Zach Behrens

Photo: Julie Wolfson/LAist Crumbs is constantly reinventing itself every month with new cupcakes matched with current events. When it was Elvis' birthday, the released a magical fried peanut butter cupcake. Now Harry Potter is out and the sweets are casting spells like Stupify, a vanilla cake with light green vanilla frosting, decorated with m&m's, chocolate chips, colored sprinkles, and toffee. This reminds us: awhile back, Harry Potter Jelly Beans hit the market. You know,...

Police in Houston Police and federal agents served a search warrant in Houston today to Michael Jackson's personal doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray. "The search was conducted by members of the DEA, two Robbery-Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and Houston Police officers. The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter," Murray's lawyer said in a statement. The...

Apparently, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was booed at when he was introduced at last night's Dodgers pregame ceremony, according to the LA Times. And maybe rightfully so, but considering his latest promises for the next four years, we think he deserves a second chance in his new term. That chance won't last forever by any means, but if he does what he says he's going to do--major rail infrastructure being a sexy one--you know he...

Sad news, y'all. Gidget, who we all know as the Taco Bell chihuahua ("Yo Quiero Taco Bell") suffered a stroke and died at age 15. After she retired from her commercial fame, she lived her days in the sun before dying Tuesday night. "She made so many people happy," said Gidget's trainer, Sue Chipperton. Speaking of Taco Bell, they've also joined the Twittering trend of mobile food trucks, but fear not, they are not...

It's been so hot, we all scream for... gelato! | Photo by current events via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The future and and of the Los Angeles region's transportation system? The big Metro board meeting is taking place this week and LA Streetsblog has a preview. Bistro LQ Opens on Beverly Blvd. tonight, offering atypical bistro fare including "uni tapioca pudding with yuzu and osyters, "oat meal" with fennel lobster broth...

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich announced this afternoon in a session of City Council that his investigation into tax payer money being used for the Michael Jackson Memorial has revealed "civil and criminal aspects." He would not speak publicly about details, including a lawsuit's target, but offered to go into closed session about the civil aspects. City Council agreed and went to the back chambers to discuss at 12:30 p.m. As this publishing, they are...

By 8 a.m., it was already 89 in the Antelope Valley, 92 in Palm Springs, 75 in downtown LA, 70 in Santa Monica, 74 in Van Nuys and 82 in San Pedro. Today will be mostly sunny, save for some patchy morning clouds still hanging around, according to the National Weather Service. As the day progresses, expect hot temperatures like yesterday--mid to upper 70s at the beaches and upper 80s to mid 90s inland--to...

The deal to solve our state budget deficit has basically come to a conclusion, but it's not final yet and we still don't know what parks will close with at least $8 still million proposed to be cut. The California Parks Foundation, in an e-mail this afternoon, explains the latest: "The details are not yet in print, but several sources are confirming that $70 million of the park system's General Fund allocation will be...

If they can send men to the moon, then they can surely help bitch-thirsy Los Angeles save some water in drought times and beyond. A three-year agreement between the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena and the Los Angeles Department of Power & Water will bring automatic sensors to various projects. One example, explains the Pasadena Star News: "DWP maintains a network of sprinklers to keep the dust under control when winds pick up. To...

In addition to the $70 million Los Angeles could lose via raided redevelopment funds, another $166 million could be lost if $120 million in property tax revenue and $66 million in gas tax revenue are taken to fix the state budget, which will be voted on later this week by state legislators. The County of Los Angeles also stands to lose major funding, which could have long term effects in the billions. The county...

Photo by Djenan via Flickr By LA Weekly's count of every murder within Los Angeles city limits, we are at 168 as of yesterday when a taxi driver stabbed earlier this month died of his wounds. Compare that to last year July 18th, when there were 208 murders and juxtapose that to the 162 this year as of that date. That's a 22.1% decline in murders so far. Add to that, the murder rate...

Going more in depth into the State Budget deal, local redevelopment projects around town could get hit pretty hard, according to the LA Times. $1.7 billion in redevelopment funds will be taken away from local municipalities, which could mean $72 million less for Los Angeles with a total loss of $360 million in private investment and 2,300 less jobs. Of those projects that could threatened include a shopping center in Reseda and a mixed-used...