Fun in Los Angeles, From Hollywood to the Hills, by Howard Giske
Los Angeles is the 2nd largest city in the United States, with almost four million people, and 13 million in its metropolitan area. It is the many decentralized neighborhoods with different landmarks and atmosphere that make Los Angeles real estate a very diverse market. L.A. varies from the suburban sprawl of the San Fernando Valley, to Downtown, East L.A., South L.A., Harbor Area, Hollywood and other smaller neighborhoods such as Venice Beach, and more exclusive areas l ike BelAir and Brentwood.
In the Hollywood area, there are such famous sites as Universal Studios which is both a major tourist attraction and still, a film studio. You can go behind the scenes and see how movies are made, and see the guide to special effects known as 'the Fast and the Furious, Extreme Close-Up". Kids get to meet their favorite cartoon character. Attractions at the associated theme park include the Shrek ride and "Revenge of the Mummy" roller coaster ride.
L.A. is a large manufacturing and trade center, as well as being a center for the entertainment industry. Its port, Los Angeles combined with Long Beach, is number one in the US. It is still headquarters for leading companies such as Northrop Grumman, the defense contractor, and Occidental Petroleum. Nearby in L.A. County are headquartered Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros., in beautiful downtown Burbank and offices of major Asian car manufacturers.
Despite LA's reputation as a strictly Hollywood town, there is more serious culture there too. Take a look at the Getty Center, a museum of Western Art. It includes paintings from Rembrandt to Van Gogh. There is also the very luxurious and intimate setting of art at the Getty Villa in nearby Malibu. Likewise there is the huge Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on Wilshire Blvd., with the largest art collection in the western United States, whose plant and campus is undergoing extensive renovation and expansion. Other museums in the area are the Natural History Museum of L.A. County, at 900 Exposition Blvd., the Page Museum of the La Brea Tar Pits and the William S. Hart Museum and Ranch in Newhall, north of L.A. The Page Museum is located at 5801 Wilshire Blvd in Metropolitan L.A. and it's also the site of an actual tar pit where prehistoric remains are recovered in Hancock Park, a few blocks from Santa Monica Blvd.
Another thing that makes L.A. such an amazing city is the variation of topography, from sea level, to over 5,000 feet in the mountains of L.A. You literally can go from surfing to skiing in the same metropolitan area, perhaps in the same week. In terms of more vicarious recreation, major league teams in L.A. include the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Kings (NHL) Hockey and L.A. Clippers and the L.A. Lakers (NBA) Basketball.
The Los Angeles metropolitan area is served by 5 major commercial airports and other smaller airports. The main Los Angeles airport is Los Angeles International Airport and there are four other commercial airports, plus general aviation airport, Van Nuys Airport. There are several public colleges and universities in the city, including the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), and California State University, Northridge (CSUN).
Jackson's physician charged with involuntary manslaughter
Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist hired to care for Jackson during the pop star's comeback attempt last year, pleads not guilty in a courtroom packed with international media and the singer's family.
Los Angeles prosecutors filed a long-anticipated involuntary manslaughter charge against Michael Jackson's personal physician Monday as the coroner's office made public a report concluding that the care the singer received in the final hours of his life violated accepted medical standards.
Former shot-caller is now spilling gang's secrets
Showing no emotion, a former leader of the Avenues clique testifies about murder, extortion and drug deals. Ailing and in custody, he is vilified by his family, which once terrified a neighborhood.
Pancho Real was at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church with his wife and daughter one Sunday in October 2006 when his cellphone rang.
Members of the Los Angeles City Council have more than a dozen accounts squirreled away that they dip into for pet projects. They have set aside money for security cameras around MacArthur Park, artistic bike racks in Hollywood and a program that sends city workers to pluck abandoned shopping carts off the streets of the San Fernando Valley, to name just a few.
Even as the state grappled with a budget crisis last year, bureaucrats spent nearly $45 million on new vehicles, almost $30 million on new furniture and more than $2 million on off-site meetings and conferences, a legislative panel has found.
L.A. County's handling of mudslide warnings is questioned
Officials defend their decision not to evacuate before mud damaged dozens of homes early Saturday. But their actions stand in stark contrast to the frequent warnings issued during last month's storms.
George Allen said the calls came regularly last month, telling him and other La Caņada Flintridge residents to evacuate as rain soaked the wildfire-scorched hillside above their homes.
California budget crisis' teachable moment
The budget crunch at Cal State is getting so bad, it's forcing some young people to think about a future without a college education. But some students won't sit idly by.
Maybe, one day, something good will come out of California's budget crisis.
Sheen charged in alleged Christmas Day assault on wife in Aspen
His wife said that Sheen had pinned her to a bed and held a knife to her throat. He faces up to three years in prison. On Monday, a judge modified a protective order barring him from seeing her.
Actor Charlie Sheen was charged Monday in a Colorado court with felony menacing, third-degree assault and criminal mischief, stemming from a Christmas Day incident in Aspen, Colo., in which he allegedly held a knife to his wife's throat.
Carson's mayor has a tool that almost any politician would love to have: a mute button. If someone talks too much at a City Council meeting, with a flick of the finger, the microphone goes dead.
California leads U.S. in animal protection, Humane Society says
The state scores 45 out of 65 points for laws on product testing, animal fighting and restrictions on keeping certain creatures as pets. New Jersey, Colorado, Maine and Massachusetts also score high.
California has the strongest animal protection laws in the country, with wide-ranging regulations shielding animals from harm in homes, on farms, at racetracks and in the wild, the Humane Society of the United States reported Monday.
Gang interventionist gunned down after confronting tagger
Ronald Lamonte Barron, 40, a former gang member who was among Los Angeles' most trusted gang intervention workers, was fatally shot on Pico Boulevard in front of 'numerous witnesses.'
After years in the L.A. street gang world, Ronald Lamonte Barron devoted his life to preventing young people from following in his footsteps.
