The stage is set for Barack Obama to accept the Democratic Party nomination for president | Photo by Rocky Mountain News via flickr. Unless you've been living underground or roaming the state trying to start fires, you're well aware that tonight Barack Obama will finally accept the nomination as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States after 19 months of campaigning. He'll do so at the 50-yard-line of the elaborately decked-out Mile......

Photo not of Young Dems, but pretty cool shot anyway | Photo by ercwttmn via Flickr For left-leaning teens and young adults aged 14 through 35, the California Democratic Party has an official "youth arm" for them called the California Young Democrats. The organization has already taken a position on November's ballot, which is three months away as of yesterday. “Mobilizing young voters in California will be the key to victory on many important......

As the average price for a gallon of gas tips over $4 across the country (in Los Angeles, the average is about $4.46 for regular), the Senate will vote today on a "windfall tax" that would snag some of the top oil company's profits at the tune of $17 billion -- in other words, the tax breaks they would expect in the next ten years. $36 billion was earned by the top five oil companies......

Photo by Angela Radulescu via flickr. "Somebody forgot to tell Hillary Clinton the Democratic presidential race is over and Barack Obama won." So began Reuters political correspondent John Whitesides' analysis of the presidential campaign this morning. Ever since Super Tuesday, when Obama won the majority of states but lost key states like New York, California, and New Jersey, it's seemed as if no political doublespeak or even MSM pandering could stem the Obama tide.......

Someone in Melrose doesn't like Hillary Clinton....

Remember the strike? | Photo by Kim Shattuck via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr It's all about last minute campaigning for the Democrats in Ohio and Texas; as of this writing, both primaries are still too close to call (Obama & McCain have taken Vermont). More updates on this morning's story about Margaret Seltzer, the author who fabricated a "memoir" about growing up as a white, female gangbanger in L.A.'s South Central.......

"...And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming" by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Newly elected state speaker, a Democrat named Karen Bass who was raised in Los Angeles, has made friends on both sides of the aisle, the LA Times said. She is the first African-American to assume the top spot and has some pretty lofty goals, including providing healthcare and improving education. Wait, those are things EVERY......

"orange chair with cushion," by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr A steady stream of Koreans moving into the northwest San Fernando Valley suburbs is giving the traditional K-Town in LA City a run for its money. Now you Valley-ists might not have to travel over the hill for karaoke bars. Japanese and Los Angeles police detectives solved a 26-year-old case of a Japanese business man who allegedly shot his wife......

Last week we created a map showing primary election results by county in California and today we'll break it down further. Below is a map with a headshot of the winning candidate in the center (more or less) of each district. Click on each placemarker to see that district's results. View Larger Map Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama by a similar margin in LA County as she did in the state, and by significantly greater......

As we reported earlier, the two-month Writers Guild of America strike is nearly over. WGA-East members voted heard about the proposal earlier and West members weighed in at 7 p.m. Some are already questioning the deal, but most expressed relief that the work stoppage is about to come to an end. Stay tuned to LAist for excellent coverage. A man was shot this morning in North Hollywood by an alleged gang member who approached......

It's pretty simple- he got the most states and the most delegates. That's it. Sure, Hillary had her voting demographic victories last night, with Hillary keeping Latino support and Hillary did get New York and California, but at the end of the day those things are only important as the delegates they get you. Clinton's Northeast Sweep didn't pan out as well as hoped, with Connecticut going to Barack. Speaking of Connecticut, Obama had......

Video by Zach Behrens/LAist LAist and Video The Vote teamed up to visit Dharma & Greg/Pump Up The Volume actor Mimi Kennedy over at her Van Nuys polling location where she is the poll inspector. She also happens to be the National Chair of the Progressive Democrats of America and sits on the California Election Protection Network. In the video, see the spot you're supposed to check if you are registered as a non-partisan......

It's just another day at the beach for this polling place in Marina Del Rey, where volunteers hand out fresh-baked goodies to the voters and are hosting a BBQ for the poll workers. Unfortunately, not everything is picture-perfect around Los Angeles. As reported earlier on LAist, Decline-to-State voters (a/k/a DTS, a/k/a non-partisan, a/k/a "real" independent) must be extra careful to mark their ballots correctly if they choose to vote in either the Democratic or......

In a quite quickly put-together press conference slated for 2:00 p.m. today at the First Street Steps at City Hall, Councilmen Eric Garcetti and Dennis Zine will be reminding voters that if you're nonpartisan or 'decline to state,' you must mark the box at the top of the ballot if you want to vote for an American Independent or Democratic candidate. Unconfirmed field reports are saying that the LA County Registrar is expecting to disqualify......

This morning at Elysian Elementary in Echo Park | Photo by Andy Sternberg/LAist *UPDATE, 5:33 P.M.: More problems continue throughout LA County at the beach, in Santa Monica. At Los Angeles City Hall, two City Councilmembers had an emergency press conference telling voters to pay attention when voting and Dharma & Greg Actor Mimi Kennedy explains what's going on in a video interview with LAist. Also, Hillary Clinton answered our interview questions. We're getting......

Caption this in the comments section. All photos by Kelly C. Gallamore for LAist Stevie Wonder was the first of two surprises led to the Pauley Pavilion floor by Michelle Obama at yesterday's Get Out the Vote for Obama Rally. After a short explanation of his history as a Clinton supporter turned Obama believer, Wonder led the crowd in a rather difficult vocal exercise based on the candidate's name (see video below). Caption #2......

LAist News Editor Andy Sternberg is inside the Barack Obama rally which is scheduled to kick off at 1:30 this afternoon at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus. The event will feature Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Caroline Kennedy, but will be missing Mister Obama himself. In warming up the crowd, California Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero has declared to the gathered supporters: "YOU are the real Giants and Patriots of America today!" (Get......

"LA Colors" by Adamina via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr . Good news [for democracy] Voter registration for Tuesday's election is about 700,000 higher than during the last California presidential primary four years ago. Bad news [for politicos] Some county elections officials project that roughly 20 percent of the ballots might not be tallied until Wednesday or later. Good news [for Obama] The Ill Sen. received the nod of approval from the largest......

While the remaining Republican candidates converged on Simi Valley yesterday to debate who was most like Ronald Reagan and the two Democratic candidates still standing in the race meet in Los Angeles later today to hash out who is most unlike Reagan, other political news sent shock waves through Washington D.C. that did not portend well for the Grand Ol' Party. Congressman Tom Davis, a Republican who represents the suburban 11th District of Virginia, said......

And then there were two. Tonight in Los Angeles, Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will pontificate, bicker, wax poetic, and throw things at each other. The debate is sponsored by the LA Times, Politico.com, and CNN, and moderated by Wolf "Hack" Blitzer. The "show" begins at 5pm PST. Edwards will be strongly missed, as he suspended his campaign for presidency yesterday. Since he won't be present at the debate, here's the video......

The eyes of the nation are turning to the Ronald Reagan Library today, where debates for the Republican front-runners will begin. This is the last debate opportunity for the GOP before "Super Tuesday" next week (LAist is throwing an Election Party to celebrate). Pundits are now anointing John McCain as a front-runner thanks to his campaign success this week in Florida, with Mitt Romney cast in the role of his fiercest opponent. The question......

President Bush landed this morning at LAX for a Southland visit to promote the free trade agreements he mentioned in Monday's State of the Union address with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. LAX shut down temporarily to accommodate the arrival of Air Force One, and at the airport Bush was greeted by sisters Marni and Berni Barta, two Harvard-Westlake students who founded a program called Kid Flicks, which "collects new and used DVDs that are......

President Bush's final State of the Union address by Just Say K.B. via Flickr President George Bush delivered his final State of the Union address this evening. As we mercifully begin the transition out of the Bush era, let us examine the President's speech in typical Washington fashion: taking out a few lines here and there for the most opportune response. We have faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world......

"Blues and Pinks at the Peninsula" by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr "A very, very good night for Barack Obama just got better," the LA Times said after it reported that the winner of the South Carolina Primary was on the receiving end of two Kennedy endorsements; Caroline Kennedy endorsed Obama this morning in the NY Times and Sen. Ted Kennedy issued his endorsement later in the day. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton......

Barack is on a roll. He doubled Hillary Clinton's vote count in South Carolina's primary election yesterday. And Caroline Kennedy's op-ed (titled "A President Like My Father") in this morning's New York Times is adding fuel to the fire as pundits across the ideological spectrum ponder the B.O. mo-mo like they haven't since Iowa, a long three-and-a-half weeks ago. Now it's all about February 5. Consider your feelings about the primary today and think about......

Hoping to reach out to Latino voters, Barack Obama is using Spanish-language television advertising on Telemundo and Univision here in Los Angeles. The commercial began airing yesterday, and is centered around the concept of hope. The message features a Spanish-speaking narrator and the Democratic Presidential candidate hopeful delivering his words in English with subtitles. The content focus on the autobiographical, with the aim of appealing to the largely immigrant community on the basis of......

"Ducttape Superhero" by The Eye of Brad via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr With exactly one year to go until a new president is inaugurated (and one more year of Jon Stewart's hilarious Bush headlines), the field of Republican hopefuls just got smaller. After poor showings in, well, every primary, caucus and poll, San Diego Congressman Duncan Hunter is ditching the presidential race. No word on what he will do now, but......

Clinton signs outside her Nevada headquarters=nv1962= via Flickr The results from the Nevada Caucus are in and all the major news organizations have crowned Hillary Clinton the winner, with 51 percent of the vote. This marks the second win in a row for Clinton, who teared herself to a New Hampshire primary victory last week and hopes to ride this wave of momentum to next Saturday's South Carolina primary. On the face of it,......

WORDS SCI-Arc’s spring lecture series on design and architecture kicks off tonight with Jeffrey Kipnis, professor of architectural design and theory at Ohio State University. Kipnis will discuss “happy,” “zany” and other important political trends in architecture. So the title of his lecture -- *@$#*!#!! -- does make sense. Kind of. 7 pm // W. M. Keck Lecture Hall SCI-Arc, 960 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles // Free. MORE WORDS David Frum is a former......

After declaring a fiscal emergency, Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday unveiled his budget plan which seeks to close the gap in California's budget. The governor proposed a 10 percent cut across the board for state programs, including education, health care and social services. Democratic state representatvies are stongly opposing the plan, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez of Los Angeles. The Daily News reports: "All of the cards ought to be on the table," said Assembly Speaker......