Southern California

L.A. Gas Prices Rising; AAA Says Fill Up Now

After eight weeks of falling prices at the American pump, your cost for a gallon gas could be headed up. In fact AAA of Southern California warned on its Facebook page last night that prices would increase and that you should fill 'er up ASAP, like this morning. Really:

Awesome Twerk Video Means School Suspension for SoCal Kids

Southern California's Scripps Ranch is one of the wealthiest communities in the nation (median income: $144,438 -- much higher than Beverly Hills'). At 71 percent Anglo, it's also one of the whitest 'hoods this side of the Santa Clarita Valley. So it was a little surprising to us to see an awesome ... More >>

Gibson Amphitheatre To Shut Down

Gibson Amphitheatre, the mainstay mid-size concert venue at Universal City, will close its doors in September, according to its operator Live Nation Entertainment. As announced in December 2011, the 6,200-capacity amphitheatre is expected to be demolished to make way for The Wizarding World of Har ... More >>

10 Essential Beat Generation Landmarks in Los Angeles

When most people envision the Beat Generation, they probably start with a vision of Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg, stumbling into a bar in New York City, rambling on about Nebraska and staring into the electric religion of the American plains. Or perhaps people think of Lawrence Ferl ... More >>

How We Got Here

The Cult of In-N-Out

For omnivores, In-N-Out is arguably one of the most beloved Los Angeles food institutions. There is no shortage of requests -- national and international -- for the homegrown chain to expand outside of its immediate distribution hubs here in Southern California and, in 2011 Texas. A woman even cried ... More >>

4.7 Anza Earthquake Shakes SoCal

A moderate earthquake rocked Southern California this morning. And yes you felt it. From Las Vegas to San Diego to Culver City. And it was only a 4.7, says the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was reported at ...

California Dominates America's Happiest Twitter Cities

Los Angeles might not have made this list of happy cities, but three Southern California towns did. (Are we then, happy by association?). And the University of Vermont found that California was a top 13 happy state and that Napa was the nation's happiest city. They did so by analyzing 10 million ge ... More >>

$5 Dollar Gas Is Back In Los Angeles: Why?

After a fall of unprecedented roadside robbery, with record-breaking gas prices in Southern California, $5-plus gas is back, at least if your car requires premium. It's mid-February. What the hell is going on? The spike in L.A. county, with prices rising for the 27th consecutive day, is a result o ... More >>

West Hollywood Apartment Blast Blamed On Marijuana Honey Oil Extraction

For the second time this month in Southern California, authorities say suspects extracting "honey oil" from marijuana sparked an explosive blaze. This one happened over the weekend in the 1200 block of North Havenhurst Drive in West Hollywood, according to L.A. County Fire officials. Rescuers resp ... More >>

Winter Drinks, Part 1: Scotch & Lime

Like a bare tree in winter, some winter drinks are meant to be austere: dry, direct, bracing, with the sort of thrust that allows its effects to make a beeline to the belly. Certainly that's true with your basic shot, whether tequila or scotch or bourbon, but not everyone is interested in slamming s ... More >>

Ice Lake Rescue In Wrightwood Caught On Video

It was a comedy of errors that could have been tragic. Some folks thought it was a good idea to walk around and go inner-tubing on thin ice formed after recent snowfall in one of the otherwise warmer climes in the United States -- Southern California. It was a mistake caught on video:

Instagram's Most-Popular Photo Locations? Los Angeles Dominates

Last month we told you about how Southern California locations dominated the year-end list of top Facebook location check-ins. Along comes Instragram with its own year-end list of "most popular locations" for photos uploaded to the social-networking service. Once again ...

Top 10 Facebook Check-Ins For 2012 Shows Southern California On Top

America loves Southern California, at least according to Facebook's end-of-the-year data. Of the social networking site's recently revealed 10 most popular domestic "check-ins" for 2012, three of the locations are in Southern California, beating out any other region. Top spots include:

Teen Girl Caught Near Border With $35,000 Worth Of Meth, Say Feds

Kids these days, you say. They're so advanced with their iPads and texting and ... meth smuggling. Yeah, so says U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which alleges that a 15-year-old girl was caught near the Mexican border in Southern California with $35,000 worth of methamphetamine strapped to her. ... More >>

Hurricane Sandy vs. Southern California Disasters: A Comparison

East Coast people sometimes like to say that with our earthquakes, wildfires and occasional uprisings, who would want to live in Southern California? With a disastrous hurricane Sandy looming near Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City, we took a look at the claim, putting the East Coast ... More >>

Where the Ghosts Are

VIDEO: Man Set On Fire Outside Long Beach Market

Updated at the bottom with a suspect description. First posted at 8:02 a.m. The drive-by shooting isn't the only way people are attacked in Southern California: A particularly evil suspect resurrected a weapon with a sordid, political history, the Molotov cocktail, over the weekend. Last night the ... More >>

Gas Prices Could Reach All-Time High in L.A. as Some Stations Expected to Shut Down

Southern California is an island of gas-price hell this week. One station in Calabasas is charging nearly $6 ($5.89 to be exact) a gallon for high-octane fuel, the Costco in Simi Valley has run out of regular-grade gas (with other stations expected to follow suit), and one expert tells us that all-t ... More >>

Flex Alert For California Electricity as Heat Wave Peaks in L.A.

Today is expected to be the hottest day of Southern California's blistering heat wave, which the National Weather Service predicted could bring temps as high as 126 to Death Valley. The state's electricity-grid operator, Cal-ISO, issued a "Flex Alert" for all of California through Sunday with the h ... More >>

4.4 Near Yorba Linda: Earthquake Weather?

UPDATE: Shaky days here in L.A. Another 4.5 quake hit at 9:33 a.m., centered near the same place as last night's quake. See more at the bottom. First posted at 11:37 p.m. Tuesday See also: *8.6 Quake Possible in Southern California? A little baby earthquake jolted parts of Southern California toni ... More >>

Art Students Blow Up the Blue Whale

Brown Widow Spiders Have Taken Over Southern California, And They Bite ...

If you're getting sick of all these brown folks invading Southern California, they're not done yet. A new research paper co-authored by Richard Vetter, professor of urban entomology at UC Riverside, confirms a long-feared invasion of brown widow spiders in SoCal. The spiders are indeed coming fro ... More >>

Immigration Increases Home Values, Reduces Crime in SoCal?

Some of our favorite commenters at LA Weekly compare Los Angeles to Tijuana and say our fair town is turning into a Third World slum. We beg to differ, of course. Not only because immigrants have invigorated an inner city devastated by the L.A. riots, but because more billionaires live in Californi ... More >>

Cookbook Of The Week: Herbivoracious, A Blogging Revelation

Herbivoracious by Michael Natkin is the sort of cookbook we really shouldn't need, as most of us with access to Southern California's abundant produce already have what the second half of the subtitle offers: 150 Vibrant and Original Vegetarian Recipes. But we really didn't need a book on The Art of ... More >>

Two-Year Citrus Quarantine in Eastern Los Angeles County

We knew it was only a matter of time. After watching Brazil's and Florida's citrus get decimated by Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) -- to the tune of billions of dollars -- we knew that despite rigorous agriculture checkpoints, testing and restrictions, California would probably be next. The bug, the c ... More >>

Outstanding in the Field 2012: Tickets on Sale Soon

Outstanding in the Field is the Rolling Thunder Revue of underground suppers. Those who like table-to-farm eating as much as the farm-to-table sort will be stoked to learn that the organization has revealed its 2012 calendar and will begin selling tickets on Tuesday, March 20th. Beginning May 12 a ... More >>

Some Southern California Beaches Could be 4 Feet Underwater in 18 Years

Pull back, David Geffen, pull back! Whoever thought it was a good idea to build houses on the edge of the crashing surf in Malibu wasn't thinking long-term. (He was thinking hot tubs and bikinis, obviously. Or, in Geffen's case, infinity pools and man-thongs). A new report from Climate Central says ... More >>

Marijuana-Like Compound in Your Brain Could be Magic Pill For Weight Loss: But Don't Reach For The Doritos Just Yet

Oh boy. You stoners are going to love this one. Turns out the key to weight loss might be a marijuana-like chemical that already exists in your brain. While there are skinny weed advocates out there like Seth Rogen (after) and James Franco, consider all the Taco Bell you ate in the name of bud or t ... More >>

Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits Field Trip: Expansion Highlights

Driving down this unsuspecting stretch of Interstate 15 in San Diego County, it's hard to tell that some of Southern California's most notable craft breweries are just off the freeway. If coming down the 5 from Los Angeles, take the 78 East in Carlsbad to the 15 South; before Downtown even has a c ... More >>

Pools in Palm Springs

Air Pollution Monitors Could Come to L.A. Freeways

By Taylor Freitas For Southern Californians living near freeways, in what we at LA Weekly call "Black Lung Lofts," breathing in dirty air has been a concern for years, and it's one that's been neglected by Los Angeles and federal officials. The highly publicized Children's Health Study, released b ... More >>

Jack Frost Nipping at L.A.'s Nose: Freezing Low Temps For Christmas Weekend

Elvgre​Okay, you freakin' out-of-town whiners complaining about how un-Christmasy this sunny weather has been can stop now. Because Jack Frost will be nipping at your nose. The National Weather Service this afternoon has issued an urgent weather advisory to warn you that there will literally ... More >>

Best of the Cons, Part 2: The Top Southern California Conventions of 2011

Shannon CottrellHatsune Miku in concert at Anime Expo​ Read more in "Best of the Cons Part 1: 8 Standout TV Shows, Cosplays, Games and More from 2011." Is Southern California the land of the superfan? Maybe. At the very least, it's the land of the fan conventions. Trying to hit up ever con in ... More >>

Snow a Foot Deep in Local Mountains as Storms Hit Los Angeles

Mountain High​May the next New Yorker who says we don't get real weather in Southern California get struck by a tree branch the size of Albert Pujols' forearm. Sorry to get violent about it. But really, after Windopolypse earlier this month we're just getting started. It's not even officiall ... More >>

'Blue Sky Metropolis' at the Huntington Library Shows How Aerospace Shaped L.A., From Surfing to Marilyn Monroe

Nasa photoNASA pilot Bill Dana watches a Boeing NB-52B carrier aircraft fly overhead after a successful test flight of the Northrop HL-10 lifting body at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in 1969. Fellow pilot John Reeves can be seen at the cockpit of the lifting body.​ At a new exhibition at ... More >>

America's Second Poorest Big City is Right Here in Southern California: San Bernardino

Pete ZarriaA motel on Route 66 in San Berdoo.​We sometimes marvel at the amount of wealth found in Southern California. Using Forbes' figures, we noted in spring that "if California were a nation, it would rank fourth, behind the U.S., China and Russia, in billionaire population (a lucky 88)." ... More >>

[Updated:] Deal Reached in Grocery Store Labor Feud

L.A. County Federation of Labor​ Update:9/26, 10 a.m. On Sunday night, workers voted and approved a new contract, ending an eight-month dispute with Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons. According to insiders, workers will pay $7 a week for health insurance, or $15 per week for a family. The ... More >>

Oops, I Just Unplugged San Diego: Let's Fix it so Just One Person Can't Put Much of SoCal in the Dark Again

Fox​Updated at the bottom: The California Independent System Operator will join the party, er we mean, investigations. First posted at 7:09 a.m. When the power went out yesterday for a large swath of Southern California only days before the anniversary of 9/11, our thoughts naturally took us ... More >>

Anonymous Hacker Investigation Nets Two Arrests in Southern California, FBI Says

​Updated at the bottom with details linking the arrests to WikiLeaks. First posted at 2:56 p.m. Two people were arrested in Southern California today as part of FBI raids against the loose-knit hacker crew Anonymous that were conducted in SoCal, New York and other regions, FBI spokeswoman Lau ... More >>

4th of July AmericaFest

Synthetic Marijuana Caused Psychosis For Southern California Users Who Ended Up in a Hospital

Airplane​Maybe the DEA had good cause when it banned so-called synthetic marijuana in an emergency move that took effect in March. Researchers recently revealed that the drug can cause up to eight days of psychosis and, in some cases, "months" worth of mental chaos. And you thought shrooms w ... More >>

Southern California Ghostbusters Turn up at Anaheim Comic Con

Shannon CottrellSouthern California Ghostbusters at Anaheim Comic Con​See more of Shannon Cottrell's photos in "Anaheim Comic Con 2011." Crewes Kime says he's been a fan of Ghostbusters "from birth." "I came out wearing a Ghostbusters uniform and have been wearing one ever since." We met th ... More >>

Rave Called 420 Festival in Orange County Sees Gatecrashing But Only One Arrest [Video]

YouTubeGatecrashers at the 420 Festival.​Gatecrashers attacked the latest mega-rave in Southern California, last weekend's 420 Festival in Orange County's Santiago Canyon, recalling images of last summer's embattled Electric Daisy Carnival at the L.A. Coliseum. But the one-day event was other ... More >>

'420 Festival' Rave in Southern California Called Out by Narconon For its Drug Undertones

420 Festival happens Saturday.​Ah, 420, the stoner's holiday, especially here in Southern California. Time to roll one, kick back, and blow doughnuts. It also brings us the annual 420 Festival, a rave that this weekend finds its home near Irvine Lake in Orange County. Fair enough, except t ... More >>

April at L.A. Farmers Markets: Your Virtual Grocery List

A. Scattergood​ Spring has come to Los Angeles farmers markets, bringing stinging nettles and fennel, fava beans and English peas, as well as lilacs -- only available for a few weeks in Southern California -- and more citrus. Kumquats. Meyer lemons. Strawberries are particularly good this year ... More >>

Gas Prices Are So High in L.A. Area Some Southern Californians Are Running on Fumes (And Running Out of Gas)

racingmixIf you run out of fuel, pull it on over (if you can).​A recent New York Times piece on SoCal's crazy gas prices noted that a Santa Monica station was charging $5.69 a gallon for premium. Wow. That's enough to make you ride on fumes. And that, Southern California, is apparently what y ... More >>

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The return of Dos Arbolitos

Taste Globally, Picnic Locally