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...

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.

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...

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...

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.

(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...

Tonight in Extra, Extra! San Diego stores fail undercover 'drunk' test, dolphin in distress dies, Montebello mulls over bankruptcy, LAPD DUI?, and learn what to do with all of your old compact discs. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

Escape To Hippie Mountain: The long-running Topanga Earth Day Festival wraps up today with stages, speakers, vendors, music, workshops and art. There's even a bio diesel shuttle to help you get there. Topanga Community House Fair Grounds, 1440 North Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga, CA. 90290, 10:00 a.m. - Sunset.

Photo by Lord Jim via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A 34-year old "high profile graffiti vandal" was arrested Thursday morning at LAX by sheriff’s deputies as he attempted to board a plane to Ireland. "Suspect Jason Williams, also known as “Revok,” is well known in the graffiti vandalism culture and is a member of the graffiti crew “Mad Society Kings” or MSK," notes a police release. Williams, a white male resident of...