Lindsay William-Ross

A person of interest in the Sierra Madre gas station fraud charges (City of Sierra Madre) More than 280 people have come forward as victims of credit or debit card fraud, and the cases are linked to a likely "skimming" case stemming from one now-shuttered Sierra Madre gas station. Authorities have released a photo of someone they say is a "person of interest" in the case, after he withdrew money from an ATM in...

For many Angelenos, today is being celebrated as Epiphany, or Three Kings Day (yep, those three kings), which is also known as the 12th, and last, day of Christmas. The observant may participate in gift-giving, attend services, and eat Kings' Cake; many mark the day by taking down the last vestiges of decoration from Christmas. To see how Epiphany is celebrated around the world, the Huffington Post has an image gallery. If you feel...

Anna Nicole Smith's onetime boyfriend and lawyer Howard K. Stern has had his drug conspiracy conviction thrown out by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry, who says Stern "never had the intent to defraud when he used his name and others to protect Smith's privacy when he obtained prescriptions for her," according to the AP. Perry let one conviction stand, that of Smith's psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, reducing it to a misdemeanor and sentencing...

A former Santa Clarita resident employed as a revenue agent with the IRS pleaded guilty yesterday on charges he filed false tax returns for himself and relatives, according to the Department of Justice. 51-year-old Albert Bront admitted in court he filed fraudulent tax returns for himself in 2005, for which he is charged, as well as during the tax years 2003-2007, when he took excessive deductions and neglected to declare all his income.

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...

Actress Jaime Pressly, most known for her role on TV's "My Name is Earl," was arrested in Santa Monica last night under suspicion she was driving under the influence. Pressly was pulled over around 11 p.m. last night after authorities witnessed her making a traffic violation. The mother of two, who was alone in the car, was booked and held on $15,000 bail, higher than the typical $5000, says TMZ. The gossip site says...

Nunez (courtesy LASD) The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have released more information about the suspect in a violent New Year's Day attack on a Hawaiian Gardens woman. Authorities have named 31-year-old Francisco "Pancho" Nunez as the man they believe poured a flammable liquid on his 28-year-old girlfriend and then set her on fire before fleeing the scene. Nunez, a member of the "Varrio Hawaiian Gardens" gang, is "outstanding and should be considered dangerous,"...

In tonight's Extra, Extra we've got where to eat in the 818, a destructive beetle, a market takeover Sprout-ing up, a sex offender on the loose, and more news bites of the day. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

It's been a rough year for libraries in L.A., thanks to budget cuts, but patrons still used the Los Angeles Public Library's 72 branch locations to check out books. I asked the LAPL what the most checked-out book was in 2010: Book borrowing Angelenos spent last year following Robert Langdon as he worked to untangle the mysteries of Freemasonary in Dan Brown's novel The Lost Symbol. The novel is the third in the series...

Map via Metro There's waiting for the train, and then there's waiting for the train line to be built. The wait for the "Subway to the Sea" line connecting Downtown to the Westside may have been shortened yesterday after the Federal Transit Administration granted Los Angeles "approval for preliminary engineering work," on the light rail line, according to an AP report published by Bloomberg. The FTA's approval means that federal funds are forthcoming; Mayor...

It's official: Food trucks have gone to the dogs. Well, actually, you can take your dog to a truck that launches January 8th that will sell dog cookies, ice cream, and bake-at-home dough. Give a hearty paw-shake to the Phydough Truck. If the idea of cookies and ice cream from a truck sounds like the territory of LA food truck veterans Coolhaus, that's because Phydough Truck is their pet project. Their dough and cookies...

Photo by CITIZENDANGERX via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr For those in search of a little consumer-based titillation in the OC city of Lake Forest, your options will remain strictly limited. Yesterday, the Lake Forest City Council "established a temporary moratorium on adult businesses," of at least 45 days, according to the OC Register, giving them time to evaluate if they can allow them to open up anywhere in the city at...