Lisa Brenner

In Venice, a historic post office on Windward Circle is preparing to close down and consolidate operations nearby at the Grand Avenue annex. If a post office moves, who forwards their mail? Inside the building, a mural of Venice founder Abbot Kinney was discovered after being "covered and forgotten for many years," notes ABC Local.

Photo by stevelyon via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Two young children and their parents have died in a suspected murder-suicide that occurred Saturday night in East Los Angeles, notes a Los Angeles Sheriff Department release. According to the L.A. Times, the children were 5-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. The suspect, 45-year-old Salvador Acevedo, and his girlfriend, 33-year-old Iris Oseguera were the parents of the twin children. According to authorities, Acevedo...

Photo by Bert Kaufmann via Flickr The exact location in the brain that influences a gambler's belief that payoff is headed their way has been discovered by Caltech researchers, it was announced on Saturday, reports the Daily News. For example, despite perhaps intellectually knowing that mathematical odds don't change at a slot machine, say, people may sit at the same machine for hours because they think they're "due" for a jackpot. The study, done...

Photo by depescemode via Twitpic A familiar looking black and white rodent painter has appeared with a giant yellow flower at the corner of Melrose and La Cienega. Banksy? Banksyesque? Dangeresque II? Perhaps it's an elaborate Mother's Day offering for one lucky mum. Photo by LeilaMarsh via Twitpic...

Photo by Michael Zampelli via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr So.. a giant bee swarm was spotted Friday afternoon near North Parks Road and Mariposa Lane in Fullerton, reports KTLA, and residents were warned by police to stay indoors. It was unclear whether the buzzing, stinging, cloud was made up of Africanized bees. Police were first notified around 3:15pm after "several people were reportedly stung, and one was taken to a local hospital,"...

Photo by RLHyde via Flickr Free Comic Book Day is exactly what it sounds like. On the first Saturday in May, participating comic book shops across country and around planet Earth will "give away comic books absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores," notes the official site. Enter your zip code here and find the closest participating shops. In LA today, special events abound from the Secret Headquarters in Silver Lake to...

Photo by i_hate_my_screen_name via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Coming Up Roses: Elliot Smith Documentary will be screening two nights as part of the Los Angeles New Wave International Film Festival (formally the Los Angeles International Film Festival), each followed by a guest panel. Saturday at 2:00 p.m, Sunday at 8:00 p.m. at the Hayworth Theater, 2511 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90057. Tickets. For the Birds: Head to the Audubon Center at...

Photo by NatalieMaynor via Flickr It was just last week a visiting friend remarked that the penalty gas rate at $4 per gallon was, for the first time in his experience, cheaper than the cost to fill up on his own here in Los Angeles. WHY MUST YOU SPEAK SO LOUDLY?? THEY HEARD YOU!! The L.A. Times is reporting that some agencies are now charging upward of $9 per gallon to refill the rental...

Photo by Neil Armstrong2 via Flickr SoCal officers are are cracking down on Venice Beach in an effort to set a tone of "public order" following a recent series of violent incidents including a boardwalk shooting during a flash mob and a stabbing at a drum circle, reports the Associated Press. Fearing crime could spiral, the authorities have started cracking down on the unruliness that typifies the boardwalk - a 1.5-mile ribbon of asphalt...

Photo by Peggy Archer via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Two shootings took place this morning leaving one man dead and another injured. The first victim is reportedly in critical condition after being shot in the back in Echo Park while "being chased down Sunset Boulevard by a group of attackers," notes The Eastsider LA. According to Rampart Division police, the man collapsed near the intersection of Sunset and Logan Street around 12:...

David Beckham was involved in a car accident on the 405 Freeway near Torrance on Friday morning when his black Cadillac rear-ended a stalled Mitsubishi that had reportedly broken down in the carpool lane, according to authorities, reports TMZ. According to the California Highway Patrol, "Beckham did...

(Photo Credit: Riverside County Sheriff) Comedian Andy Dick has been arrested again in Southern California, this time for being "drunk and disorderly in public" after an incident at a Temecula restaurant, say authorities, reports the Associated Press. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department website says the 45-year-old comic actor was arrested Monday night at a Temecula restaurant and booked for investigation of disorderly conduct involving drugs with alcohol. He was released after posting $500 bail....