Lindsay William-Ross

Photo by Clinton Steeds via Flickr Springtime can mean a renewal of the earth, and for the Thai people, it means their traditional New Year celebration called Songkran. The festival is about celebrating community, and visiting with friends, relatives, and elders. Luckily, Los Angeles boasts a significant population of residents with Thai heritage, and we can take part in the colorful and spirited celebration, no matter our background, so long as we can get...

Today the LA City Council voted to approve adding $75,000 to the already-assembled $50,000 from USC and $10,000 from the LA County Board of Supervisors as reward in the case of the hit-and-run accident that took the life of one USC student and left another critically injured, according to abc7.com. The accident happened early Sunday morning, as Adrianna Bachan, 19, and Marcus Garfinkle, 18, were walking across Jefferson at Hoover on their way home...

Photo by AMagill via Flickr April 2010 is now one year away, and LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is hoping to inspire many Angelenos to take an active role in the Census due to take place. Today he was joined by City Council President Eric Garcetti, Councilmembers Wendy Greuel and Jose Huizar, director of the U.S. Census Bureau Los Angeles Regional Office Jamie Christy, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Taboo, member of the Black Eyed Peas,...

Photo by js wright via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Authorities in Pacific Palisades are working on the case of the dead man found inside an area parking lot early this morning. The LA Weekly looks into the Octo-Drama, and wonders why the Pro-Life and Feminist camps haven't rushed to Nadya Suleman's defense. Dangerous behind the wheel time for an 88-year-old man yesterday who mistook the gas for the brake and drove...

Members of the United Teachers Los Angeles are gathered right now outside the LAUSD's Local District 5's offices to protest the board's plan to terminate thousands of teachers, many of them the district's youngest and most energetic. The crowd, dressed in either their UTLA red shirts or pink (symbolic of the pink slips) prompted District 5 Superintendent Carmen Schroeder to come down to address the crowd. Using a microphone, several of the area's...

Disney Cruise Line and the Port of Los Angeles announced today that in 2011, Disney's "Wonder" will be setting sail from our shore. The vessel is one of a trio of ships currently offering family-friendly cruises from Port Canaveral, Florida; no itinerary has been announced, but the Mexican Riviera is the rumored destination. Bringing another cruise ship to LA is a revenue booster for the city: "It will bring about 250,000 passengers through the...

Can a transit agency be considered "green" if they aren't meeting their emission level standards? The state Air Resources Board thinks not, and have hit Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus line with a $21,000 fine "for failing to conduct required diesel emissions testing and maintaining appropriate records, among other violations," according to LA Now. Per the regulator, the popular fleet of around 200 buses "also failed to keep emission levels at no more than...

In what appears to be a "family-on-family murder-suicide," according to one Police Lieutenant, six people, including four children, died after a shooting that took place in an upscale neighborhood in Santa Clara of Northern California, according to the Associated Press. Officers responding to the call around 8:30 last night arrived to find two adults and three children dead, and another adult and child both wounded. The child, an infant girl, died at the hospital,...

Photograph by David Velez Gothamist was intrigued by the Sad Panda seen walking around Manhattan. DCist couldn't help but notice that the Obamas' plan to give away tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll entirely online didn't go so well. Londonist discussed the 'what', 'why', 'who' and 'where' of the protests surrounding the forthcoming G20 summit. Chicagoist mourned the decision to cancel the city's annual South Side Irish Parade in 2010 (and potentially...

Two USC students were struck by a vehicle as they "were walking in the crosswalk at Hoover Street about 3 a.m." according to abc7.com. The pair were hit by "a man driving a dark-colored vehicle east on Jefferson Boulevard," who fled the scene. The students were transported to the hospital, where the 19-year-old female was pronounced dead and the 18-year-old male received care for his "critical injuries." The incident is being investigated by LAPD's...

Photo by honeybeejen via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Silver Lake Art & Craft Vintage Flea Market This is the last weekend to catch them at their current set-up at the CitiBank at 2450 Glendale Blvd.(cross st. Silverlake Blvd). Head over between 9-5 today to score some great goodies and support local business. They promise to reveal their new location next week, and will be offering "Better hours and a much BIGGER...

It's almost a sport these days: Spotting the gaffes in the print edition of the LA Times. After this week's most recent rounds of letting-go at the city's fledgling old guard news source, readers keep wondering if maybe they let a few too many people go, namely the ones who would make sure the stories had, you know, like, headlines. Yesterday, Lies.com noticed a few things missing from the news; instead of headlines the...