Lindsay William-Ross

It's a big day for a big boat nicknamed the "Big Stick." The USS Iowa, now docked permanently at the Port of Los Angeles, will be officially commissioned as a floating museum in a ceremony today.

Times are tough for Mammoth Lakes, the mountain resort town where Angelenos and many others flock to for winter, and off-season fun; the town of 8,000 residents is filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection against a $43 million legal judgment.

Los Angeles County prosecutors revealed today they would not be filing criminal charges against former United States Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who was involved in a set of minor traffic accidents in the San Gabriel Valley in June.

Author Bret Easton Ellis has been raising eyebrows with his latest film project, The Canyons, and he's still in the casting phase. Tuesday afternoon, Ellis used Twitter to post a very particular casting call.

Here's more incentive for not letting your parking meter run out or making sure you move your car on street sweeping days: The Los Angeles City Council has voted to approve an increase of at least $5 in all parking violation fines.

Attention shoppers: If you can't bear to leave your canine companion at home when you go to the mall, one Los Angeles shopping center is about to make your dreams come true. The Westfield Century City Shopping Center is opening a dog park adjacent to Macy's this weekend. Woof!

Could it be that Lindsay Lohan is kicking off a new year in her young life with reformed habits? An encouraging (albeit gossipy) report from West Hollywood this weekend found Lohan, who turns 26 today, at Bootsy Bellows celebrating her birthday, but skipping on sipping the plentiful booze at her table.

Drivers, count Pasadena as another SoCal city where red light cameras are a thing of the past. Pasadena's contract with American Traffic Systems, the company that operates red light camera equipment and ticketing programs, ended on Saturday, and the city says they aren't going to renew the contract.

A man jumped to his death Sunday night at The Grove shopping center. The incident took place at around 7:30 p.m., according to Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department, reports City News Service. The victim, whose age has been reported as 27-29, jumped from the seventh floor of the parking structure at the popular outdoor mall.

When your house catches fire, what do you grab on the way out? The pets, the vital documents, your meds? If you're stashing $6 million worth of marijuana and your dinner erupts in flames, you might want to think about taking it...before the cops do.

A former top official of the troubled city of Vernon who had been avoiding contact from attorneys involved in the city's audit was found dead Thursday night in the Bay Area.

Have you minded paying a half-cent extra in sales tax these past four years that helps fund transit projects? We're going to be paying the tax, courtesy Measure R, until 2039, but that tax could be extended another 30 years as soon as this fall.