Lisa Brenner

Photo by Vectorportal via Flickr Accused of funneling money to the Pakistan Taliban, the FBI arrested three Florida residents on Saturday, one of whom was captured in Los Angeles, reports the Daily News. The arrests were part of an investigation of a Florida family of Pakistani expatriates that is allegedly funding religious extremists "to topple the Pakistani government and fight the United States," according to the FBI. 76-year-old Hafiz Khan, the imam of a...

Tonight in Extra, Extra!! Welcome to the death of hope. No more teachers, no more parks, no more hiatus for 2 and a Half Men. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

Photo by GarySe7en via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A 405 Freeway construction-awareness campaign is gearing up to prepare summer drivers for the impending, grinding, halt that is the Mulholland Dr Bridge Demolition & Reconstruction. All lanes of the 405 Freeway will be shut down in both directions for more than two days in July, according to officials, with closures beginning Friday night July 15 and and reopening 53 hours later at 5:00...

Photo by Bob B. Brown via Flickr California lawmakers are considering a bill that would make the Golden State the first to institute a full ban on restaurants and eateries serving food and beverages in Styrofoam containers, reports ABC Local. Sen. Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach, the bill's author, says "there are other biodegradable materials that could replace Styrofoam containers and they are not more expensive," notes ABC Local. 47 cities already have similar...

(Photo by Lee J Haywood via Flickr) LA County Sheriff’s deputies seized as much as $2.5 million in marijuana from an illegal grow house operation on Thursday, reports KTLA. A month-long investigation of two locations (one in Alhambra, one in an unincorporated area in San Gabriel) believed to operated by 30-year-old convicted felon Joseph Hsu, produced in total over 440 plants, approximately 150 pounds of dried marijuana, two handguns and a shotgun. Hsu was...

Ready-to-eat meat recalled. Go to a real deli. (Photo by djjewelz via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) Nearly 16,000 pounds of ready-to-eat pastrami and roast beef deli meat products from a Los Angeles-based food company are being sought in a Class I recall, "a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death," because of a potential bacteria contamination,...

Space Out: It's time to visit NASA. This weekend is the popular, two-day JPL Open House celebrating "accomplishments with exhibits and demonstrations about the Laboratory's ongoing research and space exploration." Lab scientists and engineers will be on hand during the open house to answer questions "about how spacecraft are sent to other planets, how scientists utilize space technologies to explore Earth and how researchers are searching for planets beyond the solar system." Parking is free. Admission is free.

The Los Angeles Police Department will be conducting a Sobriety/Driver’s License checkpoint tonight as part of their ongoing campaign to remove dangerous drivers from the roads and educate the public on safety risks of driving under the influence. The checkpoint will be running Friday May 13, 2011 at Vermont Avenue and 3rd Street from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.. At the checkpoint they will be looking for proper licensing and signs of alcohol and...

A group of police officers search outside El Camino Real High School (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Jeffrey Stenroos, the LAUSD police officer charged with faking his own shooting in January and setting off a valley perimeter lockdown and manhunt, was arraigned on Friday after "a grand jury indictment alleged he planted evidence, the L.A. County District Attorney’s office announced," reports the L.A. Times. The indictment charges the 30-year-old school police officer with five felony...

Photo by Vintage Collection via Flickr Fontana police are searching for an 80-year-old Caucasian woman wearing a floral scarf and sunglasses accused of robbing a shopper at gunpoint on Sunday in the parking lot of a local department store, notes KTLA. The victim claims she was walking to her car at the Kohl's on Summit Avenue around 11 p.m. when she was approached by an elderly woman who allegedly "came at her with a...

Photo by nesoxochi via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr This is Domo. He is hungry. He likes to eat baseball. Guard your everything....

Photo by Shawn Kaye via LAFD on Flickr Photo by Shawn Kaye via LAFD on Flickr Despite extreme efforts by the Los Angeles Fire Department two pet dogs have died of apparent smoke exposure following a "swift-moving North Hollywood house fire," at 6014 Farmdale Avenue on Monday, officials said. 4 companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 2 LAFD rescue ambulances, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 1 Battalion Chief Officer Command Team, and a total of 27...