Lisa Brenner

There have been several coyotes sightings by area residents who are concerned about the safety of their children, local blind students, and pets. Teachers at the Braille Institute are worried that coyotes may "clash with guide dogs."

Trade secrets. Hired gumshoes. Spying. Lying. Stealing. Millions of dollars. Dolls. Welcome to the ongoing battle of Barbie vs. Bratz, or, more legitimately, the war between MGA Entertainment and Mattel Inc.

Slowly, the rest of the country is catching on that Downtown Los Angeles is no longer a post-sunset ghost town of tumbleweeds and closed businesses.

Oh thank goodness. Competitive facial hair finally has a forum. Calling all cool guys, cro-mags, waxy twirlers, office sharks, solo stashers, boy band close shavers, and creepy crawlers, the 1st Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Competition in now accepting applicants for the August 14 "face-off" to be held at Federal Bar in North Hollywood.

The California Coastal Commission has unveiled a new "Whale Tail" license plate that looks uncannily like its retired replacement. The new design, however, features a more lifelike whale instead of a rendering from Laguna Beach artist Wyland.

National Night Out (NNO), the country's annual nighttime anti-crime time, has been a community-based national effort in crime prevention since 1984. What started as 2.5 million people in 400 communities across 23 states has grown into 37 million people in 15, 100 communities from all 50 states by last year's count.

43-year-old Brian Natonski of Los Angeles was arrested on Thursday in a sting operation at the Central Library for allegedly stealing a laptop left intentionally unattended by detectives, according to LA Now.

In anticipation of their move to Pasadena, A Noise Within, a Southern California classical repertory theater company based in Glendale, is cleaning house and purging the property of 19 years worth of scenery, props, costumes, wigs, furniture, lighting, curtains, fabric, seating and more.

Two workers were injured at an Amtrak train yard near downtown Los Angeles early Tuesday, according the the Associated Press. The workers were reportedly "on a rolling work cart that got caught between two moving trains. The cart was destroyed."

A UFO convention held this weekend Irvine had a decidedly scientific message. The Mutual UFO Network symposium emphasized the need for researchers and investigators to keep an open mind, but to implement higher standards of precision and scientific method into their field of study, according to the L.A. Times.

Kings of Leon are having band problems bigger than not drinking enough Gatorade. Lead singer Caleb Followill walked off stage during a performance Friday in Dallas prompting a cancellation of the entire U.S. tour.

MTV, a music network born of a Michael Nesmith idea for Nickelodeon called "Pop Clips" that was sold to Time Warner in 1980, turns 30 today. MTV began airing at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981 with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll" voiced over footage of the first space shuttle launch.