Lindsay William-Ross

Prosecutors revealed today that they will seek the death penalty for Pedro Espinoza, the 18th Street "gang member accused of murdering a local high school football player," reports KTLA. Espinoza is charged with the March 2008 murder of Jamiel Shaw, a 17-year-old Los Angeles High School student who was known for his football talent. The accused, it was revealed, has been residing in the US illegally, and "had just been released from jail on...

Schwarzenegger and Kennedy in 2003 (via Gothamist) Among the many mourners for Senator Edward Kennedy, who died last night at the age of 77 following a battle with brain cancer, includes members of his extended family like his niece, Maria Shriver, and her husband, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. California's first family issued a statement late last night, noting that they are "immensely saddened" by the loss of Maria's "Uncle Teddy," and that Kennedy "was the...

Photo by R. E. ~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr You've heard, no doubt, that Cash for Clunkers ends tonight. So is Cash for Refrigerators next? The price to rest eternally atop Marilyn Monroe is up to $4 million in an eBay auction ending tonight. An electrical fire in a North Hollywood home brought to light the fact that the tenant was growing pot on the property. It's likely the excess...

Photo by roostercoupon via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A controversial new proposal by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich would give law enforcement the okay to arrest taggers without actually seeing them tag--just the act of "hanging out" together on the street would be enough to haul them in. But those objecting include the ACLU, who call the idea "unquestionably unconstitutional," according to the LA Times. Police, too, aren't sold on the idea,...

Photo by hearkencreative/Flickr The Huffington Post points out a course being offered at Eagle Rock's (and Pres. Obama alma mater) Occidental College that takes academia to perhaps a new low--or a new high in lows. It's Critical Theory and Social Justice (CTSJ) 180: Stupidity. The catalog description: Stupidity is neither ignorance nor organicity, but rather, a corollary of knowing and an element of normalcy, the double of intelligence rather than its opposite. It is...

After a manhunt lasting several days and crossing the border into his native Canada, investment banker turned VH1 reality television contestant Ryan Alexander Jenkins appears to have committed suicide, according to KTLA. "Officials believe [he] took his own life in the hotel room in Hope, British Columbia where his body was found." Jenkins had been charged this week in Orange County with the murder of his wife and former model Jasmine Fiore, whose finger-...

A brush fire that broke out this afternoon in Bell Canyon [map] is located within Ventura County, but is being tended to by Los Angeles City Fire Department due to its inaccessibility from and proximity to Ventura County Fire stations. As of now, and according to an LAFD email alert, the fire "has burned 8 acres; still no homes threatened; no injuries reported."...

Photo by sirimiri via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr LA Co. Sheriff's are looking at a possible homicide after finding a body today in an alley in Willowbrook. Three people were wounded last night during a shooting that occurred inside an Industry strip club. Vicki Cruse, a stunt pilot from Santa Paula, died today in a crash during a British aerobatics show. A story not for the ornithophobic: "Drug raid turns up...

LA Live as drawn in March '08 (LA Live) Starting late last year, the Downtown "destination" LA Live began to host all sorts of events, including a Grand Opening celebration, a Christmas tree lighting ceremony starring Britney Spears and the Mayor, a big screen broadcast of Obama's inaguration, and the openings of specific "on campus" spots like the Conga Room and the ESPN Zone. Touting itself firmly as LA's answer to Times Square (a...

Clockwise from top left: Fish & Chips with kimchee, daily menu, strawberry soup with marshmallow ice cream and wasabi, panna cotta with caramel and caviar, Peaches with mascarpone, duck breast with carrot cake puree, duck fat-fried chicken and potato salad (Lindsay William-Ross/LAist) All good things must come to an end, oui? First of all, don't even think about trying to get into LudoBites tonight at Breadbar--it's not going to happen. With extra chairs being...

UCLA's Royce Hall. Photo by neonspecs via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Local ecoblogger GreenLAGirl reports that Sierra magazine has published their annual list of the 10 colleges in the country that rank as the greenest, and our UCLA makes the cut at a respectable #9. However, at 60%, the campus' recycling rate is actually lower than the City of Los Angeles overall, who can boast we have "the highest recycling rate...

Photo by Mick O Doesn't Know via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The LA Weekly recently re-ran a five-year-old movie review, written for them by a girl who was 12 at the time. The writer? Lily Burk, the 17-year-old who was murdered last month in Downtown. Some teenagers in Long Beach have started a record label and are hoping the internet will help them network their way to profits. Time for cost-cutting...