Lindsay William-Ross

Photo by Kevin Britton via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The LAPD welcomed 50 new officers into their ranks yesterday. Space Shuttle Discovery landed safely in Florida today. On board: An Astronaut from the OC. A recent audit of the LAUSD highlights the long-running "power struggle" between the board and the oversight committee responsible for construction spending. Still shakin': A series of mini-quakes have rattled beneath Chino Hills, including one this morning...

If your weekend plans include dropping a line into the lakes at Earvin Magic Johnson County Park, be ready to be in it just for the sport--don't take those fish to the dinner table! The Los Angeles County Health Officer is issuing a Health Advisory cautioning residents to not eat fish caught there at the park. They report that "preliminary data from water and fish samples taken from the lakes suggest that fish may...

Photo: Ivy Dawned via Flickr Los Angeles is one of the many global cities participating in Earth Hour tonight. The annual event, which seems to be gaining popularity with each year, calls for everyone to turn off any non-essential lights for just one hour, and that hour is tonight from 8:30-9:30 local time. L.A. is getting into Earth Hour big time tonight, with several well-known landmarks--like Capitol Records, the ferris wheel at the Santa...

Sheriff's deputies in Marina del Rey are trying to figure out why the waters are green today, following a sighting reported this morning in the E Basin near the E-3200 dock, according to cbs2.com. Described as "a bright green substance," authorities have been able to determine that it is "a non-toxic dye," but how or why it is in the water remains unknown. Is this the result of an accidental spill, or are there...

Photo by Grumpy Chris via Flickr The gardening trend is, without a doubt (and pardon the pun) growing. Add Maria Shriver to the list of politicians getting their hands dirty and cultivating a truly green movement. Right on the heels of the first family, California's first lady "announced Monday that a garden will be planted in May in a flower bed on the east end of Capitol Park in Sacramento," according to LA Now....

LAUSD took to the streets in protest in January. Photo by bryanvillarin via LAist Featured Photos The Los Angeles Unified School District reached a tentative agreement yesterday with the union representing its teachers which gives them a new contract that will last until 2011, according to abc7.com. Under the deal, teachers will not have to take furlough days, as proposed by the LAUSD, and while they would "be fully funded for health benefits," teachers...

C-Monster via LAist Featured Photos A county-wide sweep conducted by Los Angeles County Sheriff's in partnership with several local police agencies has been underway since early this morning in the hopes of netting "graffiti offenders on probation," reports the Star-News. "About 164 units and more than 300 personnel were involved in the sweep which focused on persons on parole, probationers and known graffiti offenders," the police explained. They expect the sweep to wrap up...

Photo by LA Wad via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Federal stimulus funds are bound for Santa Monica, where their Big Blue Bus has plans for the $12.8 million, according to Yahoo!Business. The funds come with the stipulation they be "used for capital expenditures and not for operating costs or service enhancements." Stephanie Negriff, director of transit services for the Big Blue Bus points out that the money will help support businesses...

A bomb threat called in at around 4 o'clock this morning indicated there was a pipe bomb at the Pershing Square Metro station. The call led "sheriff's deputies and police to shut down the facility," at 5th and Hill in Downtown, according to the Press-Telegram. Although Metro's Red Line trains were operational this morning they were "bypassing the Pershing Square stop," up until around 5:42, when "Bomb squad investigators and police dogs [who had]...

Photo by Mr. Theklan via Flickr An investigation launched last fall into an East Los Angeles drug operation netted 48 arrests of gang members during raids yesterday morning conducted at 38 different locations, the Press-Telegram is reporting. The raid, according to Sheriff Lee Baca "put a heroin ring out of business." During the raids, "a task force including the sheriff's department and two federal agencies also seized 15 kilograms of heroin, $100,000 in small...

Photo by dtaylor123 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The LAPD held a memorial ceremony today for David Lee Briggs, the man who ran a shoeshine stand at police headquarters for 21 years. Speaking of the LAPD, Chief Bratton is trying to put out the fire caused by their use of water bottles. One of the victims of this weekend's small plane crash out of Corona was former child actor Karen Lynne...

Will Suzanne Goin be named Best Chef? (Photo from Lucques' BBQ in '08 by Foodwoolf via LAist Featured Photos) This year's list of nominees for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards has been released, and Los Angeles is repped via a venerable food scribe in the writing category and a bold newcomer and a perennial favorite in the restaurant categories. The Awards spotlight the best of the previous year in media food coverage and...