Smoke from the Sesnon and Marek fires continue to affect the San Fernando, Simi and Santa Clarita Valleys, including the immediate areas around fire scorched San Gabriel Mountains. However, the South Coast Air Quality Management District adds a new warning today with the changing winds: "As the winds diminish and shift, additional areas may experience smoke and ash, causing air quality to be Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups or higher." Basically, continue to keep those windows......

Due to the Marek and Sesnon fires, the South Coast Air Quality Management District is sending out daily advisories. Today, they warn people in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley and portions of the San Gabriel Mountains near the fires. "Concentrations of fine particulate may reach the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups category or higher in areas impacted by the fires," the advisory says. "As the winds diminish and shift, additional areas may experience smoke......

Depending where you are in the San Fernando Valley, it's super windy or not at all. The National Weather Service sent out an alert at 12:31 a.m. announcing a wind advisory through 9:00 a.m.: "Northerly winds 20 to 30 MPH with gusts to 45 MPH will continue overnight mainly affecting the Western portion of the San Fernando Valley including but not limited to Porter Ranch, Chatsworth and Van Nuys." ALSO: The weather is predicted to......

AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis "The tragic case of the Rajaram family is at the bleakest edge of the economic turmoil that is rattling Americans' emotional well-being. Worries about home foreclosures, job losses and plunging stock prices have sparked a surge in mental health problems," says the LA Times in a report about the economy and a national surge in mental health problems. "Rates of depression and suicide tend to rise during hard economic times. A......

Following an LAPD press conference on the six deaths from a presumed murder-suicide in Porter Ranch, a northwestern San Fernando Valley community, police disclosed that the father left behind three letters indicating that he was behind the slaying of his mother, wife and three children because of "financial difficulties." The man had worked for Price Waterhouse and Sony Pictures and had a MBA in business. More info on the killings can be found here.......

Around 7:15 a.m. this morning, six people were found dead inside a gated community home in Porter Ranch, a neighborhood in the Northwest San Fernando Valley between Chatsworth and Granada Hills. LAPD detectives suspect that the incident at the 20600 block of Como Lane to be a murder-suicide with initial reports saying all victims were from one family. "A Los Angeles Police Department source, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the case was under......

Sciencedude says it could be a hot one again in Orange County, which only means the same pattern will hit LA County. "Orange County will experience a second straight day of unusually hot weather today, with temperatures reaching into the 90s or higher as high pressure lingers over the West Coast, the National Weather Service says. Inland areas will suffer the worst heat, with temperatures running 10-15 degrees above normal." The Valley is looking to......

The Los Angeles Fire Department is reporting a pedestrian fatality after a collision with the train at Hubbard St. and San Fernando Rd. in the Pacoima neighborhood of Northeast Vallely. Further details are coming.......

It didn't take long for Harold Ghaemmaghami, 45, the suspected Garden Glove bandit, to be caught by police. It was earlier this month that police asked the public's help in identifying the robber that targeted at least 17 Valley stores while wearing gardening gloves. He was arrested Sunday night for grand theft after allegedly attempting to steal a '08 Buick from an auto dealership in Woodland Hills.......

During a live press conference around 11:08 p.m. tonight, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa updated the injury count saying some 135 people were injured at this afternoon's Metrolink/Freight Train crash in Chatsworth. An estimated 222 people were on board with around 20 fatalities suspected. Update, 12:50 a.m.: 45 people were critically injured, according to KNBC.......

View Larger Map The tunnel under the Santa Susana Pass Topanga Canyon Blvd., marked by the Red Pin on the above map, was around 700 feet from the crash (marked by the red triangle). If the collision occurred inside the tunnel, the fatal results would have likely be tripled. Previously: Photos from the Crash Site | LAPD Officer Dies in Crash | Updates List......

The LAPD is asking the public's help in identifying this man. "A lone White male dubbed the 'Garden Glove' bandit hit a bank and robbed 12 popular chain stores during the early morning hours and the evenings," explained the LAPD in a press release. "In each incident, the suspect walks into the location wearing dark sunglasses, a hoodie, or a black jacket and gardening gloves. After the suspect engages in conversation with the cashier,......

A view of the Valley from Mulholland Drive | Photo by Ilpo's Sojourn via Flickr A report about San Fernando Valley air quality released yesterday states that overall air quality has improved but the West Valley's ozone levels have risen while some East Valley neighborhoods have seen an increase in particulate matter, according to the Daily News. "The San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center, at California State University, Northridge, reported overall decreases in carbon......

San Fernando Business Journal writer Jason Schaff is a fan of the Orange Line, but with the gas prices and higher ridership, the "Valley's Shortcut" is no longer that desirable he says. "At the end of summer 2008 the buses are crowded all hours of the day. I will go to the office sometimes at 7 a.m. – they’re crowded. I’ll come home sometimes at 8 p.m. or later – they’re crowded. I stand up......

On Saturday morning at Reseda Park in the Valley, two men were shot ending in the death of one of them. The LAPD today announced a suspect in the case. 20-year-old Andrew Lee Thomas Jr. (pictured to the right) is described as "a male, black, 5’8” tall and weighs about 150 pounds" and is considered armed and dangerous by police. Homicide detectives at the West Valley division could not be immediately reached for further information.......

Adding to the hundreds of official "blue sign" Los Angeles neighborhoods (we estimate it to be around 185), Reseda Ranch in the Valley became the latest to celebrate its individuality. Was this another move for real estate? Yes, but not necessarily for upping the values of home, but rather to protect it from developers. The area's boundaries (shown in a Google Map below) "boasts predominantly half-acre and one-acre lot homes zoned to allow large animals,"......

The birth of a new parking structure that will serve the future redone Reseda Theater began yesterday near the intersection of Sherman Way and Reseda Blvd. "The 8,500-square-foot theater will be gutted and reconfigured into an 11,000- square-foot, state-of- the-art, live-performance and special-event venue," reports the Daily News. It will get a $7.7 million makeover and is being rehabilitated by the CIM Group, who runs Hollywood & Highland, among many other redevelopment properties in the......

Vitello's in Studio City has been a Valley classic for years, serving up simple but extremely tasty Italian food. Despite some of its popular culture references (notably the Robert Blake murder case and when the image of Jesus was found in some Manicotti), the restaurant is a neighborhood icon and consistently a community partner. Today, they opened their second space at the corner Woodman and Ventura. Vitello's Express has some of the Studio City menu......

Construction noise on the weekends irritates those trying to sleep in. Noisy sex got one man banned from his girlfriend's apartment in London. And playing music too loud got one man shot and killed in the Valley neighborhood of Pacoima early Wednesday morning. The LAPD says that preliminary reports point towards one neighbor waking up around 2:00 a.m. to loud music playing from a car stereo, confronted and got into a struggle his other neighbor......

A situation like this, occurred several times over the past year, according to the LAPD: "In March 2007, a student at California State University Northridge (CSUN) was approached by a suspect who asked the victim to cash a check at his bank. In exchange for his efforts, he would be given several hundred dollars. Unfortunately, the he was unaware the check was forged. Several days later, a hold was placed on his account to cover......

You walk in and it's like the end of result of a time machine. It's the San Fernando Valley, 1960s, 1970s, maybe. Families and friends are gathered around tables while the three main staff--two mainstay waitresses and the cook, Rudy--rush around serving everyone's bellies to a greasy satisfaction. It's breakfast. It's America's suburb. Joyce's is a classic old-school Northridge coffee shop on Reseda Blvd. Here's what we saw and ate.......

Here's a statistic that is saddening. There have been over 130 collisions involving an intoxicated driver this year. And that's only for the West Valley Division that covers neighborhoods like Canoga Park and West Hills. That's only one police division out of six in the San Fernando Valley. Throughout the Valley, there have been over 550 DUI related crashes. Not only does West Valley have the highest number of DUI related collisions for the Valley,......

An early Sunday evening walk exploring your own neighborhood can be quite fulfilling. Here's what caught our eye while taking a walk up Alomar Drive in the hills of Sherman Oaks towards a little known piece of public open space that overlooks the San Fernando Valley (nearby, you can hike a small trail in Dixie Canyon Park). Looking for a walk that is a little more than casual? Try the Hollywoodland Staircases Walk in Beachwood......

Yesterday afternoon, LAPD SWAT stormed a house in Reseda believed to be where a 24-year-old man was being held for ransom. The man was rescued with non life-threatening injuries and seven men and one woman were arrested at the home on 18300 block of Schoolcraft Street near Etiwanda Avenue. It started at 7:00 p.m. on Monday evening when the man called his mother saying he had been kidnapped and money was being demanded. The family......

Over in Valley Village, a new store has opened on Laurel Canyon Blvd. Green & Greener has been an online only website for two years now, but two weeks ago, a husband and wife duo made the leap from the web to the street. Green & Greener is one of the most exciting green stores in Los Angeles. From a selection of clothing and bathroom products to hardware, this store is holds some of your......

"He definately knew how to make everyone laugh," wrote a friend of Staff Sgt. Du Hai Tran on an LA Times comment board. Tran, 30, of Reseda was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in Baqubah, Iraq. He is the 501st soldier from California (24th from Los Angeles) to be lost due to the war.......

Photo by yunny via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The recent heatwave was expected to transition to cooler temperatures beginning last Saturday, but there was no such luck, forcing weather forecasters to say today would be that day as the Valley would get a much needed marine layer (as of 8:30 a.m., skies are blue here in the Valley). If correct, instead of triple digits that became the norm the past four days, parts......

Face it, it's hot. And with some people, especially the elderly, living without AC in poorly insulated homes, cooling centers can literally be a lifesaver. Three cooling centers in the Valley will remain open tonight until 8:00 p.m. tonight and will be open tomorrow from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. There's also free water! The centers are located at parks in Canoga Park, Sunland and Northridge. [Via Mayor's Office Press Release]......

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/world_news/BBC_Buys_Marijuana_in_LA_This_place_is_like_Amsterdam'; BBC News Correspondent David Willis wanted to see how hard or easy it was to get a medical marijuana prescription in California. He went to a clinic in the San Fernando Valley of the city and the only medical condition he could think of was how he gets anxious. Soon, the doctor appeared - a softly-spoken Vietnamese man who introduced himself as Dr Do. He wore a white lab coat and......

After a rash of shootings in the San Fernando Valley that left eight injured and two dead within four hours on Tuesday night, the Daily News mentions that Councilman Richard Alarcon and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who represent parts of the East Valley, "are doubling efforts to build Neighborhood Watch programs." In Greuel's district, many watch programs have been forming over the last year. Last Friday night, a group of residents in East Sherman Oaks gathered......