Lisa Brenner

Photo by Hugo90 via Flickr Employees of the Los Angeles United School District set to be laid off are speaking out Monday at a "Reduction in Force" hearing about the impact of budget cuts on students and whether the district followed policy when handing out layoff notices, reports ABC Local. In the shadow of a budget crisis that includes the loss of federal stimulus dollars, more than 5,000 layoff notices were distributed to even...

A travel warning, the highest caution the State Department can issue, has been expanded in Mexico due to an increase in violence over a wider area of the country, reports the OC Register. Northern Baja California is included on the lengthy list of violent regions...

Former Destiny's Child member Farrah Franklin was arrested for disorderly conduct in Culver City, CA this weekend, reports TMZ. Franklin, who reportedly found out via MTV News that she was canned from the band in 2000 after only five months with Beyonce and Kelly Rowland, was arrested at 6:45 AM on Saturday and sources told TMZ alcohol was involved.

32-year-old Albert Omar Martinez of Downey was convicted Monday of lewd acts upon a teenage girl for rubbing up against the unsuspecting victim at Knott's Berry Farm's Soak City Tidal Wave water attraction in 2009, reports the OC Register. Martinez, who faces a potential term of three years and four months in prison, was also convicted of "attempted lewd acts" for trying the same maneuver with a different girl the same day.

Tonight in Extra, Extra! Elvis has left the building, gas prices drive higher, Easter cruising, and housecalls by Walmart. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

When taking photos at the Playboy Mansion, be sure to tag yourself on Facebook so the health department will know to contact you in case of an outbreak. Turns out social media may be good for public health. According to Dr. Caitlin Reed during a a recent CDC presentation, social media outlets helped investigators, "identify the outbreak quickly; enabled them to receive responses quickly from attendees, who had traveled from 30 countries; and allowed...

Photo by simonov via Flickr A father and son and a third man have been arrested in Ventura County for allegedly stealing "two assault rifles, a dozen other firearms and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition" during an Ojai home burglary in early April, reports LA Now. The cache of weapons, which included an AR-10 and a SKS assault rifle with a high-capacity magazine, had been legally purchased and stored in a gun safe,...

This week Seattlest celebrated the 50th birthday of our most recognized landmark, and the feeling of pride continued when City Council actually took decisive action against businesses guilty of wage theft. While Chicago contemplated hiring one of Seattle’s former police chiefs, the current one performed a particularly stunning example of what The Wire fans recognize as ‘juking the stats’.

(Zach Behrens/LAist) The Hastain Trail above Beverly Hills in Franklin Canyon is in danger of disappearing as the landowner looks to build homes on the location. 62-year-old Mohamed Hadid, designer and builder of more than a dozen Ritz-Carlton hotels and BH "mega-mansions" owns "97 acres abutting Franklin Canyon Park between the San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills," reports the L.A. Times. The beloved, lasso-shaped trail, in use since the 1960s, "bisects about 45 acres...

LAPD K-9 Officer Steven Jenkins was released from the hospital in time to spend Easter with his family after being critically injured in a SWAT standoff at a home in Sylmar earlier this month, reports a department press release. On April 4, 2011, around 3 a.m., Jenkins, a 21 year veteran with the police department was shot in the face and chest while searching for a domestic violence suspect. The officer was transported to...

Photo by A.C. Thamer via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr At least one arrest has been made after a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter was hit by gunfire near Saticoy Street and Densmore in the San Fernando Valley around 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning, reports LA Now. Reports ABC Local: After setting up a perimeter, authorities tracked down the suspected shooter at a home along Saticoy Street. Family members inside the home pinned down...

Photo by Chuck "Caveman" Coker via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A sheriff's deputy in San Bernardino County was placed on leave Friday for allegedly having sex with a minor. The department reportedly received information that morning that the officer in question may have had inappropriate relations with a 16-year-old girl. According to a press release, reports KTLA, 30-year-old Redlands resident Nathan Gastineau, a 10-year veteran, was arrested Friday charged with lewd acts...