Lindsay William-Ross

A grass fire first reported just after 3:30 this afternoon near 1611 N. San Ysidro Drive [map], to the north of Beverly Hills, was put out in just about one hour. "Fire contained to 1 acre, no structures damaged and no injuries," explained the knockdown report issued by the Los Angeles Fire Department. Helping battle the blaze that was at one point possibly a threat to a structure near Ferrari Drive were "low winds...

Gasoline prices today have hit their highest point since October 26th, 2008 according to cbs2.com. "A 1.3-cent increase pushed the average price to $3.156, 4 cents more than a week ago, and 77.8 cents more than this time last year, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service." Down in Orange County, the average price of a gallon of gas "rose nine-tenths of a cent Saturday to $3.143, one day after...

Launched in December of last year, Fresser's is the latest food truck to announce they will be calling it quits as of this weekend. Today they posted on their site: "After much thinking, conversation, and soul searching we have decided that the time has come to close our doors. We enjoyed our time on the Fresser’s truck serving you our delicious pastrami..."

Today's go-to excuse is provided by the good people of Google, whose free Calendar service is experiencing a widespread outage today. Once the complaints started flowing on Twitter (another free web service prone to outage), Mashable went to the source and got the word from Google: "We’re aware of a problem with Google Calendar affecting a majority of users. The affected users are unable to access Google Calendar. We will provide an update by...

A similar vehicle (Steven Wilke/Flickr) Four people were killed in a late-night car accident that left body parts and debris strewn along several blocks of Roscoe Boulevard in North Hills, reports KTLA. The accident appears to have involved only one vehicle, a yellow 2007 Corvette, that was speeding and struck a guardrail, sending the car and its occupants skidding about 200 feet, then bouncing over railroad tracks and landing upside down. After responding to...

Angeleno Magazine is hosting a Taste of the Nation pre-event on Monday May 10th that will include an open bar and live cooking demos from three of the city's top chefs, but that will also give attendees some serious incentive to buy their tickets for the upcoming June food fundraiser. Guests will enjoy seeing Chef Quinn Hatfiled (Hatfield's), Chef Water Manzke (formerly of Church & State), and Chef Laurent Quenioux (Bistro LQ) show their...

An early morning shooting in Hawaiian Gardens has left 2 people dead and 3 more injured, according to LA Now. The as-yet unidentified suspect was wielding an AK-47, and appeared to have been targeting his fiancée and her family, after he entered her home and shot first her parents, and then her and her teenage brother.

Sumant Pardal and his India Jones Chow Truck (Zach Behrens/LAist) For the first time, the Vendy Awards are honoring Los Angeles' street food culture, and today they announced the 6 finalists who will be competing for the title of Best Street Food Chef in the city. Battling it out are the India Jones Chow Truck (LAist story), Hot Dog Kings, Big Mista’s BBQ, Nina’s Food, Grilled Cheese Truck (LAist story), and Tacos el Galuzo....

The DWP dealing with a main break in Spetember 2009 (Photo by Gamma Infinity via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) Water conservation strategies implemented last year are considered the main reason for a series of unprecedented 101 major water main breaks last summer and fall, and now city officials say they are open to making changes in the water conservation program, according to LA Now. Scientists examining the system following the series...

Photo by casualtimetravel via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Gas prices in SoCal have hit an 8-month high. Authorities in Ventura County are investigating the mysterious dead body and bones found at two beaches this weekend. Why did rocker Roger Waters deface the Elliott Smith memorial wall in Silver Lake? Uh oh, Eyjafjallajokull! The Icelandic volcano forced airspace over the UK to shut down again today after more ash drifted across European...

Mariner of the Seas (Lindsay William-Ross/LAist) Royal Caribbean's majestic Mariner of the Seas arrived in Los Angeles early last year with a huge splash. One of the cruise line's most luxurious ships, the Mariner has been embarking on Mexican Riveria jaunts from the Port of Los Angeles, at a time when such a trip is proving to be somewhat unpopular. Recently, Royal Caribbean announced that the Mariner of the Seas will be redeployed in...

Depp as Captain Jack If you're a mugger working the mean streets of Los Angeles, it just might pay to know your victim--especially if your victim is Johnny Depp. The actor was recently accosted when he was walking with his buddy, singer Stephen Jones, by a man armed with a broken bottle demanding money. But in the nick of time, and before things could go any further, the would-be mugger recognized the Pirates of...