Los Angeles International Airport

A Really Tough Job: Judging L.A.'s International Wine Competition

Would you call this heaven or hell for a wine lover? Getting forty-three Cabernets to taste but not drink, 27 Viogniers to sample and spit out -- and so on, through some 3,200 entries in this year's Los Angeles International Wine Competition. More than 70 judges willing to take on the challenge ga ... More >>

Rendition of Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' Diverts LAX Flight (VIDEO)

If you sang Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" on a shrill, nonstop loop during a flight from LAX to New York we'd beg for an emergency landing and then dial up the nearest SWAT team. Fortunately for this crooner, the weekend flight was merely diverted to Kansas City, where the woman in que ... More >>

Top Weekend 4 Events: Food Swap, Colombian Brunch, Olive Oil Tasting a Wolfgang Puck Cooking Class

SGV East Food Swap The SGV East Food Swap is hosting a community exchange of homemade and homegrown food -- including fruit, baked goods and sauces -- for the public. No money is accepted at the food swap. Pre-registration is required and can be made at the organization's Eventbrite page. WHAT: SGV ... More >>

L.A.'s Scripps College Olive Oil Wins at Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition

For the first time in the 14-year history of the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition, a Best of Show has been awarded to a L.A. County-produced olive oil. Even more fascinating is that it wasn't an established olive farm but rather a local college that won. Were you thinki ... More >>

Alaska Airlines Pilot Passes Out During Flight Out Of LAX

Updated at the bottom with the pilot okay: The airline tells us he fainted twice during the flight. First posted at 7 a.m. A pilot on an Alaska Airlines flight that departed from LAX last night became unconscious, forcing the first officer to take the reins and land the plane safely in Portland, th ... More >>

Why Are L.A. Places So Popular on Instagram?

See also: *5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week *Best L.A. Novel Ever: The Tournament *50 Reasons Los Angeles Is the Best City in America Just before the end of Instagram's wild year — bought by Facebook for $1 billion, publicly eviscerated by its community for new privacy policies — ... More >>

LAX Offers One Of The Most Scenic Landings In The World

Despite our potholes and celebrity a-holes, we still think L.A. is the greatest city on earth. Some folks out there agree. For example, you're flying into LAX from the east and you see this great metropolis as it rises from the desert and lights up for miles and miles. One of the greatest approach ... More >>

Ghosts, Laughs and Ducks: Your Weekly Movie To-Do List

Our list of the best special event films to see in L.A. this week ranges from an Ibsen adaptation to a classic hockey comedy. Friday, Oct. 5 Wide-eyed little ones and nostalgic adults are invited to the eighth annual Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival, presented Oct. 5-7 by LACMA. ... More >>

Endeavour Flyover List Includes Disneyland, Getty Museum, Universal Studios

The LAPD really thinks you're retarded. Here's your chance to prove the department wrong. You see, L.A. police officials are afraid that you'll be so wowed by the site of retired Space Shuttle Endeavour cruising above town on a 747 that you'll take your eyes off the road and crash your car Friday m ... More >>

Transfigured LACMA

7 Movies to See in L.A. This Week, Including Cat Movies as an Art Form

Our weekly list of special movie events to check out in L.A.:

Mike Hakopyan Alleged Leader of 'Russian Call Girl Ring' Run Out of Santa Monica, L.A.

It all started last year when customs officials spied two (dare we assume attractive?) Latvian women who just arrived at LAX from Moscow. What was the purpose of their visit? Their stories, federal authorities now say, didn't add up. But they had one thing in common: A man named Mher "Mike" Hakopya ... More >>

Los Angeles Bus Cuts: MTA Axes 305,000 More Hours of Service, Stranding Low-Income Workers in L.A. Outskirts

Beverly PressThe 757, from Hollywood through Koreatown, will no longer run on weekends.​About every six months, we receive a deja-vous press release from the Bus Riders Union, furious at the Metropolitan Transit Authority for a new wave of massive cuts to the decrepit L.A. bus system. The cut ... More >>

LAX Concessions: Airport Thinks Food Trucks Are the Answer

Beep beep!​L.A. International Airport is at or near the bottom in customer satisfaction surveys, mostly because of the atrocious food and beverage offerings.Airport officials have been working on this, and after three years of trying, they think they've found the answer. Food trucks.Food trucks? G ... More >>

LAX Worst Airport in Nation for Stolen Luggage: Is TSA to Blame?

Keep an eye on your luggage, Lohan.​Los Angeles International Airport: Home to the celebrity jet-set, the bikini activist, the expensive taxi and that giant semi-circle of sweet rave statues out front. (Stonehenge, for lovers!) Also, less glamorously, host to the most sticky-fingered luggage r ... More >>

LAX Concessions: SSP "Shocked" By Airport's Snub Of Celebrity Chefs

Not much to smile about: Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger were snubbed by LAX​These are tough times to be a celebrity chef. Last year, a star-studded group of L.A. chefs (including Nancy Silverton, Joaquim Splichal, Mary Sue Milliken, and Susan Feniger) came very close to winning a spot at L.A. ... More >>

LAX Flight 241: Orthodox Jewish Prayer Triggers TSA 'Security Threat,' Lockdown Aboard Plane From Mexico City

newvoices.orgMini Torrah pouches: terrorist threat?​It's good to see a religious group besides Muslims profiled for suspicious behavior by a paranoid American airline -- but still, this is a little silly. The LA Daily News reported yesterday that a traditional prayer conducted by three orthod ... More >>

PEN AND THE ART OF WRITING INSTRUMENTS

Grass Reindeer Figures Seized At LAX (No, They're Not Made Of That Kind Of Grass)

CPBDo these belong under a tree, or maybe in a bong?​You know it wouldn't be the holidaze without some seriously grinchy stories coming at ya. Yesterday we told you how L.A. city officials and police cracked down on fake designer crap (and DVDs) your mom buys. Now comes word that the crack, h ... More >>

Despite National Backlash, L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa Supports Airport Body Scanners

reason.comL.A.'s mayor wants to scan your body.​Update: Villaraigosa stepped through a scanner this morning afternoon to express his solidarity with unwarranted x-ray vision. The scan is said to have revealed free Lakers tickets in his pocket. See a correction regarding Gloria Allred after the ... More >>

LAX Concession Clash: Councilman Bernard Parks Hands $30 Million To Magic Johnson's Company

Ka-ching! Magic Johnson cashes in.​Overturning the wishes of LAX staff, a five-member council committee on Monday awarded an airport retail contract worth $30 million a year to a business group that includes Magic Johnson. Councilman Bernard Pa ... More >>

Meet Arthur Hartunian, Your Napa Valley Armenian Italian Limoncello Maker

Napa Valley Limoncello​An Italian will likely tell you lemons makes all the difference in a good limoncello. You want Femminellos or Amalfi Sfusatos. And they must be from Italy, of course. But Arthur Hartunian, the man behind Napa Valley Limoncello, is Armenian. And he lives in California. So ... More >>

LAX Media "Eat In" Brings Protesters Out

E.Z. Wrightson​A small group of protesters gathered across the street from Patina in downtown Los Angeles this morning to express their discontent with the high-priced menus of the restaurants currently vying for a spot in the new at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) food court. Chefs an ... More >>

L.A. City Council To Award Massive LAX Concession Contracts

​Just about every lobbyist in Los Angeles was on hand Thursday for the first of several hearings on the proposed concession contracts at Los Angeles International Airport.The contracts are worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the concessionaires. Their lobbyists have been working the corridors ... More >>

Wine & Cars Under the Stars Comes to the Fairplex June 19th

LAIWSCTasting session prep​Judging sessions for the 71st Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition have wrapped up as of the end of May. The ribbons may be on the bottles, but the winners will not be publicly announced until the annual Wine & Cars Under the Stars event at the Fairpl ... More >>

San Francisco Airport Takes Racially Tinged Swipe At LAX

An image from SFO's video.​A video marketing the advantages of flying into San Francisco International Airport from Australia and New Zealand seems to take a racially charged swipe at Los Angeles International Airport, which is the only other direct California destination from those nations. ( ... More >>

L.A. To JFK Nightmare Flight On Virgin America Was A 16-Hour Tour

​A Virgin America flight from LAX to New York's JFK over the weekend turned out to be a 16-hour "fight from hell," some passengers told the New York Post (spotted at LABizObserved). The drama on Saturday happened when the weather at JFK was too poor for the plane to land. It circled above New ... More >>

Border Grill Rallies Support for LAX Opening Pink's Coming Soon to Tom Bradley International

Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger are rallying support from Border Grill enthusiasts for the opening of a third restaurant inside LAX. "Wouldn't it be great to have the delicious Mexican food of Border Grill at the Los Angeles International Airport? With a Border Margarita and a Carnitas Taco, sud ... More >>

Mayor V. Has A Lot Of 'Capital,' Gives L.A. Yet Another New Title

​You know him as the man who coined the phrases "farmers market capital of the world," "America's undisputed creative capital," and, of course, "the eco-fashion capital of the world," has created a new tag-line for Los Angeles. That's right, from this week forward, Los Angeles is the "capital ... More >>

'Who Killed The Electric Car?' Not I, Says GM

General Motors announced Wednesday that its much-anticipated Volt electric car will be available in California first, with the roll-out happening sometime late next year. The announcement was made to media at the Los Angeles International Auto Show. "It is natural that California is the lead market ... More >>

Industry Titans To Discuss Fossil Fuel Alternatives For Auto Industry

Ahead of this week's Los Angeles International Auto Show, a select group of industry titans is gathering at the Hammer Museum in Westwood Tuesday to discuss alternative fuels and new technologies for the auto industry. Scheduled attendees include Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive, John Krafci ... More >>

Has L.A.'s Auto Show Overshadowed Detroit and Tokyo?

In the wake of the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, a downsized Detroit auto show that saw the likes of Nissan, Porsche and Mitsubishi pull out, and a Tokyo auto show subsequently passed up by the Detroit three automakers, is L.A.'s own annual showcase next the place to be for the auto w ... More >>

Today in Photographs: October 3, 1959

​Five thousand Dodger fans at L.A. International Airport welcome the team's return home after splitting the first two games of the World Series in Chicago with the White Sox.LA Herald-Examiner/LAPL

Newspaper Describes Scientology Beatings

Although the St. Petersburg Times' three-part series on L.A.-based Scientology and its enigmatic leader, David Miscavige, mostly focuses on the church's Clearwater, Florida operations, there's a deep Los Angeles background to some of the stories involving beatings that have allegedly become an insti ... More >>

Rapper Dolla Shot to Death at the Beverly Center [UPDATE UPDATE: SUSPECT NAMED]

Rap artist Dolla was shot to death today near an entrance to the Beverly Center mall, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Dolla, whose real name is Roderick Anthony Burton II, was shot several times at  3:11 p.m., after a fight between a group of individuals broke out. The 2 ... More >>

Today in Photographs: March 12, 1968

Dream On! What looks like an aircraft carrier for Concordes is actually Santa Monica Island -- a proposed artificial landmass that would have served as an extension of Los Angeles International Airport. The island would connect directly to LAX by means of a subway (seen extending from the island's b ... More >>

Gendy Alimurung Recalls September 11, 2001, at L.A. Weekly

The rumbling

Queer Town: All-American Memories

I It was time for a vacation and my parents wanted to see me. So I flew back east last Wednesday and visited them in Spring Lake, New Jersey, a beach resort town 60 miles south of New York City. The Essex & Sussex Hotel on Ocean Avenue in Spring Lake, New Jersey. II The memories blind-sided m ... More >>

Urine Luck, L.A. Gangs!

Piddling programs — like teaching kids to install urinals — dominate Antonio’s plan to save the city’s youth

Seeing Red

Tenth Annual Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival

Best Whimsical Public Aerospace Art

Shooting Down Trains

LAX director is no big fan of the Green Line

CitySweep

Boarding Games

People-watching at LAX security checkpoints

The Day the Sky Fell

This time, it was impersonal

Plane Injustice

LAX neighbors worry no one stands up for them

Flying Right

Anti-union strafing to end at LAX

Lap dancers

Lap dancers win right to be treated as employees