Economic Crisis

Eric Smidt, L.A. Dem who Owns Harbor Freight Tools, Gives $50,000 to Elect Kate Anderson, Antonio Sanchez and Monica Garcia to LAUSD

Eric Smidt must be L.A.'s least-written-about, super-rich, self-made guy pouring money into Democratic races in the U.S., and now he's given $50,000 to the Coalition for School Reform to elect Kate Anderson and Antonio Sanchez to the powerful LAUSD Board of Education, and to re-elect incumbent Monic ... More >>

Get Your Subaru Forester Running

Mexican Immigrants Hunkering Down, Staying Put During Bad Economy, Say Santa Monica Researchers

Kate GardinerMexicans.​Bad news, John & Ken: While the New York Times recently reported that would-be Mexican immigrants are staying away from our crap economy in droves in favor of improving prospects at home, the ones who already crossed the border are staying put more often than not. That ... More >>

Aloe Blacc's Golden God Voice

Gilt Taste Lauches: Ruth Reichl's Fabulous Prose & Fancy Cheese Store

Gilt TasteSeriously pretty asparagus​ For those of you who've been staring bleakly at your old dust and demi-glace covered copies of Gourmet, or stalking Ruth Reichl via Twitter, you now have a shiny new website to visit. Gilt Taste officially launched yesterday, with Reichl as the editorial a ... More >>

Los Angeles Traffic Congestion is Number One in U.S. (Again): 405, 5, 10 Freeways Are National Contenders

We're number one.​This is about as surprising as another Charlie Sheen outburst. But here it is folks, the news: Yet another study ranks L.A.'s traffic congestion as the worst in the nation among major cities. Yeah, a traffic data company called INRIX released its fourth-annual National Tra ... More >>

7,000 Los Angeles Jobs Will Vanish Unless Congress and Washington Step In Very Soon

​We can't emphasize this enough: The economy sucks, especially in L.A., where the number of folks without jobs overshadows the unemployment stats in most other cities aside from Detroit. Even though the recession is officially over (experts say it ended June, 2009), it sure feels worse than w ... More >>

Hyatt Workers, Still Without A Contract, To Do Street Action Next Week; Conflict For President Obama

The Andaz picket will look a bit different than this one, but you get the idea.​ Unionized workers at Hyatt-owned Andaz in West Hollywood and the Hyatt in Century City have been without a contract since December, and next week they'll take to the streets at the Andaz in what is sure to be an e ... More >>

Angelenos Spending More -- A Lot More

​If your wallet is empty pat yourself on the back: You just might be an integral part of the economic recovery. The average Los Angeles household spent $3,600 in March, $600 more than one year ago, according to Bundle (via LA Biz Observed). Considering that the figure does not include mortgag ... More >>

Plastic Surgery On The Wane In America

FoxNip/Tuck​This is really sad news for this here capital of nip/tuck. Cosmetic surgery is down a whole one percent in the United States, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, Encino, Las Vegas -- we know you can do better. On your own you can mak ... More >>

COREY HAIM'S FINEST WORK?

THE LITTLE ZINE THAT COULD

A Tale of Two High School Reunions

L.A. blogger Ron Kaye sets aside the city's political wars to offer a somewhat bittersweet account of his Cleveland high school's 50th reunion. The piece begins with Kaye furtively noting the social terrain at the hotel in which "some 300 elderly people" were gathered: "There was no line at the bar. ... More >>

Should L.A. City Council Agree to Slash Its $178,789 Salaries?

15 richly paid politicians are happy to cut their pay — by 2.5 percent

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Chris Brown Deal in the Works? R&B singer Chris Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, may be close to making a plea deal with the District Attorney's office regarding the charges Brown faces in the alleged beating of singer-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown's arraignment has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday. ... More >>

Brother -- Can You Help an Old Jew?

Echo Park Town Houses Halted

Fantasy Land? Artist's rendition of Echo Park's Durbin town houses.A Curbed L.A. report could be the answer to a question on the minds of many who live along Echo Park Avenue north of Sunset Boulevard. Namely, that the Durbin town house project located on the avenue at Delta Street has run out of mo ... More >>

Pacific Energy Bankruptcy: Another Southland Domino?

Long Beach-based Pacific Energy Resources, whose drilling explorations extend from Wyoming to offshore California to Alaska, filed for bankruptcy today. The Chapter 11 move comes amid continued economic chaos and plunging demand for oil. Only last June PE's president, Darren Katic, told an interview ... More >>

Manny Ramirez to Wear Dodger Blue Again -- For $45 Million

The L.A. Daily News, among many other sources, reports that Dodger left fielder Manny Ramirez and his super-agent, Scott Boras, have agreed to terms that would let Ramirez remain in L.A. for the next two years for a $45 million contract. "The agreement," the DN says, "was pending results of a physic ... More >>

Jacksonian Seizure: The Rise and Fall of Michael Jackson and His Investments Mirror Americans' Spendy Ways

Is the King of Pop's Neverland Booty Our Folly Too?

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Mayor Meets With Other Clinton Today Antonio Villaraigosa and former President Bill Clinton will make a joint City Hall announcement about replacing the city's current street lights with  energy efficient LEDs. L.A. TimesClear Channel Future Murky for AV The Antelope Valley might see a reductio ... More >>

Why New York Hates L.A.: Chapter One

The New York Times last week just couldn't help getting in a little dig at L.A. when it reported, on December 23, on the Museum of Contemporary Arts' financial meltdown. After describing MOCA's embrace of Eli Broad's $30M bailout offer,  Edward Wyatt and Jori Finkel wrote, "The plan avoids a pa ... More >>

Election '08: McFarce

BY MARC COOPER Call me naive or even delusional, but I think we can surmise the political implications of McCain's transparent campaign-suspension gimmick. I'm standing by my view that these past two weeks we have witnessed the implosion of his campaign. The American people take this catastrophic t ... More >>

The Trickle Down Economics of the Nation's Financial Crisis

This week, the Los Angeles Business Journal explains how the trickle down economics of the country's financial crisis may hurt LA...as well as some of its wealthiest citizens. Billionaire Eli Broad, who's a major shareholder of American International Group, the insurance company that the federal gov ... More >>

Election '08: Postcard From The End Of The World

Rant Alert: Be warned, this is a rant. We don't give President Bush enough credit. Seriously, we have failed to give him his proper due. Here we thought his culture, philosophies (if you can call them that), politics and policies were just wrecking the country. Turns out, they were on the verge of ... More >>

Strange & Ugly Times for Villaraigosa

Something strange and ugly is happening in Los Angeles, although you don't hear Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaking much about it. On Tuesday, the National Fair Housing Commission visits Los Angeles to hold a hearing on the foreclosure crisis. According to the commission's press release, "Forty yea ... More >>

The Sixth Supervisor

David Janssen will soon be a free man

Spare Parts

Bolt Gallery turns scrap metal into beautiful monsters

Let’s Roll!

A hot-war president for a cold-war nation

10 Inner-City Stories You Didn’t Read . . . Again

Reinventing the World

Seattle summit brings 134 governments and tens of thousands of protesters together — to disagree on the rules of the global economy