Restaurants have no love for dogs, but dogs sure do love their owners | Photo by Tom Andrews via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Steve Poizner has no love for Allianz: The state Insurance Commissioner announced a $10 million settlement with Allianz Life Insurance Company, the biggest seller of annuities in California, today in Burbank. Allianz swindled hundreds of 84 and 85 into bad deals that cost them thousands of dollars. David......

Photo by el daverino via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A Musical Valentine to Santa Monica: Sia just announced a last-minute show (definitely her last before Coachella!) for tomorrow, February 14th at 2PM in Santa Monica at the Starbucks Hear Music Coffeehouse on Third St. Promenade, first come first serve. She kicks off her North American tour the following day, Friday, in San Diego. The 15-year-old boy shot on Tuesday at a......

Tonight is the perfect night to cozy up inside a darkened theater and to go on a journey into the unknown. A really cool piece of LA history and lore comes to life on screen tonight at the Egyptian The American Cinematheque "presents a rare screening of six short films by the enigmatic Dutch/LA artist Bas Jan Ader (1942-1975) and the Los Angeles premiere of Here Is Always Somewhere Else, Rene Daalder's critically acclaimed......

MUSIC Tonight at the Jazz Bakery is the The Alternative String Group, an ensemble of students from Robert Anderson and Jacob Szekely's music school in West Hollywood, The String Project | Los Angeles. Both studio musicians who have worked with the likes of the Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra and SuperNova, the two have put together a conservatory that is pretty high tech with their interactive music lessons, recording and filming them for student's personal analysis.........

US Figure Skating champion Christopher Bowman, 40, was found dead yesterday in a room at the Budget Inn in North Hills. The former child actor and successful figure skater in the late 80s and early 90s was also known for his powerful struggles with alcohol and drug use. His death is being investigated as a possible overdose. A fire that took place last night at San Jose Edison Academy, a West Covina charter school, is......

Vitals details in the killings of two South LA residents who were found shot to death in their 11th Ave apartment remain unknown. The LAPD was notified late Monday afternoon of gunshots heard, and soon after discovered the bodies of Shelton Sumerall, 32, and Monica Youngblood, 23, both of whom suffered fatal shots to their heads. The motive and a shooting suspect have not been determined. A Van Nuys man was stabbed yesterday when he......

A suspected drunk driver brough his Sunday to a crashing conclusion when he led officers on a chase from Santa Ana to Glendale late last night. The PIT maneuver was employed on the Colorado Street offramp of the 5 North to bring things to a halt. Kids, don't go spiking Santa's milk tonight with rum; we don't want the cops chasing any reindeer-led sleighs! The LA Times chimes in with their thoughts today on the......

More photos from last night's Undie Run here. Strathmore Tunnel Photos by Contributing Writer Henry David. Photos in the thick of it by Sports Editor Adam Rose and LAist Editor Zach Behrens.......

If you're a local sports fan, hopefully you had Columbus Day (International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People, whatever) off to nurse a wicked hangover. In fact, maybe you should take tonight off from Sports Center, too. It's Leif Erikson day. Honest. Even George W. Bush knows that (and don't worry, he's probably not working today, either). Maybe it wasn't the worst, but it was up there. T.J. Simers hit the nail on the......

Don't forget to enter our Arcade Fire ticket giveaway contest for their Thursday appearance at the Hollywood Bowl. Lobster Festival in San Pedro continues through tomorrow, as well as WIRED Magazine's NextFest at the convention center. Immigrant experience, community and the "delirious noble dream." LAist Editor-At-Large Carolyn Kellogg reviews 'The Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories' by Ellen Litman for the LA Times. Long Beach is the first to begin mandatory water......

LAist has an Internet radio show. Today is our soft launch. On the show will be Matt Welch of the LA Times talking to LAist Editor Tony Pierce about Welch's new book about John McCain. Call in at 310 984-7600 and listen by joining us after the jump.........

LAT tells us what L.A.'s top 25 "culinary bargains" are (find more Foodie news from today here). Did you know that a Louis Vuitton store also qualified as a public art gallery? Sex, scandal and assault at the Playboy Mansion: oh my! The Walk of Fame's stars have been temporarily "displaced" to make way for the construction of the new W Hotel. City Beat pleads L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's case. A woman in......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce has blogged here non-stop for more than a year deserving a well-earned vacation (and did he ever earn it). While out of town, we decided to have a little fun and bring some guest day editors in from around the blogLAsphere. Monday we had Green LA Girl and Tuesday saw Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA.Zuma Dogg took Wednesday and LA City Nerd yesterday. Today, former LAist Editor Carolyn Kellogg makes a comeback!......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce has blogged here non-stop for more than a year deserving a well-earned vacation (and did he ever earn it). While out of town, we decided to have a little fun and bring some guest day editors in from around the blogLAsphere. Monday we had Green LA Girl and Tuesday saw Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA. Yesterday was Zuma Dogg and today is the official nerd him/her/itself, the LA City Nerd. 1.......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce has blogged here non-stop for more than a year deserving a well-earned vacation (and did he ever earn it). While out of town, we decided to have a little fun and bring some guest day editors in from around the blogLAsphere. Monday we had Green LA Girl and Tuesday saw Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA. Today, get ready for Zuma Dogg who has his own website, but also contributes to Mayor......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce has blogged here non-stop for more than a year deserving a well-earned vacation (and did he ever earn it). While out of town, we decided to have a little fun and bring some guest day editors in from around the blogLAsphere. Yesterday was Siel of Green LA Girl, today is Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA. All Aboard! 1. Age and occupation: 26 yearz old. I'm a freelance motion graphics designer, whatever that......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce has blogged here non-stop for more than a year deserving a well-earned vacation (and did he ever earn it). While out of town, we decided to have a little fun and bring some guest day editors in from around the blogLAsphere starting with Siel, our friend over at www.GreenLAGirl.com. Here's to a green start of your week! 1. Age and occupation: 28, grad student and blogger 2. Home town: Los Angeles......

So here I am, a nice 26-year-old Jewess living in and looking for love in Los Angeles. There happens to be a lot of us here, and meeting that nice Jewish boy your mother has always dreamt about is harder than it sounds, yes even in LA. Harder especially for us ladies who have a penchant for tattooed musicians and tortured artists with their own penchant for alcoholic beverages and the like. There are a......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce is the special guest tonight on MusicPlus TV. Hosted by Jenn Sherry, our fearless leader will discuss this year's Coachella line-up, SXSW, and the future of rock in LA. The live show is on tonight from 8pm - 9pm at MusicPlusTV.com, feel free to heckle him through AOL IM: MusicPlusTV. Or you can ask questions. Or tell him you like his beard. Video above of Amy Winehouse, one of the......

Indians 7, Angels 6 - If you haven't been glued to ESPN or the Weather Channel, you might not have noticed that snow postponed the Indian's first home series. Getting desperate for a balmier climate, they opted to play their next set in Wisconsin. You could guess there would be some great signs in a game played in Milwaukee between Los Angeles and Cleveland. Things turned out pretty well for the quasi-home crowd. The teams......

#4, The Go! Team Some of us got LAist Editor Tony Pierce drizunk today to celebrate several LAist successes and one of us discovered that Tony hadn't written a "Best of 2006" list. When pressed, he admitted that it would be political suicide for him to espouse favorites. Blah blah blippity-blah. After several dozen Jager Bombs we got a list out of him. UCLA beats UCSB once again, biatches. See our editor's list after......

The below piece is in reference to Keith Olbermann's closing statement from his January 2nd show. Get the full transcript here; just scroll to the end for his 'special comment about sacrifice' and watch the clip after the jump. Full disclosure: I am admittedly a fan of Keith Olbermann and his P.O.V. The above-referenced clip is not his best work, and LAist Editor-in-Chief Tony Pierce said it felt "forced" and ran far too long,......

LAist Editor-at-Large Jason Toney was among the fantastic Blogging While Black (Revisited) panelists at SXSW Interactive. In a conference that pays a lot of attention to tools, this was a rare, welcome session devoted to content. Hooray! LA bloggers Jason and Tony Pierce were engaging, funny, thoughtful and smart, and the rest of the panel (Lynne, Tiffany and George) were, too. Just don't say they were well-spoken, which is not the way to compliment a......