Photo by MaryLindsay via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr SoCal es en fuego...there are fires burning in Sylmar, Corona, Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills. Hundreds of homes have been lost and thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate. A state of emergency has been declared in LA County. For official updates, check out the websites for the LAFD and the Orange County Fire Authority. We got a txt msg (how cool is......

Photo by Atwater Village Newbie via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr If you were on the 405 just south of Wilshire this morning, then you know. A multi-car crash brought the freeway to a halt during rush hour. No one was injured however and the cause is still under investigation. UCLA math geniuses claimed a $100,000 prize for the discovery of a rare prime number. You know, numbers that are only divisible......

Photo by dc9000 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Lawmakers Agree on Buget Deal - State legislative leaders announced a miracle breakthrough in California's budget stalemate. It is not even known whether Gov. Schwarzenegger would accept the new budget. He has been adamant that he would not accept any new budget that does not include long-term reform. Leaders of the State Assembly and Senate from both parties say they closed the $15.2......

Photo by synapped (vacationing) via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Train Collision in Chatsworth - A Metrolink train collided with a freight train in Chatsworth and caught fire. Many passengers were apparently caught inside and injured, some critically. (LAist is covering the incident and will continue to update as more information becomes available.) Legendary LA News Man Passes - George Putnam, a mainstay of local LA news passed away at a Chino hospital.......

Photo by os! via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A man in Long Beach has been arrested for dealing meth out of his store. His "store" was supposed to be a Happy Moms and Kids Nutrition store where low-income families and their kids can get food. Police have released video in hopes of catching a man who robbed a 14 year old boy of his iPod by knife point. The robbery was......

Photo by el daverino via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Out On A Limb: A tree trimmer in Sun Valley had to be rescued by the fire department after being trapped in the tree he was working on. The crew had him out quickly after they arrived, but the memories will linger a little longer. All He Wanted Was A Taco: A man was shot near a taco truck this morning in......

"Arrested in Hollywood" Photo by paulvonspector via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr LA loves their police chases. In case you missed the 30-minute action last night, a supposed drunk driver led police from Westmont, to the 405, to the 110, ending up in South LA where he and a passenger bailed out of the car. Best part is they left 3 of their "friends" in the backseat with no control over the......

Photo taken near Alaska by Unhindered by Talent on Flickr Coming off one of LA's bloodiest weekends, gentle killer whales of the sea heard the bad news and came to the shore to bring us back to reality with an impromptu "Sea World" type show. In Brea, approx. $175,000 in diamonds were randomly stolen by three men who randomly smashed a parked car's windows, snatched the bag, and drove off. The diamonds' owner told officers......

A very Zen moment: "I bet he is thinking, 'where did I park my car?'" | Photo by hinducow via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Rest in Peace, Mister Egg McMuffin inventor! Now you will not live to see the day when McDonald's food is made up entirely of plastic and high fructose corn syrup. So apparently Mexicans hate emo kids so much that they are now rioting. Somebody please remind Death......

Photo of the Vincent Thomas Bridge by Jonathan Alcom (Sundogg) via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr We've been covering the city's police force a lot lately -- and before you think those officers just sit around eating donuts all day, you should definitely check out the LA Times guide to the Best Eats on the Beats. (Think Mexican food.) In more fun food news, EaterLA gives us the breakdown of Los Angeles......

Photo by Susan Catherine via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Best known for his authoring of "2001: A Space Odyssey," sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke has died at 90 in Sri Lanka. This just in from the LA Times's Soundboard blog...Prince has been added to the Coachella roster! Nice! Obama had a huge campaign moment this morning, perhaps the biggest yet: he confronted the race issue in a stirring speech after his......

Photo by atomicshakespeares via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Suffering from an Oscar hangover? Then check out the next generation of hot filmmakers at The Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, which begins tonight and runs through the weekend. The studio that brought you such blockbusters as the "Lord of the Rings" franchise will soon become only the merest shadow of its former self: Warner Brothers will be absorbing New Line Cinema, which employs......

The Metropolitan Water Board is set to approve a controversial new "drought plan" for Southern California. More updates on the tragic Oxnard shooting that has left one student seriously injured and possibly dead. Twelve top Defamer posts from outgoing editor Mark Lisanti, via...some guy's Tumblr account. Teh internets! Are you a lazy asshole? But a romantic lazy asshole? Well, check out last minute V-Day flower bargains from the Daily News' Bargain Hunter Blog. File......

Oh L.A. and your crazy kooky vagrants! Please meet Crazy Doll Lady (as we are calling her), pictured in the photo above. She and her scary puppet friends hang out around Sunset and Vine every day, and wait outside the Hollywood Public Library every morning for food handouts. Say hi to her if you see her...or drive by real real fast like I do! Even if the Globes are cancelled, Academy Awards organizers are......

On today's LAist poll, over 80% of you readers are willing to pony up for a subway to the sea. Is anybody at City Hall listening? Or does Zuma Dogg have to get all wacky on their asses? The LAT names two new managing editors. To whom do I write to protest the axing of West Magazine? About 200 employees were evacuated from UCLA today after a basement explosion; no injuries reported. 16-year-old Victor......

It's Wednesday. The 14-inch Philly cheesesteak we took down at lunch is starting to sit heavy. Be a glutton like us and check out these links to all the food news that matters this week. - The LA Times explores the cuisine of Shanghai: and where to find it in the Southland. - Awww, those crappy cheap wines grow up SO FAST! Buy a bottle of two-dollar merlot and drink it all tonight in......