Richard Lewis

Cabbies Push Back Against Uber and Lyft

Stuck in a tightly regulated profession, taxi drivers are chafing at rideshare apps' success

1 Dead in Santa Monica Gang Attack Near SMC

Updated at the bottom with one dead, possibly two arrested. Headline has changed. First posted at 11:55 a.m. Two people were shot not far from Santa Monica College this morning, shaking up a community already shocked by Friday's unrelated rampage. The violence in the 1500 block of Michigan Avenue, ... More >>

Levy Ernesto Rodriguez Sought in Santa Monica Shooting

Updated at the bottom with gang-tie information. First posted at 3:48 p.m. See also: 1 Dead in Santa Monica Gang Attack Near SMC. Yet another shooting, this one on Sunday, has shaken up a Santa Monica community already saddened by Friday's rampage. Luckily the victim in Sunday afternoon's attack ... More >>

Mel Brooks: Make a Noise Makes 'em Laugh at Paley Center Premiere

Mel Brooks doesn't think he's an American master. That's someone like Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway, says the creator of the funniest farting scene in the history of film. But Susan Lacy, executive producer of PBS' American Masters series, thought differently, and convinced Brooks to dispense wi ... More >>

Al Michaels Gets DUI In Dicey Santa Monica Neighborhood

Football announcer Al Michaels committed a major foul over the weekend. At least according to Santa Monica police, who stopped him in a dicier part of town and soon discovered, they say, that the NBC Sunday Night Football caller was drunk behind the wheel. It all happened ...

Kate Upton, Will You Go To Prom With Me? NO

When asked to the prom by a creepy kid with a video camera, Kate Upton did what any girl would and politely turned him down. That, at least, is our reading of the super-hottie's response to the imaginative come-on by L.A. high schooler Jake Davidson. Upton played it like a police woman from Asia, ... More >>

'Leatherface' Actor Andrew Bryniarski Arrested for Hoarding Pomeranians in Santa Monica RV

We've seen a lot of shady shit go down in the legendary RV community of Venice Beach. But Santa Monica -- its cleaner, more stuck-up neighbor to the north -- has taken pains to ensure that mobile-home dwellers steer clear of its residential areas. Still, one veteran Hollywood anti-hero allegedly g ... More >>

Is There Such a Thing as a New (and Real) da Vinci?

On Monday night a fine-feathered crowd assembled in Beverly Hills at the historic Greystone Mansion. Once the home of the patrician Doheny family, the manicured grounds and grand architecture (specifically the flagstone courtyard and arched coach house) were the perfect backdrop for the official int ... More >>

David Ben Keyes, Suspect in L.A. Area Homeless Stabbings Where 'Death Warrant' Notes Left at Scene

Updated at the bottom with charges filed against Keyes, a.k.a. Courtney Anthony Robinson. First posted at 3:47 p.m. Thursday. Santa Monica police say the stabbing last week of a homeless man could be connected to two similar attacks in Los Angeles in which "death warrant" notes were left at the sce ... More >>

Jensen Gray Killed in Santa Monica Party Stabbing

Updated at the bottom with the victim's ID and evidence he was friends with the suspect. The headline has changed to reflect new info. First posted at 12:24 p.m. Wednesday. A rare murder in Santa Monica was reported early this morning near the Third Street Promenade, police told the Weekly. Cops w ... More >>

Roger Slifer, DC Comics Legend and Transformers Producer, Gravely Injured in Santa Monica Hit-and-Run

Another tragic hit-and-run in Santa Monica last weekend has left comic-book great Roger Slifer, 57, in critical condition. The legend behind DC Comics superhero Lobo and the beloved old TV show Transformers was crossing 5th Street at the Colorado Avenue intersection around 12:57 a.m. early Saturday ... More >>

A Summer Wonderland

Teens Break Into Apple Store on Promenade With Sledgehammer, Take $31K in iProducts

When four L.A. teens hatched a plan to break into the iconic Apple Store along the 3rd Street Promenade last week, theirs wasn't a heisty plot of censor-dodging and lock-popping. Nope. According to Sergeant Richard Lewis at the Santa Monica Police Department, these geniuses simply smashed the glass ... More >>

Murder on Montana Ave.

Was LAUSD teacher Sasha Merman slain to hide Daniel Becerril's greed?

Ride-By Bicycle Groper on The Loose in Santa Monica (Again)

'Tis the season when sexual attackers seem to come out of the woodworks. Santa Monica cops are on the lookout for a drive-by attacker who grabs women's butts and flees. Well, drive-by is an exaggeration. This winner is on a bike. The Santa Monica Police Department put out an alert this week:

John Travolta's Stolen Mercedes Helps Crack Gone in 60 Seconds-Like Theft Ring

Updated at the bottom with the condition of Travolta's ride, with photos of the leftovers. First posted at 12:20 p.m. The movie Gone in 60 Seconds, every 20-year-old frat boy's favorite "cult" film about stealing the dream rides on their dorm room walls, featured a motley crew of high-tech antihero ... More >>

Sonia Leigh on Country Music In L.A. (Yes, It Exists)

See also: *If You Don't Like Country Music You're A Blue State Elitist *Olin & The Moon: Cigarettes, Coors, And Startlingly-Sincere Alt-Country Atlanta-based artist Sonia Leigh is a master storyteller, whose truly-American songs are about the struggles and joy of daily life. Her sound melds classic ... More >>

John Travolta's Mercedes Still Missing: Why Did he Leave it on a Residential Street With Parking Restrictions?

A car like Travolta's missing SL.​At the risk of rumor and innuendo, John Travolta really wants his 1970 Mercedes 280 SL back. Santa Monica police today circulated photos of a vehicle that looks like the missing car in hope someone will spot it. It was reported stolen at 3:46 p.m. on Sunday a ... More >>

Graffiti House Celebrating Heal The Bay Targeted by Santa Monica Officials

Shannon CottrellArt in the Santa Monica streets -- and country club-adjacent.​Update: We're told the artwork is coming down Monday. More deets at the bottom. First posted at 1:20 p.m. Friday. Shortly after the unveiling of pro-Heal the Bay graffiti art in front of a four-story Santa Monica ho ... More >>

Elderly Santa Monica Woman Plows Through Crowd of Children at Fourth of July Parade

Perez HiltonThe Affleck children, just out of harm's way.​If you didn't hear about the near-disastrous car crash during Santa Monica's otherwise idyllic (bike traffic notwithstanding) Fourth of July parade last Monday, it's because the old woman behind the wheel, and the group of children she ... More >>

Black Santa Monica High Student Says Wrestling Teammates Hung Noose, Chained Him to Locker, Shouted 'Slave for Sale!'

Is Samohi breeding bigots?​Updated after the jump: The L.A. County Sheriff is now investigating administrators who knew about the hate crime and didn't report it to police -- technically breaking the law. Looks like there's still some unabashed racism in paradise: The Los Angeles Times was ju ... More >>

Venice Shooting Leaves One Man Dead, More Wounded at Penmar Park During Girls' Softball Game

Yo! VeniceShooting at Penmar Park​Update: An LAPD captain says another victim has died -- bringing the death toll to two. He says nine casings from a 9mm handgun have been recovered from the scene, and that the shooting victims, who looked like they were in their early 20s, had just graduated ... More >>

Jeweler at Store Favored by Jessica Simpson, Sandra Bullock, Robbed of $1.5 Million in Jewels During Lunch Stop in Santa Monica

susanfosterjewelry.com​Update: Cops say the victim didn't work for Susan Foster Exquisite Fine Jewelry but might have made a sales call there before the robbery (more details after the jump). Suspect descriptions also after the jump. A man who works at a might have paid a sales visit to a Bre ... More >>

Barney's Version Review

Paul Giamatti stars in the film of Mordecai Richler's novel

Stage Raw: The Walworth Farce

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Charles Duncombe's The Trojan Women and Julie Hebert's TreeNEW REVIEW GO THE WALWORTH FARCE​Photo by Pavel AntonovModern Irish theater is filled with three things: people holding other people hostage, people making up crap, and play ... More >>

Lewis & His Black Heart

Sahl-ud!

How Do You Say 'Pee-Your-Pants-Funny' in Spanish?

What to do in Los Angeles this week

Fox Film Noir: Somewhere in the Night, Whirlpool, The House On 92nd Street

Give Us Liberty or At Least Give Us Dinner

Edited by Kateri Butler

David and Golgotha

Curb your Enthusiasm and the pain of being rich, white, and living in West L.A.

My List

And welcome to it

Teamwork

Reflections of a Scream Queen

Jamie Lee Curtis on the craft of acting