Lindsay William-Ross

A Sierra Madre resident digs mud out of his garage and driveway with the help of neighbors (AP Photo/ San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Walt MancinI) The storm that soaked Southern California yesterday brought soggy hillsides down in some areas, and more rain is on the way today. The mud came sliding down in two separate locations in Sylmar last night, and a third mudslide was reported in Sierra Madre. A flash flood watch has...

Boston police arrested LA-based artist Shepard Fairey yesterday on outstanding warrants alleging the famous Obama "Hope" poster artist "tagged property with graffiti," according to the Huffington Post. "Fairey was in Boston on Friday for his new exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art." The artist has also found himself swirled in controversy of late regarding the Associated Press' allegation that he violated copyright laws by using one of their photos as the basis for...

Cops in Fontana hit the payload last night, after working with drug enforcement and ICE agents, when they found a fortune in marijuana stashed inside some figurines. The authorities had the home in the 8900 block of Reseda Avenue under surveillance for several days, which "paid off when someone dropped off a load of ceramic donkeys, and about 1,500 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $1.5 million, was found inside the statues,"...

AndrewEick/Flickr They grow up so fast don't they? Facebook is celebrating their 5th birthday today. The social networking website, founded by then-19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard dorm, has 150 million users around the world, and Zuckerberg is spending his 20s laughing his way to the bank. With the state of the global economy, some experts believe the site can't claim runaway success yet, CNN reports. Although it's very popular, it's not de rigeur...

Photo by jsc♥ via Flickr Good news for geeks and the unemployed alike: The internet is the place to work this year. Per a poll conducted by Twiistup ahead of their upcoming meetup event: Fifty-seven percent of the Southern California start-ups surveyed said the health of the Internet industry in Los Angeles in 2009 will be better than 2008. A significant proportion of respondents, 71%, also said that LA is a better place to...

Coldplay will be in town this weekend and are scheduled to perform live at the Grammys, Sunday night at Staples Center. But the Brit band might get hit with something besides a round of applause. Guitarist Joe Satriani, who believes the band lifted the melody of their mega-hit (aka overplayed snoozefest) "Viva la Vida" from his nowhere-near-a-hit "If I Could Fly," is prepped to serve them with legal papers, and has a team willing...

Photo by Alberto Cueto via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr There were at least two murders--both reported within one hour of each other--in Long Beach over the weekend. First, a 76-year-old grandmother was stabbed to death in her Cambodia Town home. In the second one, a 15-year-old was gunned down in front of his Central Long Beach house. Did ESPN help cause LA's financial woes? They say the check is in the...

Tomorrow from 5-6:30 p.m. the Los Angeles Dodgers are holding a rally at the entertainment mega-plex LA Live in Downtown as part of their 8-day preseason caravan. "Outfielder Andre Ethier, infielder Blake DeWitt, pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and recently signed catcher Brad Ausmus will join announcer Charley Steiner, former manager Tommy Lasorda and former players Steve Garvey, Fernando Valenzuela, Tommy Davis and Rudy Law in signing autographs for the first 300 fans who obtain wrist...

University of California students waiting for their Cal Grants to come through will find their next payments are coming from another source--the UC schools. The UC announced today they "will provide funding to cover the value of UC students' Cal Grant awards for the spring term," using "resources from its short-term financial reserves," according to a UC news release. They're advancing the funds "with the expectation that the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) will...

Zabowski/Flickr The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is part of 15 museums and cultural institutions nation-wide contributing to the Wikipedia Loves Art program, which kicked off yesterday and runs all February long. "Here’s how it works: for the month of February, LACMA and other museums welcome the public to photograph permanent collection objects to help Wikipedia illustrate its articles. Think of it as an art scavenger hunt," explains LACMA's Unframed blog. Of...

Whittier's headline-grabbing mother of newborn octuplets, Nadya Suleman, seems to be doing her part to give new meaning to 'pro-choice' after going through with a risky multiple birth that resulted from her being implanted with her 4 last frozen embryos. Medical experts have raised questions about the ethics of Suleman's last pregnancy, and with the news that the single mother of 14 (her previous 6 kids, all conceived in vitro, are aged 2-7) has obtained an agent and is seeking financial "sponsorship", some are flocking to defend the 33-year-old "professional student" and her parenting skills. Jessica Zepeda, a neighbor and friend whose children go to school with the elder Suleman kids, says she's "an awesome parent" and a "wonderful mother" according to ABC News.

...and another one bites the dust: Yankee Candles' Illuminations stores have announced they are shutting down all 28 of their retail locations as part of a large financial restructuring plan. The stores are located in 9 states, but half are here in California, including ones in Anaheim, Brea, Canoga Park, Costa Mesa, and at the Westside Pavillion. Illuminations joins the growing number of retailers with stores in the LA-area shutting down, such as Circuit...