Ventura

We Attended the KCRW Pledge Drive - And Lived to Tell the Tale!

It's pledge drive time again at KCRW. twice a year, the station -- one of the pre-eminent public radio stations in the country -- interrupts regular programming to ask for money. But this isn't your typical "send us five bucks and we'll mail you a bumper sticker" pledge event. No no, this one has Co ... More >>

Dunkin' Donuts Moves Into Southern California

Watch out, Intelligentsia and The Donut Man. Dunkin' Donuts is coming to Los Angeles. The Massachussetts-based company, which was founded in 1950 in Quincy, Mass., announced plans to expand to Southern California this morning. They're recruiting now for franchises in L.A., Riverside, San Diego, San ... More >>

Starbucks Robber On Loose In West Valley, Asks For Job Application Before Heists

Cops are searching for a guy they say has robbed several Starbucks coffee shops and Subway restaurants in the West Valley. They're calling him the "Job App Bandit" because he suspect enters at closing time, asks for a job application and glass of water, and pulls out a gun and robs the place, accor ... More >>

Pool Service Truck Crashes in Encino, Unleashes Toxic Chlorine Gas Onto Ventura Boulevard

This out-of-control heat wave, combined with our usual traffic mayhem, has made it hard out there for a pool guy on the streets of L.A.: Brian Humphrey of the L.A. City Fire Department says that over the last week, two separate car crashes involving pool-service vehicles have resulted in dangerous ... More >>

Bicycle Theft Ring Targeted High-End Bikes on Craigslist, Used Facebook For Personal Info

As evil as cops paint these guys to be, you gotta admit, they were scary sophisticated in their use of Craigslist, Facebook and social manipulation -- if the story's true. Here's the deal, according an announcement by L.A. County Sheriff's officials this week: A crew of bike thieves targeted victi ... More >>

BBQ Contest At The Queen Mary This Saturday Your Insider's Guide to Sampling!

Legit barbecue contests like the ones you see on TV don't happen much in Los Angeles. Did you make it the contest at Santa Anita Park we told you about? No? Well, the 1st Annual West Coast BBQ Classic drops anchor this weekend at the Queen Mary Events Park in Long Beach, and it is the last sanction ... More >>

What's In Season at the Farmers Market: The Many Colors of Rhubarb

Rhubarb doesn't do well in L.A. gardens. The sleeping rhizomes that sit dormant underground in winter need many chilly days and nights in order to even think about poking above ground in spring. Freezing, chilly weather doesn't help either, as they are barely frost tolerant. Their ideal situation ... More >>

Lassen's Protest Tomorrow

​It doesn't have the critical mass of the Occupy movement, but tomorrow at 1 p.m., Los Feliz locals upset at gay-unfriendly Lassen's, the store that took over Nature Mart when it closed, will stage a protest outside the health food store at 1 p.m. Some locals are boycotting Lassen's because of ... More >>

What's In Season at the Farmers Markets: Large California Chanterelles

Felicia FriesemaCantharellus californicus from Tutti Frutti Farms​Our early season rainstorms have yielded two predictable outcomes: angsty tweets from farmers market vendors trying desperately to keep self, customers and produce dry, and a splendid sprouting of mud puppies, a.k.a. California ... More >>

McRib Returns to Southern California!

McDonald's much-loved McRib Sandwich returns today.​Rejoice, McRib lovers! Beginning today, the McRib sandwich, with its strange but undeniable sway over its devotees, returns to McDonald's restaurants in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Shaped to look like ... More >>

Rum Society: Connoisseurship Made Accessible

On the last Tuesday of every month, downtown's Caña Rum Bar hosts Rum Society, a members-only tasting event that features a rum expert, a rum company representative, and access to some of the finest small-batch rums in the world. September's event featured two plantation rums from Cognac Ferrand, a ... More >>

Vegas Bomb Plot: Zachary Jackson and Fellow Simi Valley Teen Threaten to Blow Up Strip

High five!​Updated after the jump: Ventura County officials say the 16-year-old has not yet been arrested, and Vegas cops call the Strip "a very important part" of Nevada. Aw. Originally posted at 12:30 p.m. SoCal's bad little suburban boys (and girls) just keep getting craftier. Most recent ... More >>

Best Local Limoncello: Ventura Limoncello

JGarbeeRosanna Zaretti​It's not difficult to make your own limoncello, as Ventura Limoncello owners James Carling and his Rome-born wife Manuela Zaretti-Carling are quick to point out. But if you proclaim yours the best in SoCal (and please not Danny DeVito's namesake version), we will declar ... More >>

What's In Season at the Farmers Markets: Local Eggs Iowa Egg Recall Anniversary

Felicia FriesemaKendor Farms free range eggs at the Hollywood market.​ Eggs? Yes, eggs. This week is National Farmers Market Week, and while the bulk of what you see piled high on tables at your local market is more flora than fauna, here and there you'll likely see neatly stacked cartons of ... More >>

Teen Smash-And-Grab Robbery Suspect Arrested by LAPD With Help From His Own Parents

LAPDA Koreatown smash-and-grab.​Just be glad you're not this kid: A 17-year-old was arrested in connection with a smash-and-grab jewelry store robbery that happened downtown on July 12. And you know who cops say fingered him? His own parents. The teen wasn't identified because he's underage. ... More >>

New Local Liqueur: Ventura Limoncello's Blood Orange Launches Today

JgarbeeBlood Oranges Actually Look A Lot Like Lemons In Pith-Only Form​ Limoncello. It's easy to make, right? Not if you are pith perfectionists, as James Carling and Manuela Zaretti-Carling, the husband-wife duo behind Ventura Limoncello happen to be. Add mother-in-law (mom to Rossana, photo ... More >>

Top 10 Local Burger Condiments

JGarbeeHomemade Burger Buns Come In All Sizes, Too​As our fearless 30-burgers-in-30-days critic moves on to ice cream, some of us are still thinking about burgers. Because it's suddenly June, which means summer, or so we have been told. And so, we are now calendar-committed to stocking up on c ... More >>

Bar BLVD & Lounge Opens Inside Studio City's Newest Hotel

Bar BLVD​Studio City isn't famous for its nightlife, for its sushi maybe, but now we have another option to consider: 3,000 square foot Bar BLVD, inside BLVD Hotel Spa, opening Thursday, April 14th. The boutique hotel, which soft-opened February 4th with 58 rooms, is still smoothing out the ... More >>

Sweet Butter Kitchen: Market, Café, Kitchen A Ludo-approved Croque Monsieur

A. ScattergoodSweet Butter Kitchen ​ For those of you who only head over to the San Fernando Valley when Ludo Lefebvre pops up on that side of the hill, there is another reason to actually go to Sherman Oaks. Open now for only six days, Sweet Butter Kitchen on Ventura Boulevard -- that's a fe ... More >>

What's in Season at the Farmers Markets: Raw Peanuts

Felicia Friesema​ The demand for fresh, raw peanuts in the shell used to come largely from displaced southerners from both the U.S. and Vietnam, where boiled peanuts (or dau phon) are a treasured snack. East of the Mississippi, the annual peanut harvests prompt celebrations similar to Ventur ... More >>

Michael LoGrande Confirmed Planning Director; Symposium Asks, What Now?

New Planning Director Michael LoGrande with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa​ Michael LoGrande, who had been the city's chief zoning administrator, was confirmed Wednesday by the City Council to become the new planning director. He'll be charged with creating and executing a vision for the city's fu ... 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 >>

This Weekend: Sharon Jones & Dap Kings, Dead Man's Bones, Warped Tour, Black Francis, Danzig

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings​Can it get any more real that Sharon Jones? Well, it can't get any more heartwarming. The leading lady of the Dap-Kings is, after all, a rising star at 54, having shucked the uniforms of her previous careers (corrections officer at Rikers Island, and armor truck g ... More >>

Stone Ground Bakery in Agoura Hills: Handmade Challah for Rosh Hashana

Drive up the 101 past the city, into the hills nearing Ventura, to a little strip mall right off the freeway in Agoura Hills, and you'll find a bakery that feels unquestionably like Europe and has some of the best challah you'll find in town or out of it. Stone Ground Bakery, which celebrated its fi ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Landmark Realty The Los Angeles Coliseum! San Quentin Prison! Orange County Fairgrounds! These and other hot properties must liquidate and are priced to move! See Governor Schwarzenegger for details. L.A. TimesA Sequel You Can Believe In Obama for President campaigners are morphing their 2008 moveme ... More >>

Swine Flu Scorecard: 99 Confirmed State Cases

The state's Department of Public Health says there are 99 confirmed cases of swine flu in Nuke PillsCalifornia, with 119 "probable" cases being tested. One such probable victim is a Fairfax High School student -- the first such case recorded in the L.A. Unified School District. School superintendent ... More >>

Sweet Smell of Secession: Another Move to Split California

To hear Bill Maze tell it, L.A. County takes all the money generated by the rest of hard-working California and squanders it on stuff like "public services and education." Not only that, says the termed-out Assemblyman, but you've got places up north like San Francisco and Marin County that always v ... More >>

Man-Made Reefs or Oily Eyesores?

In a raging debate, some say Mother Nature has warmed to California’s offshore oil rigs

Rock Picks

For the week of December 21 - 28

Rock Picks

For the week of December 14 – 21

Best Way to Spy on the Old Neighborhood (As Long as You’ve Got a Wad of Cash)

Eight Seconds at a Time

Big Wednesday

Every surfer’s dream... and nightmare

The Nutty Professors

Ingenious schemes to wash, pipe and blow away our worries

Designer Air

A clean city looks a lot like L.A.’s growth around transit stations

The Lemons of Orange

Radio Provocateur

Phil Hendrie conquers the AM dial one deluded caller at a time. So why can't he get his mug on TV?

From Motown to Rimtown

The blinging of Los Angeles

Bugs and Politics

Two culprits for the Southland’s fires

Maria Bustillos

Behind the Robes

Pondering the secrets Cardinal Mahony might hold about the Catholic sex scandal

The Performer's Life: Diana and the Supreme Karaoke Singers

Copland

How blue is my valley

So Cal-Asian

A Scary Abundance of Water

Part 2

No Room at the Ranch

Ahmanson won’t have truly affordable units

Child Abandonment

Two mothers on the loose in Ojai

Bump, Set, Spike

South Bay Volleyball with the Best of ’em

Local anti-war groups struggle to mobilize opposition

Macaroni & Cheese

And the crossing of cultural borders