Lindsay William-Ross

Pinsky in 2008 (Sarah Ardalani/LAist) High-profile chemical dependency specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky has confirmed he is cutting ties with Aurora Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, according to the LA Times. The facility has come under "renewed scrutiny" after inspectors became aware of security and safety risks and incidents involving patient escapes and "near suicides." Pinksy has been affiliated with the hospital for 19 years, and his work in the field of rehab treatment has...

One sure fire way to make a Happy Hour even happier is to make the beer free, right? Of course, offers like these are often too good to be true, but an event next week at Ford's Filling Station might just be too good to pass up. Chef Ben Ford and his Culver City restaurant are hosting the first Taste of the Nation LA (TOTNLA) Happy Hour Ticket Sale Event, during which time anyone who buys their ticket to June's big TOTNLA event gets bought a beer by Chef Ford himself.

Wines at DomaineLA (Photo by djjewelz via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) When it comes to wine and food, it's all about the power of the pairing, and it's always a bonus if someone in the know is doing the matching up. Next Monday night DomaineLA will bring together Italy's Manicor winery and the tastes of Susan Feniger's Street for an affordable cocktail-hour pairing event at the Hollywood restaurant. For $15 guests...

Will trucks like this GOOD mag award-winning one proposed by local landscape architect Mia Lehrer be part of making LA a better "food city"? (image via GOOD/more here) "Touchy touchy," begins a rebuttal of a rebuttal by Rob Eshman of the Jewish Journal's Foodaism blog. Indeed, Eshman touched some nerves when he issued his somewhat negative take on Saveur mag's Los Angeles issue, when he pointed out 10 things Saveur had wrong. But it...

Steve Poizner (via Twitter) Steve Poizner is scheduled to speak tonight on his second day of campaigning for the GOP gubernatorial ticket in the San Fernando Valley--an area of Los Angeles that is largely populated with Democrats, according to the Daily News. Poizner's engagement tonight is with the Hollywood Congress of Republicans at a North Hollywood club, where he is expected to speak about issues raised yesterday in a new TV ad campaign, most...

The McForce is one to be reckoned with (via Weather Sealed; view larger here) Just how saturated is America by the top 8 fast food burger chains? This map, created by Weather Sealed, illustrates the density of each chain across the nation. McDonald's--in the black--obviously dominates, but it looks like here in Southern California the market leader is Jack in the Box. Oddly enough, none of their burger offerings made our list of the...

Rendering of The Market at Santa Monica Place (via SM Place website) Details are out today about the food offerings that will be on deck--literally--at the renovated Santa Monica Place (you remember, that sad-sack mall at the foot of the 3rd Street Promenade). Called The Market at Santa Monica place, an array of food options likened, in a smaller serving, to San Francisco's Ferry Building or New Yorks' Chelsea market, the mall will boast...

Photo by LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr">casualtimetravel via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The suit OJ Simpson wore when he was famously acquitted in the criminal trial for the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman could be headed for the Smithsonian. That is, if the museum even wants it. Today's your last day to vote for your ten favorite religious buildings in the LA Conservancy's unofficial Top 60...

Escalante (left) with Mayor Villaraigosa and actor Jimmy Smits at an event last September (Photo by current events via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) The inspiring story of math teacher Jaime Escalante and students whose lives he touched at East L.A.'s Garfield High was immortalized in the film 1987 Stand and Deliver. Now the actor who played Escalante is hoping his celebrity will help inspire others to contribute funds to aid Escalante...

LA food blogger Gourmet Pigs is running a second installation of an online bidding-style fundraiser to bring in donations to support two groups helping with relief in Haiti. Bid and Eat is pretty straightforward concept: Several local eateries have donated offers and certificates for folks to bid on, and the proceeds will go to CHF International and Operation USA. The first Bid and Eat raised $765, so the goal for number two is $1000....

Photo by Grant Palmer Photography via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The man behind an illegal supergraphic billboard at Hollywood & Highland was arrested on Friday night. Two Los Angeles ex-pats living in Santiago, Chile, have been blogging about life in their new South American home--and about yesterday's massive quake. A police standoff surrounding a domestic violence situation in Tarzana ended peacefully after nine hours this morning. Theatre company A Noise Within,...

Photo by pink_fish13 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Proposed cuts to services and other departments in the City in the face of a serious budget crunch means that many of our cherished, under-appreciated, and already under-served resources stand to lose a great deal. The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) is no exception, and in order to gather public support they have launched a "Save the Library" campaign. Currently the LAPL is...