Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has once again set off for another city that is not his own to help a candidate that has no stake in running Los Angeles. And you could be paying for it. This time, Mayor Tony set off on a five-city, five-day tour to help Hillary Clinton win the Texas Primary so critical to her presidential aspirations. (As of now, polling indicates a dead heat, with some polls indicating Obama has an......

Photo by Peggy Archer via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr 60-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura "was arrested Friday while visiting Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth territory in the Pacific" for the murder of his wife, which took place in Los Angeles in 1981. Miura is awaiting extradition. The LA Times takes a look at two major Downtown projects that remain delayed, Park Fifth and Grand Avenue. Financing woes and pushed back start dates have led......

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has begun to get the word out that he plans on running for a second term. According to the LA Times, Mayor Tony made mention of his plans, along with "his most personal remarks to date about the political fallout from his extramarital affair" on Wednesday during an interview on the Charlie Rose show. The Mayor was also asked about his plans to run for governor, which have been circulating in the......

The general consensus about last night's one-hour Golden Globes "Awards Show" (quotation marks make for great sarcasm indicators, yes?): Less than stellar. The snorefest reading-of-the-nominees and "the winner is" naming was about as thrilling as the reading of a will, with Time's Richard Corliss declaring in his post-mortem that the reporters delivering the news "all sank into a sea of blandness and blondness." Local Latino politicians are endorsing Barack Obama in his Democratic Presidental......

So, looking forward to the Golden Globes tomorrow night? If you like lists being read aloud (and, really, who doesn't?) then NBC has a show for you. But, wait, there's more! Since the news conference announcing the winners will take one hour, NBC is filling the other two hours originally scheduled for the Globes with a "Dateline" special, including interviews to be conducted by Matt Lauer with some actors that are up for some......

It seems the Valley isn't the place to be if you're a gang-affiliated criminal. One year ago, Mayor Villaraigosa held a press conference in North Hills at the LAPD's Mission Division, mapping out their plan for a crackdown on gangs. This past Thursday he returned, along with Police Chief William Bratton, to the same spot to announce that the plan had been successful. The Daily News reports on Mayor Tony's proud assertion, and 2007 statistics:......

Federline family values: Fading pop diva and the ex-Mrs. K-Fed who sent law enforcement and the paparazzi into a tailspin last night has lost visitation rights to see her two sons, a court ruled today. Sole custody has been temporarily award to her babies' daddy, meanwhile, Britney remains involuntarily hospitalized. What is it going to take to get Ms. Spears back on track? The homicide tally for 2008 moves up another notch with the reporting......

A second victim of this weekend's street racing-related crash in Hollywood has died from his injuries. The first victim was Nigel Gudray, the driver of the Infiniti struck by the speeding BMW driven by an intoxicated Carlos Steven John, was burned past physical recognition in the accident and died on scene. The passenger of Gudray's vehicle died overnight as a result of his burns. The six-month-long search for missing college student Donna Jou continues......

In El Salvador there are two prisons that are purely devoted to two gangs that originated in Los Angeles. How did this transnational network come about? Deportation for one. When a gang member serves a sentence in California and then deported to their home country, the gang business moves with them. Bruce Riordan, director of anti-gang operations in the LA city attorney's office told the New York Times that, "these gangs are the new......

Last night's Old Town Pasadena shooting that left an Arcadia man wounded is reportedly a result of a drug deal gone awry. Police today released the name of the accused shooter, who is 18-year-old Mark Cole of Claremont. It's awful hard to put a plain brown wrapper on the porn you check out online. A New Jersey-based company that runs several internet porn sites revealed they recentled suffered a security breach that made its users......

As 2007 winds down to its close, local law enforcement agencies anticipate the year's homicide numbers to be lower than the low set in 1970. The Daily News is reporting that "As of Dec. 15, 379 people had been killed in Los Angeles this year, with about 200 of those incidents gang-related. The overall homicide rate is down 17 percent from last year." In 1970, 394 people were killed in Los Angeles. More cops in......

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which included a provision authored by Congressman Henry Waxman to lift the prohibition against federal involvement in the construction of the “Subway to the Sea” (less we not forget that it was Waxman himself that authored the original ban in the 1980s). We've reported on this before and it was likely to pass, but it's nice to know that day is......

Mayor Tony calls the federal government's failure to address issues such as poverty, housing, and infrastructure "absolutely criminal" in this short video interview produced by The Nation and The Drum Major Institute.......

Three people were injured and dozens evacuated after an apartment fire in Sherman Oaks gutted at least two units at 2 a.m. this morning. It was cold last night, but there are better ways to stay warm people. Australian police arrested a man in Melbourne who threatened to attack The Grove Friday. There is no evidence the man, who has never been to the United States, intended to carry out the attack. Still, days......

If you happened to miss the December 3 Downtown News, you haven't seen the personal ads Jon Regardie suggested to help Mayor Villaraigosa get a New Year's Eve smooch. They're pretty hysterical from top to bottom. My favorite one begins with the perfectly awkward hook: "Looking for My Energizer Lady Bunny: Hot bilingual mayor has an opening on his staff - for love!" In the same edition, peep Evan George's report on the uneasy relationship......

How apropos; today on LAist it's Sex Saturday, but today also happens to be World AIDS Day. Several events took place yesterday and will happen today in order to remind the world community that HIV/AIDS remains a global threat. The LA Times reports today on President Bush's public appearance yesterday at a church in northern Maryland, and that his speeches did not propose new plans or funding, but rather focused on humanitarianism. According to the......

Los Angeles' most-powerful bachelor just got more eligible. After being outted by a sex-blogger nearly a year ago that his marriage was on the outs, it soon became news that Mayor Tony was playing hide-the-taquito with the hottest anchor on Telemundo. Tonight the LA Times is reporting that the Mayor has one less Christmas card to send out this year. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and television news reporter Mirthala Salinas have ended their romantic relationship,......

Two explosions ripped through a convoy carrying former Pakistani premier and maybe the country's best hope for Democracy, Benazir Bhutto, following her triumphant return after an eight-year exile. She was not hurt, but hundreds were killed and injured. How did the White House respond? By tying it back to the war on terrah, of course, saying, "Those responsible seek only to foster fear and limit freedom." A dump truck is in a "precarious spot"......

The identity of one driver caught in the horrific fire on the I-5 Friday night might now be identified by the last call he made. Reports surfaced that the fire in the tunnel was so hot, the concrete began to melt. But, things are going smoothly today, officials said. Or as smoothly as rush hour on the I-5 can be. A cockfighting raid in San Diego over the weekend netted 4,400 birds at a......

The LA Department of Water and Power seem to think that LA will just sit back and let them raise rates, hide money, and allow themselves to get rich. In the last few weeks the public utility has been exposed for a few troubling trends and actions that we quietly await to see what Mayor Tony, and our other elected officials, will do about it. On Sunday the LA Daily News discovered that over......

George Bush issued the fourth veto of his presidency today, nixing a bill that would have provided insurance to poor children. Bush said the program was too costly, apparently cool with the fact that the Iraq war now costs over $455-billion. That's B for billion. And B for Bitch. Curbed LA takes a gander at a new development planned for West LA. In as much as the structure looks like a monument to cubism,......

Mayor Tony V. signed an ordinance Monday allowing the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery to have free admission. The Department of Cultural Affairs hopes the freebie will encourage more Angelenos to visit the gallery, which has been serving the community since 1951. Located at Barnsdall Park in Hollywood, the museum has been a venue for Southern California artists for decades. “The arts should not be a luxury available only to those who can afford......

Mayor Tony stood before a media gaggle at 7th & Fig in February and announced the birth of "LA Version 2.0." Free citywide Wi-Fi for all within two years, he proclaimed, momentarily appeasing critics and activists who have called for municipal funds and programs to help bridge the digital divide. But the skeptics among us are well aware of the extensive headaches and limited progress of the once-supposed trailblazing municipal Wi-Fi proposals in Philadelphia and......

The recent political scandal involving married republican senator Larry Craig, who is accused of soliciting homosexual sex in a public bathroom, reminds me of just how unscrupulous politicians can be. Craig voluntarily pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, but then tried to retract and cried, “I’m not gay, I made a mistake pleading guilty.” It was political suicide, although he had already hung himself. The arresting officer, Sgt. Dave Karsnia, is......

Last year Kaiser Permanente donated $1.2 million to the city to help keep 15 city swimming pools open an extra two weeks at the end of the summer. This year Kaiser cut their donation by 90%, and still, magically the city announced that thanks to the HMO, 14 city pools will remain open two weeks longer than originally scheduled. Because of a $121,000 donation from Kaiser Permanente, 14 swimming pools operated by the Los......

At least a camel is much more entertaining and inspiring than Patch Adams. The crusty, cynical journalist in me cringes when I see Press Releases like the one I received promoting an event over the weekend. It said members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Reserves were bringing a camel and a horse to visit with pediatric at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA on Saturday. Maybe it's part of Mayor Tony Fatigue Syndrome, (who mugs for......

Not letting the bedbugs bite is getting harder than ever these days. Deeming it "troubling" and "unacceptable," Mayor Tony is urging federal officials to take steps to prevent a repeat of this weekend's Customs and Border Protection computer glitch that stranded some 20,000 travelers. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag warning - signifying a higher risk of wildfires - for the L.A. County mountains that will remain in effect until Wednesday......

An "Eater LA" reader reveals just how wrong San Francisco Chronicle critic Michael Bauer still is. Police officials revealed details of the Burbank shooting rampage that led to the deaths of three people. Good news public transit fans: local officials broke ground on a $640-million project that will include eight new Expo Line stations. Catch legendary comics writer Peter Bagge (of Hate, MAD and Weirdo Magazine fame) at the Secret Headquarters tonight (did I......

Mayor Villa (will his soon-to-be-ex-wife really let him keep the Raigosa?) is proving to be quite the crafty politician this summer, weaseling his way through some rather public, personal crises. We can now add the Gopher Issue to the list of Tony V's lamest and greatest excuses. In spite of his call this summer for Angelenos to consciously conserve 10% more water, the LA Times scoured DWP records and found that the mayor and......

We thought we knew uber-blogger and writer Luke Ford. He's best-known for his probing stories about the porn industry (nsfw), and most recently admired for being the first reporter to state that Mayor Tony's marriage was dunzo. But it wasn't until this week's interview with the Jewish Journal that we learned how real Ford keeps it. From his 300-square-foot Pico-Robertson crib, the fact that he used to live out of his car, or the......