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21 Dec 2011 22:41

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Offbeat: KTLA weatherguy walks off during live television

  • Raining on his parade: A weather personality for KTLA Los Angeles stormed off during a live interview after someone back at the station cut his weather segment short.source

04 Oct 2011 00:39

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World: “An important document”: What a letter from Hitler (circa 1919) looks like

  • The Museum of Tolerance to put Hitler’s letter on display: Written before his “Mein Kampf” manifesto, the letter mentions the “Jewish threat.” Deborah Lipstadt, a professor at Emory University, said that this letter is “important for helping us understand Adolf Hitler.”  source

14 Jul 2011 11:23

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U.S.: Carmageddon officials weirded out by bizarre requests

  • In planning for this closure, we gathered the best emergency around. We tried to think of everything but some of these requests are beyond even what we had anticipated.
  • Cmdr. Andy Smith • Expressing bewilderment at some of the ideas thrown in the general direction of officials planning for this weekend’s “Carmageddon” in Southern California —including a block party on the Santa Monica Boulevard ramp leading to Interstate 405, a group of bicyclists who want to ride down a steep incline, and some marketing dudes who wanted to use graffiti to promote the new “Planet of the Apes” movie. All of these incredibly awesome ideas were nixed due to safety concerns. Bummer. Fly jetBlue instead, dudes. source

13 Apr 2011 23:42

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U.S.: Kobe Bryant issued $100,000 penalty for calling a ref a bad word

  • $100k fine to Kobe Bryant for anti-gay slur source
  • » During a game against San Antonio, Kobe Bryant became angry at having been issued a technical foul, and referred to the referee using an anti-gay word that we won’t repeat. Unfortunately, the exchange was captured on camera, and following criticism from several prominent gay rights groups, the NBA decided to fine him $100,000. This may sound steep, but Bryant makes over $300,000 per game, so it’s really just a drop in the bucket. A very large drop, that is, in a very large bucket.

19 Jan 2011 16:19

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U.S.: LA mayor speaks out on possibly accidental school shooting

  • No student should ever fear for his or her life within the halls and classrooms of our schools. We must work together to ensure safety in and around our schools so that all students can benefit from an environment conducive to learning.
  • L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa • The mayor responded to the shooting at Gardena High School, which police authorities believe may have been an accident. The seventeen-year-old who is responsible reportedly brought an automatic handgun to school in his backpack, and during his class it fired, wounding two students. source

17 Apr 2010 16:45

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U.S.: Fans of racially-tinged violence, keep an eye on L.A. today

See this guy in the middle? Reportedly a white supremacist. They were holding a rally in L.A. today, but counter-protesters got to him first. source

01 Feb 2010 20:47

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U.S.: Jesus wouldn’t approve: A cardinal deposed in abuse scandal

  • For five hours last month, Cardinal Roger Mahony answered the questions. The L.A.-based leader of the largest Catholic archdiocese in the U.S. was interviewed as part of a civil trial regarding one of his former priests in a child molestation case. Michael Baker, the priest in question, has been defrocked and is serving ten years in prison. Despite the grilling, Mahony isn’t the target of the investigation, authorities say. source
 

26 Jan 2010 20:53

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U.S.: L.A. on medical marijuana: OK, we get the freaking point

“These are out of control,” said Councilman Ed Reyes, who wrote legislation to scale pot places back. “Our city has more of these than Starbuckses.” source

10 Oct 2009 13:40

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Offbeat: Will someone think of the guinea pigs? They need rescue, too

In L.A., there’s a rescue group for guinea pigs. Because, well, someone needs to protect them from becoming … uh, guinea pigs. source

16 Aug 2009 09:33

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U.S.: If you’ve felt contact buzz in SoCal lately, blame the wildfires

  • The root of the fires? A marijuana camp. Investigators say that a cooking fire at at Mexican drug trafficking compound is to blame for the La Brea fire, which has already charred more than 84,000 acres. So, both their supply and their hideout just went up in smoke. source