Who likes Obama? | Photo by Alex de Cordoba via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr It was almost 10 o'clock by the time iconic music superstar Madonna hit the stage at Dodger Stadium last night, and the crowd happily lapped up her "Sticky and Sweet" candy infusion of spectacle and song. Despite rumors of cancellation due to a broken stage, the 50-year-old megastar came out full force (later apologizing for there being......

In a court case that's so pedestrian other than the defendant (and even that could be disputed), it's big news. The Britney Spears driving without a valid license case has finally come to a close, days after the the jury tried, but failed, to agree on a verdict. Now that a mistrial has been declared, maybe it's time to get to the real issue for those of us not so enthralled with the pop tartlet:......

When she is not costing the taxpayers thousand of dollars for expensive police escorts or having paparazzi arrested outside her home, Britney Spears still occasionally makes a music video. The Soup just couldn't help but get in on the action......

From dance schools to singing lessons, shopping at trendy boutiques, and watching loads of teen stars strut their stuff, Southern California tweens have loads of opportunities to feel like a pop star. To get the full experience, Los Angeles based company Electronic Arts has created a virtual pop star training ground for the Wii. Boogie SuperStar hit stores this week. In Boogie SuperStar players design their own character, choose their favorite tracks, and practice......

Photo by Chad K. Uyeno/AP Jimmy Kimmel called our police chief a gossip columnist last night after LAPD Chief William Bratton walked up to KNBC cameras clad in his morning workout clothes to talk about yesterday's paparazzi taskforce hearing, which included John Mayer, Milo Ventimiglia and Eric Roberts. Bratton showed off his gossip/current events knowledge by listing off what was going on with Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. He said since "Lohan......

The paparazzi's extreme Britney coverage is costly to taxpayers | Photo by pointnshoot via Flickr As Councilman Dennis Zine's paparazzi motion (what we like to call the Britney Spears law) fumbles around in a City Council committee, he's also convening a regional task force on the issue, which will have a public hearing tomorrow morning to "hear testimony from key stakeholders to develop proposals to consider in the legislative process," according to a statement......

Photo by Roby Ferrari via Flickr Joe Dolce, former editor in chief of Star magazine, blogs at the Huffington Post about the increasing reported skirmishes between celebrities and the paparazzi. Dolce leaves the blame, not only on the paps, but on the magazines that pay for the photos and the celebs themselves. He offers suggestions for each involved party while knowing full well that it's all easier than said. Here's his thoughts on how......

Good job, boys! Here's what the LAPD sent out in an e-mail today: "At 6:00 p.m. [Monday], police verbally warned Alexander Passos, 35, and Eduardo Ravalha, 35, for loitering on city owned property near Mulholland Drive and Cold Water [sic] Canyon and asked them to leave. About 45 minutes later, the officers learned the pair had returned to the location and arrested them. Passos of Canoga Park and Ravalha of Los Angeles were arrested and......

Photo by Happy Birthday to Joe Shlabotnik! via Flickr Two brawls between surfers and paparazzi over the weekend are leading Malibu officials to look more closely into the law regarding 1st amendment rights. "The city of Malibu will do all it legally can to protect and preserve the natural beauty and tranquillity of our town," Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said in a statement, per the LA Times. Last month, the Times reported that......

At least three paparazzi photographers were attacked in the Los Angeles area over the weekend in two separate incidents. On Friday evening as Britney Spears returned from a trip to Louisiana, a push-and-shove incident occurred between her body guard and a photographer outside an LAX terminal resulting in a minor abrasion to the paparazzo's face, but no charges were filed. On Saturday, two photographers were attacked by a group of surfers protecting Matthew McConaughey's wish......

Calabasas' soon-to-be-newest resident, Britney Spears, is now an Aunt. Jamie Lynn popped out her baby girl, Maddie Briann, this morning. Lynn, the millennial face of teen pregnancy, went into a Mississippi hospital at 4:30 a.m. and gave birth a few hours later. She had announced her pregnancy back in December around the time that Juno was making headlines, sending parents and Nickelodeon lovers into a tailspin and setting off a string of hand-wringing (rightfully so)......

A state report (.pdf) to be presented today says that "as many as 24,000 deaths annually in California are linked to chronic exposure to fine particulate pollution," according to the LA Times. That's more than triple the figures announced by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) when they asked Governor Schwarzenegger and President Bush to declare a state of emergency regarding the 5400 environmental/pollution related deaths a year. With the alarming amount of deaths,......

Hailing the West Valley, Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine appeared on Comedy Central's Daily Show to talk up the Britney Spears law. Be warned, this video is aurally NSFW. Related - Britney Spears' $25000 6-Mile LAPD Escort - LAPD Says 'No Thanks' to Paparazzi Law - Paparazzi Get Arrested Blocking Sidewalk Stalking Britney Spears - No Paparazzi Gangbang at Britney Spears' Court Hearing - Video of Paparazzi Running in Traffic - Some Justice......

"6th Street Bridge Skyline", by the_mule via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Britney Spears may be on her way out of Los Angeles, but she's not going quietly. The pop star was involved in a minor collision last night on the 134 in bumper to bumper traffic where she hit the car in front of her, causing that vehicle to bump the car in front of them. No one was hurt and the......

The paparazzi's extreme Britney coverage is costly to taxpayers | Photo by pointnshoot via Flickr Citing that there are already laws on the books, the LAPD opposed a proposal to make a "personal safety zone" paparazzi law to the Police Commission today. 3rd District Councilman Dennis Zine introduced the idea after the LAPD used $25,000 to transport Britney Spears to UCLA Medical a mere 6 or so miles in order to keep her safe......

It all started in the media with Britney Spears. Staff at UCLA Medical snuck an unauthorized look at her medical records which led to the hospital looking into firing thirteen employees, suspending six others and disciplining six physicians. And UCLA admitted to the LA Times this wasn't the first time staff had spied on Spears' records leading to sackings. It happened in 2005 when she gave birth to her son Sean Preston at Santa Monica-UCLA......

Photo by kristi.nicole via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr One week after being subdued in his cell with a taser gun and lapsing into a coma, 35-year-old Orange County inmate Jason Jesus Gomez has died, officials announced today. Gomez, who was in jail for a probation violation, stopped breathing after officers used the taser on him during a scuffle. Say cheese: LA City Council voted today to approve a contract that will put......

Last Thursday, San Diego-based singer-songwriter (and avid surfer) Tristan Prettyman (MySpace) returned to Los Angeles, headlining at The Roxy (MySpace) in West Hollywood. Australian Whitley (MySpace) was the opener. A self-confessed tabloid junkie, Prettyman performed her signature acoustic cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic," lamenting afterward that she's never around town where the celebrities are. And If there was a theme for (what she repeatedly referred to as) the "spicy" night, it was audience participation, whether......

Hope you took advantage of the weather this weekend | Photo by Tha_Sco via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Temperatures this weekend hit near record highs with 87 in Downtown, 88 in Long Beach, 83 in Malibu, 86 in parts of the Valley and the highest at 89 in Riverside. The pop sensation turned train wreck is getting some pressure from her family to turn in that Malibu mansion for a Louisiana......

New mural of Madonna and Britney Spears making out, found in Los Angeles I Photo by Osmany Rodriguez for LAist> Remember that one time Madonna and Britney Spears made out in front of millions of people, and more importantly Brit's ex Justin Timberlake. Before the new Tila Tequila MTV where girl-on-girl kissing is encouraged, preferably in front of parents.......

Photo by ChazWags via Flickr He already served a month of jail time when he was convicted last Spring, but today, sleazy wannabe slumlord Darren Stern, who also goes by Henry Shalom, was ordered to pay millions back to rent-control tenants that he mistreated in order to get them to move out so he could raise rents, eventually selling the buildings at "inflated" prices, according to CBS2. The money will be split and given......

It's Monday and that means it's a big residency night in Los Angeles. And since it's the first Monday of March, that means a new list of Monday night bands below. Of note tonight, Working for a Nuclear Free City (pictured right) will be playing along Spaceland's March Monday night tenant -- Voxhaul Broadcast. Also, another very exciting residency that begins tonight are The Chapin Sisters, whose profile rose when they covered Britney Spears' "Toxic,"......

And you thought your monthly rent was high... TMZ has gotten their hands on some paperwork form Love Shack Trust sent to Britney Spears over her Malibu rental home. Says TMZ: "The documents, dated February 14, states that Brit was more than two weeks late in paying her $35,000-a-month rent. A $2,100 late charged kicked in, which was not paid. The documents state that Love Shack must either pay up or "surrender and deliver up......

You can't block a sidewalk, it's a public right-of-way, and in West Hollywood doing so can get you arrested as TMZ reports:By our count, six camerapeople were busted last night; two outside the salon where Brit was getting her hair done and four outside Villa nightclub where Lindsay was partying. Two TMZ photogs were among those busted. [...] One TMZ photog says he had just stepped off the sidewalk when he was cuffed and thrown......

Some say photo agencies are hiring gang members to follow Britney with cameras | Photo by pointnshoot via Flickr Yesterday's Britney Spears conservatorship hearing was like a ghost town. You see, only lawyers representing both sides of the family were there and in the end, father James Spears' temporary control over her life and estate was extended until at least March 10, allowing him to handle financial matters at the moment such as her......

Video found via Markland at blogging.la This is Britney Spears on Wednesday after being released from UCLA. She may be troubled these days, but who is insane? The Paparazzi. Is anything being done about this? One City Councilman is trying, but non-paparazzi media worry how it could affect them.......

KNX1070 is reporting that "a police manhunt is ongoing West of a Washington Mutual bank at Ventura and Topanga Canyon in Woodland Hills. Authorities are searching for two armed kidnapping suspects." Things were something close to touch-and-go late this afternoon on the Blue Line near 5501 S Long Beach Ave when a female pedestrian fell near the tracks as a train passed by, but did not have any direct contact with the train itself.......

"Found on sidewalk near Hope & 8th" Ball-busting: The City of Los Angeles is considering mandating spaying and neutering for all cats and dogs because shelters are overcrowded and so many animals go unadopted. Enforcement is expected to be easygoing, as in if your pet minds its own business you'll stay under the radar, but if your neighbor logs in a complaint about your barking dog and his junk is still ready to make......

The paparazzi's extreme Britney coverage is costly to taxpayers | Photo by pointnshoot via Flickr It took the LAPD nearly "two dozen police officers, a helicopter and a special team" to block roads and escort Britney Spears in an ambulance with covered windows from her Mulholland Drive Studio City Home to UCLA Medical Center early yesterday morning. They even had a code name, The Package, for her so paparazzi listening to police scanners would......

RUDY GIULIANI leaves after announcing that he has dropped his bid for the Republican Presidential nomination and is now supporting JOHN McCAIN at the RONALD REAGAN Presidential Library where the Republican Debate is being held. Don't forget to join the LAist staff next week at our Super Tuesday Party at Seven Grand in downtown Los Angeles! Come out to drink with us, watch the primary race unfold, and even tell off your least favorite......