Lindsay William-Ross

Why were redheaded kids getting beat up last week? (Photo by Brymo via Flickr) Kids at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas hopped on the bandwagon fueled by a Facebook group posting that declared last Friday "Kick a Ginger Day." Inspired by TV's irreverent Comedy Central show South Park, of which a 2005 episode "focused on prejudice against 'gingers,' a label given to people with red hair, fair skin, and freckles," school-age kids participated...

Walking through the DWP Holiday Light Festival last year (Photo by RuggyBearLA via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) In its 14th year, the LA DWP's annual Holiday Light Festival will take place inside Griffith Park from December 3-30th. The event is starting later this year, however, so that "you can linger over your Thanksgiving turkey," the DWP explains in a press release. No matter when you make it down, however, you can...

Photo by A.C. Thamer via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The LAPD arrested 26-year-old South LA resident Michelle Cato yesterday following a brutal daylight shooting that took place outside Marshal House on South San Julian Street. "The victim, a 38-year-old woman, died at the Los Angeles County - USC Medical Center about one hour after the shooting," explains an LAPD press release. Cato was taken into custody immediately after the shooting, when...

Boat noodles from Sapp's Coffee Shop at 7:37 a.m. (Photo by Lindsay William-Ross/LAist) Think you can eat? Think you can eat pretty much all night? About 40 up to the challenge embarked on a pretty staggering food-venture this weekend, aiming to tackle 11-in-11 overnight, as in 11 Los Angeles-area restaurants and bars in 11 hours, starting at 11 Saturday night and ending at 11 Sunday morning. (We're tired just typing that, by the way.)...

1988 drawing based on victim's description via LAPD The LAPD is once again turning to the public for help in identifying the serial murder suspect dubbed the 'Grim Sleeper.' They have re-released drawings made in 1988 in the hopes of gleaning new information about the suspect's identity and to help solve the string of murders that took place between 1985 and 2007 in Los Angeles, Lennox, and Inglewood. A surviving victim provided the police...

OctopusHat/Flickr If you're free tomorrow morning and want to try something fun for free, check out KTLA's "Free Ice Skating Party to Kick Off The Holidays" which happens 7-11 tomorrow morning at the Downtown on Ice rink at Pershing Square, according to Blogdowntown. "The station's Morning News will be doing a live show from the Downtown park," so you'll have a chance to fall on your rear on the local morning show. Hitting up...

Photo by Nuno_Oliveira via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Some radio stations have already busted out the crooning sounds of Christmas tunes (KOST, I'm looking at you) and it's been a few weeks now that lots of shops have had red-and-green decorations for sale and on display, but we're not even at Thanksgiving yet. Looks like our weather won't get the chance to play catch up, either. "You won't need a crackling...

Matthew Robert (Roberts) says Charles Manson is his dad (via UK Sun) 41-year-old Los Angeles-based musician Matthew Roberts (sometimes Robert) is making headlines here and in the UK for claiming convicted killer Charles Manson is his father. The New Rising Son singer "told the U.K.'s Sun newspaper that he tracked down his mother who told him she was a Manson follower in 1967 when the killer raped her. He was born the next year,"...

One of the new warning signs (Photo courtesy City of Los Angeles) The Thanksgiving holiday may find locals and their out-of-town guests alike taking in the beautiful outdoors as afforded to us with places like the historic Griffith Park and other wilderness recreation areas here in Los Angeles. But that calm is only relative at times to park-goers actions. After two incidents logged in September alone, (including one that prompted a trapping) LA City...

LAPD Detectives are hoping witnesses will come forward with information about a shooting that took place in broad daylight at 2:35 Sunday afternoon near the busy intersection of South La Brea Avenue and Olympic Boulevard, according to a press release. The incident took place as follows: 18-year-old Juan Segura was walking along the sidewalk in the 1000 block of South La Brea Avenue when a car pulled alongside of him and his friend and...

Last month, 23 Members of Congress voiced their support in a letter to the Department of Transportation for a high speed rail project in California to be funded through the federal Recovery Act. Today, U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein (both D-CA) and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) wrote to President Barack Obama to echo their support of this request, according to a press release from Senator Boxer. In their letter to the...

A woman thought to be in her 60s was hit and killed by an Amtrak train this morning near Doran Street and San Fernando Road, according to the Glendale News-Press. "Witnesses report that the woman was pushing a shopping cart along San Fernando Road when she approached the tracks at about 11:30 a.m. The Amtrak engineer rang the horn several times, but [the victim allegedly] didn’t stop." She was struck by the train after...