Cable News Network

L.A. 'Ground Zero' for Rehab Fraud, Says CNN and Center for Investigative Reporting

The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) and CNN joined forces to expose wide-spread fraud among Southern California drug and alcohol rehabs, declaring the Los Angeles region as "ground zero for the rehab racket." California's Drug Medi-Cal "paid out $94 million in the past two fiscal years to ... More >>

10 Freeway Blocked in Trayvon Martin Protest (PHOTO)

Updated at the bottom with seven arrests. First posted at 9:37 p.m. Sunday. Protesters unhappy with the not-guilty verdict in the Trayvon Martin murder case blocked the 10 freeway near Crenshaw Boulevard in the Arlington Heights area early this evening. The freeway was only shut down for 10 to 15 ... More >>

Alice Cooper on Today's Bands: "They Usually Just Look Like Six Guys From the Mall"

Recently we spoke with Alice Cooper. That same day British newspaper The Guardian posted an archived article from 40 years ago highlighting efforts of high-ranking government officials to ban his shock-rock stage shows from entering the United Kingdom. Needless to say, it just helped build his legen ... More >>

3 Great Places to Eat on Spa Day: Pairings for When You Need XLB and a Foot Massage

If you don't live in Los Angeles -- and even if you do -- it's easy to get caught up in the petty and not-so-petty grievances against the place. The traffic. The fires. The economics and the repeating cliches of Hollywood. But there's a great deal that offsets all this, provides ballast and counte ... More >>

Sugary Drinks Linked to 180,000 Deaths Annually

Now we know you were all really mad at NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg for trying to ban large-sized sodas. But the man may have had a point. Sugary beverages are linked to more than 180,000 deaths worldwide annually, according to new research presented this week at an American Heart Assn. conference. ... More >>

Twinkies May be Back as Early as This Summer

The report of the demise of that golden sponge cake with the creamy filling may have been premature. Twinkies and their Hostess snack brethren could be back by as soon as this summer. Two private equity firms have bought the iconic brands for $410 million, CNN reports. There were no other qualifie ... More >>

Marijuana Driving Video Shows Stoners Behind The Wheel Doing Fairly Well

There's been a lot of contradictory information regarding stoned driving out there. Studies have suggested that the marijuana-impaired motorist is certainly better than the drunk one -- that she drives slower and more deliberately. Other reports have concluded that pot-smoking drivers are a growing ... More >>

Christopher Dorner Sent Anderson Cooper A Package With A Note And Bullet-Damaged Coin

Updated at the bottom: Apparently Dorner had messages for many, including Charlie Sheen, Tim Tebow and even disgraced Cardinal Roger Mahony. First posted at 3:04 p.m. Of all the crazy news swirling around the search for alleged murderer Christopher Dorner, including the LAPD's accidental shooting t ... More >>

Los Rakas: Rappers From Panama, Proudly Hood

Oakland hip-hop duo Los Rakas spent the early years of their lives in Panama City, Panama before settling in the Bay Area and immersing themselves in hip-hop culture. Joining forces in 2006, Raka Rich and Raka Dun coined the term "PanaBay" to describe their music, a mix of the Latin rhythms of Pan ... More >>

Anthony Bourdain's Top 10 No Reservations Episodes

Today on his blog, Anthony Bourdain pens a long and thoughtful piece about his 10 favorite episodes of No Reservations as the show's run comes to an end. Bourdain will be leaving the Travel Channel for CNN, where he will host a similar show that will launch next year.

Where to Donate to Help Victims of Sandy

Feeling guilty about waking up to another glorious California day while your East Coast friends deal with wind, waves, downed power lines and flooded subways? Beating yourself up because you've got a day of fun planned -- complete with sunshine, the Internet, and dry streets instead of waterways? D ... More >>

CNN's Anderson Cooper Slams Betsy Butler's Abstention on Sex-Pervert Bill (VIDEO)

CNN video after the jump... Will California State Assemblywoman Betsy Butler's refusal to vote on a sex-pervert bill cause her political downfall? Someone sure hopes so. Butler's in a tight race against fellow Democrat and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom in the swanky California Assembly District ... More >>

Five Artsy Things to Do This Week, Including a Feud With Axl Rose

See also: *Our Latest Theater Reviews *Our Best of L.A. issue and our Best of L.A. app This week, a photograph angers a rock star, an artist compares Fox News with CNN and an iconic sculpture returns to the building it inspired. 5. Red state, blue state Artist Jonathan Horowitz has split the Hamm ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 8/27 - 8/31

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Yes, a paleta is an ice pop, in the same way that a square is a rectangle, which is to say it's frozen and has a stick." 10 Best Paletas in Los Angeles. "We have a notoriously low percentage of passport holders. I don't unde ... More >>

Chocolate May Lower Stroke Risk in Men

Consuming just one chocolate bar a week could lower men's stroke risk by almost 20%, according to a new Swedish study. Researchers at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute followed more than 37,000 men between the ages of 45 and 79 for about a decade, CNN reports. Men who ate the most chocolate over th ... More >>

Q & A with Anthony Bourdain: The End of No Reservations, CNN Throwing a Drink in Alan Richman's Face

See also: Anthony Bourdain: 5 Unexpected Lessons He Taught Us Last Night. See also: Anthony Bourdain's Baja Episode of No Reservations Will Make You Want to Cross the Border Immediately. Anthony Bourdain has a lightness to his voice. It's jovial, almost, which is unnerving. "This is the longest I'v ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Is Mad About Supreme Court's Obamacare Ruling

Who knew? Occupy Wall Street (and its Los Angeles faction) hates Obamacare. That's because, though your run-of-the-mill Westside liberal is likely to applaud the "health care for all!" initiative, the more skeptical end of the 99 percent sees it as just another victory for corporate America:

Tommy Chong's Prostate Cancer Getting The Marijuana Treatment

America's stoner-in-chief, Tommy Chong, announced over the weekend that he has prostate cancer -- and that he believes the disease took hold when he was in federal prison 8 years ago for distributing his namesake bongs to a conservative state. The longtime Angeleno and father of actress Rae Dawn Ch ... More >>

Read This Now, or Almost Now: Lucky Peach Issue 4

It is now time for your regular Lucky Peach update. Because we love David Chang as much as you do, perhaps even more so after his recent pit stop at UCLA. (Dinner afterwards? At A-Frame with Jonathan Gold, Peter Meehan, and Amy Rowat, if you keep track of these kinds of things). Because the next ... More >>

Anthony Bourdain Joins CNN

If you had any last lingering doubts that Anthony Bourdain has conquered the world, this morning's news should put an end to them. CNN announced this morning that Bourdain will join the network as a weekend anchor. The host of No Reservations, writer of mystery novels, kitchen tell-alls and the occa ... More >>

Whitney Houston: Regrettable Punditry And 'Too Soon' Reactions on Video

Bill O'Reilly​When a celebrity dies in L.A., it's a somber moment. But it's also an opportunity for competition among journalists and pundits. Members of the media can make mistakes, over-reach, and downright go too far. That was the case for some of the coverage of Whitney Houston's untimel ... More >>

VIDEO: L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa Debates Romney Republican on 'Which Party Better Suits Latino Voters,' Loses

Despite the increasing, oft-hilarious attempts of Republican candidates to convince the crucial Latino voter base that its interests are best served by the red party (including a fugly new outreach website), Latinos still swing Democrat more often than not. Because name-dropping Sen. Mario Rubio (R ... More >>

Yasha Levine, Soviet 'Exile' And Practicing Journalist, Said to be Among Those Jailed Following LAPD Occupy Raid

Yasha.​Updated at the bottom: We're told he got out this afternoon. A colleague gives us an account of what happened. The L.A. County Sheriff's jail information page has a record of him being in custody. First posted at 12:22 p.m. A journalist who is credited with breaking the news that the b ... More >>

Food News Roundup: Fake San Marzanos, Dumb Restaurant Laws, Vegans More Vegans

Flickr/chingstareal San Marzanos​ -- 95% of American-sold cans of San Marzano tomatoes are not the real thing. [gustiBlog via NYT] -- From omnivore to vegan: The dietary education of Bill Clinton. [CNN] -- How to store olive oil, from Bill Daley. [Chicago Tribune] -- More fun with Jon Sh ... More >>

Kelly Thomas Beating: Veth Mam Had Earlier Clash With Fullerton Cops That Was Caught on iPhone Video, And Now He's Suing

Alex Stouffer​On a night when Fullerton hired Michael Gennaco, head of the Los Angeles County's Office of Independent Review, to look into the death of homeless man Kelly Thomas following a clash with Fullerton cops, police in the Orange County city confirmed to City News Service that it has l ... More >>

LA Weekly Flickr Pool Reader Photo of the Day: Guacamole

LA Flickr pool/averagebettyguacamole​ This LA Weekly Flickr pool photo comes to you from photographer averagebetty, a lovely shot of a bowl of guacamole. If you don't make guacamole on a regular basis -- which you really should, given the fact that there are avocado trees all over this town -- ... More >>

James Earl Jones, Beyond Darth Vader: Five More Fierce Onscreen Roles of the Honorary Oscar Recipient

​ The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced yesterday that James Earl Jones will receive an honorary Oscar this year. For many tinseltown pundits, an honorary Oscar is the equivalent of an over-the-pants-hand-job -- a mere token gesture -- for decades of hard work. While we sup ... More >>

Casey Anthony Nude Pics? Larry Flynt Offers Controversial Party Mom Half a Million to Appear in Hustler Magazine

Casey Anthony.​Ah, Casey Anthony. A woman whose story is so revolting that even porn Valley's biggest video producer, Vivid Entertainment, was inspired to rescind its offer of a high-paid sex gig after a backlash from folks who wouldn't even want to see her in flagrante. But you know there is ... More >>

Schwarzenegger Son Christopher Injured in Small-Wave Surfing Accident in Malibu

TMZChristopher.​Updated at the bottom with a statement from Arnold and Maria. First posted at 12:23 p.m. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 13-year-old son Christopher was injured in a surfing accident in Malibu recently, TMZ reports. Injuries are said to have included "multiple broken bones" and a coll ... More >>

Whitney Houston Enters Rehab, Again

Earlier this year at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party​Everything that glitters is not ... Though this year Whitney Houston seemed to be basking in the glow of at least a physical comeback, her representative told CNN this morning that the singer has entered rehab yet again. "I can confirm that ... More >>

Osama's Marijuana Garden Found at Pakistani Compound? Bin Laden Been Blazin'?

Osama Bin Blazin.'​This could maybe explain Osama Bin Laden's pipe dreams of taking down the might United States: Turns out there was a marijuana garden growing next to his compound in Pakistan. CNN's Nic Robertson (via Huffington Post) came across it while touring the residential grounds wi ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 4/25-4/29

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "To get to Ray's, the new restaurant at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, you thread your way through Chris Burden's streetlamp installation, past the outdoor Stark Bar and into a glowing minima ... More >>

On 420, Majority of Americans Say They Don't Support Full Legalization (Sorry Stoners)

Zack is patriotic.​On this most sacred of California holidays, it's sad to learn that the rest of America just doesn't appreciate marijuana the way we do. So as we bow down to the bong, let us commiserate over the latest CNN/Opinion Research survey, which shows that 56 percent of our fellow c ... More >>

USC VIDEO: Techies Pwn Google, Turn 'Gmail Motion' April Fool's Prank Into Reality

YouTube​Updated after the jump: One of the USC techies shows us how to work real-life Gmail Motion. And it's ever radder than we thought. Google unleashed many a poke in the rib on April Fool's Day 2011. There was the Helvetica-turned-Comic Sans search -- a budding typophile's wet dream -- an ... More >>

Misconduct by LA County Prosecutors Highlighted in Innocence Project Report

The conviction of LA's "Skid Row Stabber" was overturned due to prosecutor misconduct​After spending more than 25 years in prison, Bobby Joe Maxwell, aka "the Skid Row Stabber," had his conviction overturned near the end of 2010 because federal court judges determined that a prosecutor in the Los ... More >>

Wall of Shame

CNN, USA Today, and other media organizations got fooled

SoCal Tsunami Watchers, Surfers Let Down By Anticlimactic Size of Waves

Venice311"Massive crowd at pier. Surfers and boats in water. LAPD copter telling people to move to no avail."​Hordes of curious rubberneckers rushed the Southern California coast this morning after 8 a.m. to witness their very own close-to-home aftermath of the 8.9 Japan catastrophe. (And what ... More >>

Food News Roundup: Texaco-Mex, Bacon Toothpaste Rich People Discover Fast Food

-- Bacon toothpaste. If you needed more evidence that the bacon trend has peaked. [The Food Section] -- Taco Bell defends its beef in a new $3 million ad campaign. Imagine if they spent that much on sourcing. [Nation's Restaurant News] -- Rich Americans discover the joys of fast food. Finally. ... More >>

Nightranger: It's a Mad, Mad World

Giffords Tragedy: Nine-Year-Old Victim Christina Taylor Green Was Daughter Of Dodgers Scout John Green

APChristina Taylor Green.​The youngest victim of the weekend massacre in Arizona, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, was the daughter of Dodgers East Coast scout John Green. Green told a reporter that he has a lot of anger over the attack would like to spend some one-on-one time with suspect ... More >>

New Leads In L.A.'s Biggie Smalls Murder Investigation?

Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Notorious B.I.G., a.k.a. Biggie Smalls.​The Los Angeles murder of the Notorious B.I.G. has led to a notoriously fruitless investigation, a few movies, magazine covers and many a conspiracy theory (Suge Knight, the LAPD ... ). But authorities have given rapper Chris ... More >>

LAPD Reopens Biggie Smalls' Case, "Actively Investigating" Notorious B.I.G. Murder Again

​The LA Weekly's news blog The Informer, quoting CNN, reports that the LAPD is once again "actively investigating" the 1997 murder of the Notorious B.I.G. According to the CNN report: A task force made up of local and federal law enforcement agencies is actively pursuing leads into the 1997 ... More >>

Dear Jenny McCarthy: Autism Study Linking Disorder To Vaccination Was 'Elaborate Fraud'

​Sorry Jenny McCarthy. First the split with Jim Carrey. Now this. Turns out the whole basis for your vaccination-causes-autism side career is fraudulent (as many had suspected). It was all made up. Here in the celebrity-as-health-expert/conspiracy-theorist capital of the world, this has to be ... More >>

L.A.'s Simon Wiesenthal Center: 'Top 10 Anti-Semitic Slurs of 2010'

Mel, this list needs you.​TMZ called it (as usual): Mel Gibson didn't make the "Top 10 Anti-Semitic Slurs of 2010'' list? Surprising, innit? It's a whole new era in unenlightened Jew hating. And the L.A.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has the list of fresh recruits. At the top, former Associa ... More >>

Larry King Fever: L.A. City Council Observes First Annual 'Larry King Day' Tomorrow, Declares Him 'King For A Day'

CNN87 years old and finally signing off​Tonight is the last episode of "Larry King Live" on CNN, which comes as a welcome distraction for the DWP-divided L.A. City Council this casual Friday. (Don't worry, reruns of "Larry King [Not] Live" will probably haunt you the rest of your life, like M ... More >>

Chilean Miners Visit Los Angeles, Hollywood: CNN 'Heroes' Taping Planned

Luis Urzua gets up like a grafitti artist.​The Chilean Miners, as they've come to be known internationally, marched into Los Angeles like global heroes Thursday, enjoying a police escort as their two-bus caravan cruised away from LAX. We watched helicopter footage on Fox 11 News this morning ... More >>

In the Midnight Hour: Late-Night Goat Supper at Bulrocho

Dispensing chile-red comfort in a bowl of Koreatown goat soup

At Nigerian Eatery Saaris, America Is Turning to Fufu!

Dunkin' dough

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