Lisa Brenner

Photo by Joey Maloney via Flickr, Used with permission One word: government. Farrell believes, essentially, that the government and the music industry should totally start a band. The parks and recreation department for sure has a van we can use places to rock out, and your mom and the neighborhood won't mind the ruckus because they'll be so stoked by all the local merch being sold. Notes Billboard: "In partnering with the city of...

Photo by exquisitur via Flickr This is only a test. Repeat. Test. On Tuesday, Southern California Edison operators of the San Onofre nuclear plant will be starting a three-day, "radioactive release" simulation exercise to to "test the ability of the facility and local, state and federal agencies to respond to a radiological emergency," says a spokeswoman for the California Emergency Management Agency, reports the LA Times. The on site plant drills will be done...

Photo by Mary Lindsay via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Two police officers claiming retaliation after complaining about an alleged Westside quota system mandating each motor officer to write 18 tickets a day, were awarded more than $2 million on Monday in a civil suit against the city and the department, reports the Los Angeles Times. Howard Chan and David Benioff, veteran motor officers in the LAPD's West Traffic Division, sued the department...

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard classmates Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss "were savvy enough to understand what they were agreeing to" when they inked a 2008 $20 million cash deal over the social networking site, and "can't undo the settlement," reports the Associated Press. The Winklevoss twins alleged they were "misled" about the value of Facebook when they agreed to settle the lawsuit claiming...

Photo by goingslo via Flickr I can has naptime? An Irvine man was surprised to discover a baby bobcat asleep under a barbecue on the fourth floor balcony of his apartment in a complex near UC Irvine on Friday, reports KTLA Police believe the baby bobcat may have climbed a nearby parking structure and then leaped onto the balcony, where it decided to take a snooze. When animal services arrived on the scene, the...

Photo by Joey Maloney via Flickr, Used with permission In the coming weeks, the city that bleeds purple and gold will find itself less interested in gold, and extra rich in purple. Following the success of winter residencies, the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince is bringing his Welcome 2 America Live tour to Los Angeles with a '21 Nite Stand' of performances beginning this week. Three dates have been...

Photo by Evil Erinn via Flickr Is GTL on its way to losing a letter? 12 states in the U.S., including California, have bills pending to restrict the use of commercial tanning salons, reports the Huffington Post. In England and Wales, the use of tanning booths for those under 18-years-old is outright banned, and enforced with a fine up to $32,000, notes ABC News . The World Health Organization in 2009, "placed tanning beds...

via ComicConnect Stolen ten years ago from actor Nicolas Cage's West Hollywood home, a rare, $1 million copy of the 1938 Superman Action Comics #1 has been found in the San Fernando Valley tucked away in a storage locker, reports the Ventura County Star. A man reportedly purchased the contents of the unit in a liquidation auction, and took the comic for an expert appraisal where it was confirmed that the 1938 copy was...

Photo by Mr.Thomas via Flickr A crude, homemade dry-ice bomb -- a device that uses water, a bottle and dry ice, or frozen carbon dioxide -- exploded in an alley near the 91 Artesia Freeway on Sunday slightly injuring a Long Beach police officer, reports the Daily Breeze. Officers, responding near Bort Street and Butler Avenue to reports of what neighbors believed were fireworks, arrived on the scene just after noon and found the...

(via California Department of Transportation) A series of public hearings are set this week to discus a 63-mile High Desert Corridor freeway connecting Palmdale and Victorville that's proposed as a safer alternative to the existing two-lane road known as "blood alley." The proposed project would link the 14 Antelope Valley Freeway to I-15 at Victorville, and replace stretches of routes 18 and 138 known for large numbers of fatalities. The freeway's median may also...

Tonight in Extra, Extra!! A man in a dress, a package on the tracks, the future of smoke breaks, giant sea bass, and a nose dive at Van Nuys airport. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports.

Photo by Marion Doss via Flickr The USS Iowa, a historic battleship that served extensively in WWII and the Korean War, could be setting sail for San Pedro as early as this summer, according to plan supporters, if the Navy decides to relocate the vessel currently berthed near San Francisco, reports CBS. In September, Los Angeles City Council approved a resolution to support berthing the historic battleship at the Port of Los Angeles, and...