according to the Press-Enterprise. The deceased is Mihail Smetanin, a citizen of Moldova who had been living in Fullerton and was a beginning snowboarder. "He was trying to keep up with some friends down an advanced run called Headwall [...] when he lost control and slid into trees." The coroner...

Anacapa Island, Channel Islands National Park (Photo by doisneau via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) If the fees at any of the National Parks is what keeps you from checking out their natural splendor, there are 17 days this year when that excuse just won't wash. The National Parks have announced the 17 fee-free days they'll offer this year, when they'll waive your entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees...

A tip provided to narcotics detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill division prompted officers to raid a Sylmar home early this morning, seizing weapons and stolen property, and busting a methamphetamine lab operation, according to LA Now. The SWAT team and the bomb squad were called in to assist with the take-down, which happened at a house on the 13700 block of Polk Street. Nine people were inside the property, which has...

This morning Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the eccentric husband of ailing 93-year-old actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, must "make a life-or-death decision" about his wife's infected leg, says KTLA. Initially slated for amputation, Gabor's leg has thus far been spared, but now doctors at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center await von Anhalt's word; Gabor stands "a less than 50-percent chance of surviving the surgery," but could damage her kidneys if the leg remains on and...

A carport fire at an apartment building in Los Feliz left four vehicles destroyed and another eight melted, according to KTLA. The fire was reported early this morning in the 4500 block of Los Feliz Boulevard. Some of the windows in the above apartment units were blown out, though no one was injured. Arson investigators were called to the scene, according to a report aired on CBS2, however they have not yet determined how...

The Key Club has issued a brief statement to say sorry about the riot last night that shut down a portion of the Sunset Strip. From their site: "Key Club would like to sincerely apologize to the city of West Hollywood & our incredibly loyal fan-base for the unfortunate events that occurred last night. We work hard every day to provide a safe & enjoyable concert experience for all of our patrons. We hope...

In tonight's Epiphany edition of Extra, Extra, we've got power to the people in Culver City, a mess of new airline fees, the newest rich guy in Van Nuys, the headline of the day, and more news bites for you to enjoy. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

Lining up at the Flying Pig Truck (Lindsay William-Ross/LAist) It's one thing to use a food truck for a porn shoot (so long as everything--and we mean everything--gets a good disinfecting after), but it's another to riff on the truck's name and logo. The Flying Pig Truck, the backdrop for the first in a planned trilogy of adult films marrying trendy mobile fusion food and getting it on, now says they're contemplating legal action...

An anonymous tipster delivered a disturbing DVD to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department which contains "over 100 hours of video depicting a sequence of sexual assaults on women, all of whom appear to be disabled," reports the Daily News. At least 10 severely handicapped women are shown in the footage, which was copied to the disc from a computer hard drive. "We do not know who the suspects or victims are," Capt. Mike...

The bank building in 2007 (Lindsay William-Ross/LAist) NoHo's Bank Heist, making clever use in turning a onetime bank into a pretty decent restaurant in a neighborhood starved for pretty decent restaurants, had a short-lived tenure before a fire shut it down. For a while locals hung on, baited by word they would rebuild and reopen, only that day never came. Now the space in the heart of the NoHo Arts District will have a...