Parks and Historic Sites

Mountain Lion Has Deer For Breakfast on Mulholland (PHOTOS)

It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. And a motorcyclist who happened to be cruising on Mulholland Highway in the Santa Monica Mountains stopped in his tracks to snap this photo. Kate Kuykendall of the National Park Service told the Weekly that of hundreds of mountain lion "kills" that have been exam ... More >>

The Cult of Gram Parsons Lives on in Joshua Tree

Forty years after his sensational death, the country-rock pioneer remains beloved in the desert

Seeing Stars

Stop Leaving Your Fried Eggs on the Ground in Death Valley, Please

Earlier this month a man recorded what he says is a world-record-breaking, all-time high temperature in Death Valley (135). It won't count. But the attempt, along with the corresponding summer heat, has drawn tourists to the SoCal desert. One of their top pastimes is frying an egg on the ground. Ye ... More >>

Teen Likely Brain Dead from Near-Drowning in Public Pool; Family Questions Lifeguards' Actions

Anandre Thomas, a 17-year-old who nearly drowned on Sunday in a public swimming pool, is on life support and likely brain dead, his family told KCAL9. The incident happened Sunday afternoon at a pool in the county-owned Jesse Owens Community Regional Park east of Inglewood. Los Angeles Fire Depart ... More >>

Feds Shut Down Historic Northern California Oyster Farm

If you, like some of us, were in the vicinity of Point Reyes in Northern California last week and did not enjoy some fresh oysters, you, like us, will be kicking yourself. And possibly U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, too. Salazar just announced that he is shutting down a historic oyster farm al ... More >>

Death Valley Now Officially Hotter Than Libya, Former Record-Holder for Hottest Place on Earth

Southern California is giving the Middle East a run for its money this week, in the arena of hottest sociopolitical scandal: In case you missed it, a group of L.A.-area filmmakers and apparent anti-Muslim zealots have singlehandedly thrown international relations into a state of upheaval. And now, ... More >>

WTF with Marc Maron

Stop-Sign Cameras Ticket 70,000 in Los Angeles Parks

Benjamin Colton Barnes, Suspected Mount Rainier Murderer, Represented Southern California With Riverside Raincross Tattoo

As if SoCal needs more creepy people to its credit following the arrest of a man alleged to be the L.A. arsonist, it turns out that the weekend's Mount Rainier murderer is believed to by authorities to be a Riverside County native. Not only that, but suspect Benjamin Colton Barnes was so down with ... More >>

Mountain Lion Killed on 405 Freeway: Photos From Before & After

National Park Service​When the 15-month-old mountain lion known by National Park Service animal trackers as "P-18" (real cute) was killed on the 405 last Tuesday morning, adorable photos circulated of little P-body in his prime kitten years. So sweet! And so young, to die! (See, right.) But ... More >>

San Onofre Nudists Hop Fence to Sunbathe on 'Camp Pendleton' Military Base, Complain of Peeping Police

nakedvolleyball.comIn the San Onofre glory days, naked volleyball games went unchecked (and rampantly sunburned).​The nudity laws in California, and on California beaches in particular, exist in a perpetual gray area -- a total headache for those who wish to live their lives outside the shackl ... More >>

Brian Matayoshi of Torrance Killed in Yellowstone Bear Attack: Animal, Given Reprieve, Was Said to be Protecting Her Cubs

The site of the Yellowstone bear attack.​A mama grizzly bear that was looking after her cubs in Yellowstone National Park was startled by a husband-and-wife pair of L.A.-area hikers and mauled the man to death this week. The Torrance victim was ID'd today as 57-year-old Brian Matayoshi of Tor ... More >>

John Frame: The Huntington's Unintentional Steampunk Exhibit

Photo by John Frame, courtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens​ When people ask John Frame what his work is about, the curators of "Three Fragments of a Lost Tale: Sculpture and Story by John Frame" write in the show's catalog, "he feels that the real answer sh ... More >>

Feel Like Going Home

Who's Your Birdy?

Seed to Skillet: Learn Home Gardening Secrets at the Arboretum

Amy Scattergood​ We have heard many times that you should never get high on your own supply, but what if that high comes from fresh jalapeños in your burrito, or a caprese salad with just-plucked tomatoes and basil? Jimmy Williams & Susan Heeger, authors of the home-gardening manual and cookb ... More >>

Christmas for Kids on Skid Row (Video)

In this week's print edition of L.A. Weekly, Sam Slovick visits the L.A. City Parks and Recreation Department's recent holiday event at Gladys Park and asks some of the children what they want for Christmas. Their responses are varied. Watch the video below and read more in "Getting Out for Christma ... More >>

Food, Wine and Bocce Ball: The Pasadena Wine Festival

Pasadena Wine Festival​Despite its name, the second annual Pasadena Wine Festival isn't just about vino. The outdoor food fête at the 127-acre Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens promises visitors a banquet for the senses with a caravan of food trucks, live entertainment, and law ... More >>

Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch To Become A California State Park?

​State Assemblyman Mike Davis (D-South Los Angeles) is proposing to turn Michael Jackson's 2,500 acre Neverland Ranch into a state park, according to the Associated Press. Davis said that fans from around the world would visit the Santa Barbra County estate -- it once had a zoo and housed amus ... More >>

Shark Warning North Of L.A. Issued By National Park Service

​Great white sharks? In Southern California. Nice way to start off the summer season. The National Park Service issued a shark warning for the Santa Barbara area on Wednesday following a great white shark sighting off East Beach. A shark might have also attacked a sea lion pup that ended up de ... More >>

Granny Can't Grow Pot In South O.C. Community Garden

​The senior-living community of Laguna Woods in South Orange County has been a must-stop location for Republicans raising money and running for office. It's a conservative enclave in a conservative part of a traditionally red county. But sprouts of green have been cropping up as some of its re ... More >>

Inch By Inch: Gathering of Community Gardens at Farmlab This Weekend

If you find yourself considering the current state of your lawn, or questioning how best to garden during a drought, it might be a good idea to head over to the Gathering of Community Gardens conference in downtown LA for some fresh ideas on how to nurture a sustainable garden in the city of Los Ang ... More >>

Cemetery Desecretation Suit Goes Forward

The class action lawsuit against Eden Memorial Park is going forward, plaintiff lawyers said today at a Century City news conference. The suit, brought last Thursday by the Newport firm of Eagan O'Malley & Avenatti, alleges that EMP, one of the country's largest Jewish cemeteries, "intentionally ... More >>

Chichen Itza Closes Its MacArthur Park Location: Tonight's Last Supper Will Be A Celebration

Photo credit: Anne FishbeinSous-chef Jose Chan finishes a plate of cochinita pibil​Chichen Itza, the highly-regarded Mexican restaurant near downtown L.A.'s MacArthur Park that specializes in the food of the Yucatán, is closing as of tomorrow. It's the economics, said chef-owner Gilberto Ceti ... More >>

Up in Smoke: California's Pot Forests Cause for Alarm

It's long been a fear of state parks officials -- that California's already vulnerable, tinder-dry forests could be set ablaze through activities of pot growers who have penetrated deep into wilderness areas to cultivate weed. "It's a very big concern of ours," state parks spokesman Roy Stearns told ... More >>

L.A.'s State Parks & Beaches Admissions Climb

Starting Monday, August 17, entry fees to California's state parks and beaches will rise. The State Parks' Web site has a page showing the new admissions, as well as the old ones that were last posted April 1. Below is a sampling of Los Angeles County parks and beaches operated by the state, showing ... More >>

Lightning Bolt, Black Lips, Tim & Eric, No Age to Headline Festival Formerly Known as F Yeah Fest

Lightning Bolt at WFMU​ It's been a crazy past few months for F Yeah Fest principals Sean Carlson, Keith Morris and Phil Hoelting. The annual summer music festival, which changed its name from the Fuck Yeah Fest two years ago for obvious reasons, has been the sturdy little engine of the punk/ ... More >>

GOD BLESS OUR PARKS

More State Parks to Close

​That state park system that was miraculously saved at the last minute during the budget holocaust in Sacramento? It's on the chopping block once more. According to the L.A. Times and other sources, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's last-minute, half-billion dollar "gotcha" cuts made through line-i ... More >>

Pot Farms Found in Santa Monica Mountains

An LAist report on a pair of pot plantations discovered in the Santa Monica Mountains underscores concerns we raised this morning about the shutting down of state parks because of budget cuts. While not every park is set in the middle of a wilderness, it's unknown as to which parks will be closed du ... More >>

Most State Parks Spared -- For Now

Among California's treasures to be targeted by budget cutters' machetes are its state parks. However, it looks as though most of the parks will remain open until at least the end of the year. At one point it was feared that many parks on a 220-site hit list, which included 13 L.A.-area parks, would ... More >>

Southland State Parks on Budget Chopping Block

Here are some L.A.-area state parks and beaches that have been earmarked for possible closure in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's new budget proposals. Of California's 279 state parks and shorelines, 200 have been red-penciled for closure to save $143.4  million. Follow the jump to see Californ ... More >>

Charles Manson's Hide-Away Gutted in Suspicious Fire

Charles Manson's former remote hide-out has been gutted in a suspicious fire, according to the Death Valley National Park Service. Authorities are not sure whether Barker Ranch, famous for being Manson's last home before he was nabbed by police for the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders, was torched ac ... More >>

Egg Hunt and Spring Fest at the Watts Healthy Farmers' Market

The Watts Healthy Farmers' Market hosts an Egg Hunt and Spring Festival on Saturday, April 4. Lots of activities for kids: basket making at 10 a.m., egg hunt at 11:00, and other games and face painting between 11:30 a.m and 1 p.m. Market goes until 2 p.m. Ted Watkins Memorial Park, 103rd and Central ... More >>

Old as Dirt

Manson Dig Officially Over

Inyo County sheriff investigators officially called off the dig for human remains Wednesday at remote Barker Ranch, the last known hideout of Charles Manson and his followers. Investigators reported that 20 law enforcement officials and scientists using portable ground penetrating radar, lasers an ... More >>

No Human Remains Found yet at Manson Dig

So far…nada. Inyo County sheriff investigators reported today that they have not found any bodies yet at Barker Ranch, the last known hideout of Charles Manson and his followers. “One bullet casing was found in the site,” said Inyo County Sheriff’s Lt. Jim Jones,” but forensic testing in ... More >>

Adios, Pio Pico: Doors Close on California Historic Park

One of five local estates targeted by Schwarzenegger's budget cuts

Seeking Chichen Itza’s Hot Spots

A single drop of habanero salsa is enough to season a panucho. A small spoonful renders a vaporcito ­practically radioactive. And this isn’t even the hottest salsa Chichen Itza has to offer.

Southwest Chamber Music at the Huntington

They Also Served

So long, Mojave burros

Of Rocks, Creeks and Broom-Tailed Horses

Will California’s own wild mustangs ever return to Coyote Canyon? Should they?

Loss and Loathing on the Cheney Trail

The environmental destruction wrought by the vice president�s secret energy plan

The Fight for Eagle Mountain

The Glendale Narrows

From Griffith Park to Downtown

Go Climb a Mountain

David Brower, 1912�2000

Grand Expectations

Traveling with Sweetie and Sinatra

Wilderness, Inc.

Southern California's controversial 'Adventure Pass' program

Nature Boy

Adam Werbach�s audacious plan for the Sierra Club