Bellflower

A Sundance Festival in L.A.

Weekend DUI Checkpoints Start Tonight In Hollywood, Silver Lake

April showers bring May flowers. Sure. But an April DUI will only bring you misery for months and years to come. The AAA of Southern California now estimates that the cost of a DUI conviction is $15,649. At the same time, cops across the Southland are giving you an easy out. They're giving you a vi ... More >>

Saul Robles: Dental Assistant Accused Of Sexually Molesting 15-Year-Old Patient

Sheriff's officials this week said Saul Robles, a 36-year-old dental hygienist, has been molesting a 15-year-old patient for the past six months. Cops say the Lincoln Heights dental assistant was sexually molesting the victim during her dental visits. Robles was arrested recently ...

A Southern Tradition: Where to Get Your Collards and Black-Eyed Peas for New Year's Day in Los Angeles

Who couldn't use more health and wealth in 2013? These are the gifts that eating collard greens and black-eyed peas on New Year's Day delivers, according to Southern tradition. But where in Los Angeles can you find such rare and exotic menu items?

Tony Francis, Unarmed Compton Man, Shot Dead by Sheriff: Family Files Civil-Rights Lawsuit, Alleges 'Coverup'

Friends and family of 22-year-old Compton dad Tony Francis are having a hard time believing the L.A. County Sheriff's account of his death last Friday: Sheriff's Homicide Detective Holly Francisco told reporters that a deputy from the Lakewood station was forced to shoot Francis after the suspect w ... More >>

Clark Tabor at L.A. Dark Knight Screening: 'I Should Go Off Like in Colorado' -- Cops

Following Friday's massacre at a Dark Knight screening in Aurora, Colorado, movie-goers have been a bit on-edge. And who could blame them? Theaters in the summer of 2012 have become the new airplanes. Even the LAPD stated it was going undercover at local movie houses -- like air marshals of the aisl ... More >>

10 Best Liquor Stores in Los Angeles

The cocktail revolution is well documented. In bars and restaurants across the country, the American cocktail has returned. But the serious booze professionals I know argue that if the cocktail is truly to take root again as part of our national identity, it must make the leap from the barstool to t ... More >>

USC Hosts Weekend Seminar to Educate Current Politicians on Ethics, Transparency; L.A. Mayor Attends Kentucky Derby Instead

The University of Southern California isn't just for strapping young scholars anymore. Today and tomorrow, the USC Price School of Public Policy begins an ongoing series of classes that will school current politicians in "public transparency and ethics, leadership, governance and environmental polic ... More >>

Christian Cobian, Unarmed Cyclist, Shot Dead by L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies

Christian Cobian via Facebook​A trip to the corner store turned deadly for 26-year-old Lancaster resident Christian Cobian on Saturday night, when he was pulled over by L.A. County Sheriff's deputies for riding his bike without a headlight. His aunt tells NBC LA that Cobian was at a family bap ... More >>

Mom Brings Bags of Marijuana Into Juvenile Probation Camp on Visit to Son, Cops Say

Bringing the love only a mother could provide, authorities claim that Rhonda J. Gonzales had several packages of marijuana with her when she visited her son this weekend at an L.A. County juvenile probation camp, authorities say. How kind. Unfortunately for the chap, she wasn't able to share her me ... More >>

VIDEO: L.A. Sheriff's Deputy Punches Special-Needs Woman on Bus

NBC LABigshot.​Updated at the bottom: Sheriff's officials try to justify the use of force. The L.A. Sheriff's Department is up to its neck right now in allegations of gang-like behavior and beatings by deputies gone rogue. This cellphone video, shot by Bellflower bus passenger Jermaine Green ... More >>

David Oakleaf: 74-Year-Old Beaten to Death With Bat in Walmart Sporting Goods Department

Walmart​Updated at the bottom with a murder charge being filed against the suspect. The victim and suspect are ID'd. First posted at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. A homeless man allegedly grabbed a bat from a Walmart sporting goods department and beat an elderly man to death in front of horrified shop ... More >>

Cocaine Worth $5 Million Seized by California Agents in Bellflower, Bell Gardens, Kamala Harris Says

Das alotta coca my frengs.​Huge cocaine bust announced today: 51 kilos were seized by state agents in Bellflower and Bell Gardens. And the dope was linked, according to the office of state Attorney General Kamala Harris, to Mexico's Gaudalajara Cartel. Total worth? About $5 million, according ... More >>

Food Truck Friday: Lidia's Dominican Kitchen

Guzzle & NoshLidia's Dominican Kitchen: Pernil (roasted pork) with rice, beans and gandules.​It's love at first bite with Lidia's Dominican Kitchen (@lidiaskitchen), a food truck run by someone who actually knows how to cook, not someone who's just itching to cash in on a trend. It no doubt he ... More >>

The Spudnuts Saga: A Bite of Donut History

Jim Thurman​What was the first nationwide donut chain to reach Los Angeles? Krispy Kreme? You're not even trying. Dunkin' Donuts? Not from around here, are you? Winchell's?, Yum Yum? Getting closer, but no. The answer: Spudnuts. Brothers Al and Bob Pelton were working as an appliance salesman ... More >>

Bellflower Dad Who Threatened, Kidnapped Two Daughters Turns Up in Utah

Los Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentKatelyn Litwin (left) and Natalya Litwin (right)​The was an Amber Alert out this morning for 34-year-old Bellflower man Stephen Andrew Litwin, who was believed by L.A. County sheriff's deputies to have kidnapped his two young daughters Sunday at about 10: ... More >>

Sundance's Prodigal Children Return

Film festival programmed like re-discovery channel

French Bulldog Thief Strikes Again, Running Off With $3,000 Orange County Purebred

Orange County Sheriff's DepartmentDuarte resident Darryl Cole stole one French bulldog too many​Updated after the jump with the dog thief's "obsessive compulsive" history. Originally posted at 12:53 p.m. French bulldogs are super cute, we'll admit. Especially in holiday sweaters. But 20-year- ... More >>

Two Missing Akita Show Dogs Worth $350,000 Found In Compton; Corgis Still At Large

puppydogwebAre you my mother?​Update: The remaining Corgis show up in Compton! Stay tuned for how, and by whom, they were found. Trace and Didi, two fluffy show dogs who were stolen Tuesday -- one worth $250,000 and the other $100,000 -- jumped into the arms of owner Kristina Rickard yesterda ... More >>

Rescued: A starved dog named "Courage" Arrested: a Bellflower veterinarian technician

How sickening people are, but how amazing animals can be. "Courage" is the name of a dog who was unlucky enough to be owned by a young woman who allegedly starved him. He was rescued, clinging to life and at half his weight, in the aging Los Angeles suburb of Bellflower.​ The Southeast Area A ... More >>

Street Cred

At her new Hollywood restaurant, Susan Feniger puts the cart before the hors d’oeuvre

Villaraigosa & Garcetti Backed the Arrested Anti-Gang Expert Alex Sanchez

In a shocking development in the gang world today, the FBI has arrested high-profile anti-gang expert Alex Sanchez at his Bellflower home on federal racketeering charges, according to the Associated Press. Homies Unidos Executive Director Alex SanchezAs executive director of the Los Angeles-based, n ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Mile Wide/Inch Deep Dept. The results of next week's L.A. City Attorney race will be seen as an indicator of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's clout. L.A. TimesKicker Cop Justified A lawyer for the El Monte Police Officer Association claimed the televised kick to the head of suspect Richard Rodriguez was ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Phil Spector Found Guilty Famed music producer Phil Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2003 death of sometime actress Lana Clarkson. He faces a prison sentence of 18 years to life. L.A. DailyUrban League The L.A. Dodgers' opening home game was marked by a parking-lot stabbing and v ... More >>

LA Weekly's Interview with Will Oldham: On Acting, Hollywood, the Nature of the Press, and Facebook

Yesterday Will Oldham, aka Bonnie Prince Billy, did an instore performance at Amoeba Records on Sunset, and West Coast Sound's Nikki Darling was there to report on the scene: Will Oldham gets French pedicures and shows them off while wearing flip-flops and Hawaiian board shorts. That's the first ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

CalTrans Slammed in Flintridge Crash Laura Olhasso, the mayor of La Canada Flintridge, claimed that CalTrans has ignored her town's concerns about runaway trucks on Angeles Crest Highway. A big rig killed two people and injured 12 Wednesday when its driver lost control and struck several vehicles be ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Send in the Tow Trucks Public hearings will soon be held to gather comments on plans to speed traffic during rush hours on Pico and Olympic boulevards. LA TimesSign of the Times The recession began with Chevy and Washington Mutual signage being draped with canvas and now the AIG corporate logo has b ... More >>

OctoDrama: How the Octuplets Story Keeps Evolving

When we first heard about the birth of eight infants in Bellflower last January, there was no sign that the story of Nadya Suleman, now better known as OctoMom, would become a modern fable about fame and public disgust. Today pundits and late-night TV comics attribute our hunger for OctoMom news to ... More >>

OctoMom's Apocalyptic Naming of Her Brood

Amid her chaotic homecoming and the continuing shenanigans at 2051 Madonna Lane, La Habra, OctoMom Nadya Suleman's naming of her eight newborns has largely flown under the media's radar. Still, as the infants are released in twos by Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower, it's clear Suleman is intent on be ... More >>

Octuplet Mom Update: The Circus Continues

Ever since octuplet mother Nadya Suleman was released February 6 from a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Bellflower, her public image has steadily plummeted  southward. Her early, somewhat-disparaging nickname, Octo-Mom, seems to have come from talk radio, probably KFI. By the time she checked ou ... More >>

Whither the Econocalypse? Scenes From L.A. Tech Month

On the precipice of a tech revolution

Bellflower Water Bills Skyrocket

A Los Angeles suburb's water wars make the Kremlin look efficient

Octuplets' Mom: The Mother of All PR Nightmares

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Octuplets' Mom and the Public: Where's the Love?

An Associated Press story indicates that Nadya Suleman, the Whittier mother of octuplets, shouldn't hold her breath waiting for the kindness of strangers. While parents of multiple-birth babies are usually showered with gifts from an adoring public, it seems that the nature of these particular birth ... More >>

Octuplet Blacklash

It had to happen. Immediately after the birth of the Bellflower octuplets, TV anchors cooed and newspapers trembled with feelgood reports of the miraculous C-section. It wasn't long, however, for the births to reveal the fear and anger about immigration and race that simmer just below the surface of ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Homeless Man Was Torched With Flare Robert Winton of the L.A. Times reports Deputy D.A. William Hodgman's charge that Ben Matthew Martin set fire to John Robert McGraham (not, as reported, "McGrath") with a road flare after dousing the homeless man with gasoline in an L.A. alley last fall. Martin, a ... More >>

Chai Thung: Isaan Also Rises

The unexpected Thai restaurant

Exiles on Main Street: Searching for the Ghosts of Bunker Hill's Native American Past

Resuscitated 1961 documentary recalls stark lives of L.A.'s urban Indians

The Giant Doughnuts of Los Angeles

Trucker Talk

Two Guys Walk Into a Bar . . .

If It Happened Here

A bioterrorism attack on Los Angeles might look a lot like this

A Draining Problem

Cleaning up the ocean pits environmentalists against local cities

The Falafel Truth

A fine Westside sandwich