Lindsay William-Ross

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...

Photo by hinducow via LAist Featured Photos Fans of cupcakes, rejoice! Next Sunday, you can bask in the glory of your favorite baked goodies as many of Los Angeles' top cupcake-makers gather at the Nesquik Cupcake Challenge. The folks at Drink:Eat:Play have gathered the folks from places like SusieCakes, Kiss My Bundt, Delilah Bakery, the Oinskter, Blue Cupcake, Sugar Jones, and many, many more, each of whom will have mini versions of their signature...

Photo by CJ Universal via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr An elderly Arleta woman who had been on life support since she became the victim of a home invasion robbery earlier this month died yesterday from her injuries. Protesters gathered in Hollywood today to show their opposition to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as part of a national "Day of Action." Two bodies were recovered last night from the wreckage...

Gas prices are down in SoCal right now, and while they might go up again, they won't go up as high as they did in June '08 (Photo by Jonathan Alcorn/Sundogg via LAist Featured Photos) Good news for folks with empty tanks: Gas prices in the Los Angeles area have been declining steadily for four weeks now, and are expected to continue to move down, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. Prices...

M.I.A. at the Grammys, ready to give birth (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) The impending birth of her first baby didn't keep British-Sri Lankan rapper diva M.I.A. from hitting the stage at this year's Grammy's, and just a couple of days later she delivered her son. Although plans to roll the new mom onstage at this year's Academy Awards show didn't pan out (thank goodness?), she has just been added to the line up for...

Last November, the Pasadena Marathon was all set to have its inaugural run, but Mother Nature had other plans, leading to the event's false start. SoCal's air was saturated with smoke and ash from the Triangle and Sayre fires, and the race was canceled the night before. But tomorrow the race is on again, and about 2,000 folks are expected to participate in the marathon, which will cover the requisite 26.2 miles beginning and...

Crisis averted (for some) in Hollywood: "A union that represents more than 35,000 film and television workers has approved a three-year contract with Hollywood producers," according to cbs2.com. The new contract goes into effect on the 1st of August, and was unanimously endorsed by all 15 Hollywood local groups of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Reflected in the new contract are "some modest pay hikes but also cuts in health and...

Photo by puck90 via LAist Featured Photos Budget cuts recently led to the Los Angeles Animal Services Department announcing they would no longer be able to offer low-cost spay/neuter services, despite the fact that just a year ago the City made spaying and neutering mandatory--a law that went into effect last October. The move to snip the subsidies drew ire from public officials, particularly Councilman Tony Cardenas (CD 6), who has now put forth...

A fight outside Astro Burger (7475 Santa Monica Blvd) in West Hollywood in the early morning hours "escalated into a stabbing," reports abc7.com. The incident was reported to authorities just before 3 a.m. and resulted in one man being hospitalized, with the suspect still at large. Sheriffs on scene were working with witnesses to determine what caused the fight and to get a clear description of the suspect, but were facing a jumble of...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has his eye on a big prize: Governor of California. With the 2010 election in the seedling stage, Newsom is aiming to raise his profile in Southern California, and has set his sights on the youth vote and the liberal leanings of Los Angeles for his local visit this week, explains the LA Times. Newsom first endured a radio interview with KIIS-FM's Ryan Seacrest yesterday morning (Seacrest went for...

Heading west via Wilshire by bus is slowly getting faster, but better news for many might be that the Westside Subway Extension is prepping meetings for the next phase of planning. Subways are a century-plus old mode of transit, but these days to spread the word even Metro (who remain stagnant in getting hooked up with Google Transit) knows that Facebook is the way to go. CurbedLA points to the Westside Subway Extension's Facebook...

Last September, rapper and producer Kanye West was arrested at LAX when he lashed out at a photographer and smashed their camera. Today comes word that West now officially faces three misdemeanor counts stemming from the incident, reports On the Red Carpet. "According to the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, the 31-year-old hip-hop mogul is charged with one count each of vandalism, grand theft and battery." West manager, Don Crawley, faces two charges, one...