Lindsay William-Ross

Today marks the start of more vigilant enforcement of the state's "Click it or Ticket" campagin, which focuses on motorists breaking the law and endangering their safety by driving with their seatbelt unfastened. Although our state is one of the top in the nation for belt-wearing, about one million Californians neglect to spend the two seconds it takes to "click" their belt in place. "Tickets for seat belt violations went up on Jan. 1...

Photo by GarySe7en via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Last August, a young man sleeping inside Downtown's 7th/Metro Station was roused by an MTA security guard; during the incident the guard delivered a kick to the patron's head, which was not only not part of his job description, but also captured on surveillance cameras inside the station. The footage convinced a jury to find the guard guilty of using excessive force. Cases...

Photo by RuggyBear via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The Daily News takes a look back at what turned out to be a long day of protest against the LAUSD yesterday, including the arrest of several teachers and UTLA President AJ Duffy. A 3-year-old boy abducted from his San Bernardino home may have been located today in Mexico. Hollywood Park racetrack has been granted permission to shorten their upcoming racing schedule to...

If by "healthier" food with "more seafood" includes shrimp and butter-drenched bread knots impaled on a skewer piled on meaty rice and smothered in sauce, then, hey, yeah, Happy Ending has it going on. (Photo by Elise Thompson/LAist) Apparently, not everyone loves a Happy Ending. In what could have been an upbeat tale sprung from Hollywood, a popular watering hole and eatery had their hopes up for a new life on Culver Boulevard in...

Wine, wine tote. So Hollywood! (Photo by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market via Flickr) You (hopefully) heard it here first: The Fresh & Easy Hollywood store will begin to stock beer and wine starting Monday. The F&E chain carries around 70 wines that are exclusive to them, and selected with the help of Phil Reedman, Master of Wine (Masters of Wine are highly regarded throughout the industry as extensively trained wine experts, and there...

Photo by Suviko via Flickr Arcadia High School doesn't want to mess around when it comes to, well, songs that reference all kinds of messing around. Songs that are in heavy rotation right now on the radio and on the iPods of many high schoolers include ones that "glorify prostitution, casual sex, and inspire some major bumping and grinding on the dance floor," explains MomLogic. And 20 of those songs are verboten at Arcadia's...

Locali's SnoCones Franklin Village's Locali is prepping to go mobile. Later this month the "Conscious Convenience" store (you know, where you buy your vegan condoms) launches The Icycyle, a roaming vending tricycle that will be offering up a selection of frozen treats made with diabetic-friendly, handmade vegan, gluten-free, and organic products. "By combining the idea of environmentally conscious living with the element of convenience, Owners Melissa Rosen and Greg Horos are making Locali’s regionally...

Photo by ellwoodite via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The late-night blaze in Elysian Park that took firefighters an hour to put out Saturday is now being investigated as an act of arson. TreeHugger explains why California farmers are cutting down trees during this period of drought. Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education has named CSUN 5th in nation and 1st in the state for awarding bachelor's degrees to Hispanic students. Go Matadors!...

Basically you'd have to be a dead celebrity to afford a house like the Spelling mansion these days (Photo by Atwater Village Newbie via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) The folks over at Forbes are taking their cues these days from the late rap icon Tupac Shakur as they explain why they selected Los Angeles as their top pick of America's Most Overpriced Cities. But it's not the cost of pimping your...

Starting today it's going to cost you more to snail mail your letters, cards, postcards and bills, KTLA.com reminds mailers. Today "the price of a first-class stamp will increase two cents to 44-cents. Forever stamps can still be used without an additional 2-cent stamp, regardless of when they were purchased." Other changes include a bump of postcard stamps from "1 cent to 28 cents, the first ounce of a large envelope will increase 5...

The Miss California USA pageant plans to reveal this afternoon if they will allow Carrie Prejean to keep her crown after allegations the 21-year-old San Diegan "violated her contract by making public appearances with groups opposed to same-sex marriage," according to cbs2. The blonde beauty also came under fire for remarks made as part of the Miss USA pageant regarding her beliefs about same-sex marriage, which incurred the post-pageant wrath of judge Perez Hilton....

Nicole Richie, seen here in an ad for her fashion line House of Harlow, will trade posing for planting in LAUSD school gardens This week, the Environmental Media Association's Young Hollywood Board is putting on the gloves and digging deep in support of organic gardening in Los Angeles-area schools. Celebs on the Board, including Nicole Richie, Lance Bass, Rosario Dawson, members of Maroon 5, Amy Smart, Matthew Rhys, Emily VanCamp and Emmanuelle Chriqui, will...