Antonio Villaraigosa

Mayor Villaraigosa with LAPD Chief Beck.

The city plans to offer up to $200 in gift cards for weapons turned into cops at six locations across the city Saturday (PDF).

Sounding radical and maybe even a little scary, the group states:

ep_jhu

That actually happened, according to an L.A.-based legal claim made by Brent Beckwith, who survived the death of his partner of nearly 10 years. The National Center for Lesbian Rights, which supported Beckwith's legal case, claimed victory over the weekend.

A California appeals court declared that ...

BuildNDestroyMagazin

A previous Black Riders "raid."

A spokesman for the state parole agency says phooey -- it was just a routine check-up on a parolee who happens to be a leader of the Black Riders.

His name is ...

Now it's time for Big Government to get deeper inside your car and ride with you on your way to work and school:

Rush Limbaugh and the "slut" in question.

But ace celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred -- now there's a fembot to get scared of. We're talking the same L.A. attorney who helped force Herman Cain out of the Republican primaries, and recently set a liberating legal precedent for girls who want to slam their cheating exes online. (Allred called it a "victory for women's rights.)

Now she's asking a county attorney in Palm Beach County, Florida...

King Fantastic

Free Reese.

When he was apparently released on February 10, the rapper Tweeted: "my official statement on the charges...i stole the mona lisa and sold it for meth. but honestly, respect game, i can't discuss it." And that was probably a good idea...

amber10_79

So which one is it?

This is the classic strategy of overstating death and destruction to back laws, and then saying the laws have been effective in ending such mayhem, if you as us.

Bay City Bombers

Meet Stacey Blitsch, the new face of women's rights.

Allred's latest crusade for she-justice:

The superstar attorney represented two semi-famous hotties who had slammed their ex, a douchey-sounding Manhattan lawyer named Matthew Couloute Jr., on LiarsCheatersRUs.com. He freaked out ...

MaxVT

A boardwalk scene.

The last two nights along the boardwalk and beyond LAPD officers have been contacting homeless people, warning them they can't sleep there, according to David Busch of the group Working Democracy!

According to the LAPD ...

L.A.'s most wanted.

Guess what? If you've ever thrown any object over 10 inches in diameter at an L.A. beach -- frisbees and footballs included -- you were breaking the law.

But a few amendments to L.A. County's beach ordinance at the end of December have drawn fresh anger to the county's draconian policies, created "in order to protect and preserve the peace on public beaches." Ball-throwing is considered an infraction, and could cost you $100-plus for every violation.

Is nothing sacred? Do we need to quote Patrick Henry here?

Troie Moss

The union that represents Los Angeles police wants to be able to track you. Whenever. Wherever. For whatever reason.

Fortunately for you, the U.S. Surpreme Court this week said cops can't attach GPS tracking devices to your car without a judge's okay. (Whew). That hasn't stopped the Los Angeles Police Protective League from whining about it, though:

John & Ken.

The issue of letting unlicensed drivers keep their cars at police checkpoints wasn't on the agenda, but the conservative talk-radio hosts (KFI AM 640) put it there by encouraging listeners to show up at the meeting and voice their opinions during the public comment phase of the night.

A sea of blue hair filled St. Nicholas Church, a 400-or-so capacity venue that was standing-room-only:

F off, daddy.

Titled "Little Bo Bleep," the episode is perhaps not so accidentally aligned with a Supreme Court hearing today on the Federal Communications Commission's right to fine TV networks for airing profanity or nudity.

The fight between the FCC and and the entertainment industry has been a long and messy one...

Paramount

Oh no you didn't.

Arcadia police showed up to the small-town Valley theater just after 1:30 a.m., where they cuffed 29-year-old Michael Johnson for violation of California's film piracy law.

Though Johnson told cops that "he was taking the footage for his wife who was home sick" ...

Vicks are (not) for kids.

And they've got Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to thank.

The NorCal politician introduced SB 514 last February, after catching wind of a scary new teen trend in which bored young hooligans are chugging cough suppresents containing the drug dextromethorphan, or DXM, to get high.

superstock.co.uk

Busted.

"When you look for loopholes, the whole issue of cellphone use, texting or distracted driving becomes confusing, if not overwhelming," CHP Officer Steve Creel told the Mercury News last spring.

But the CHP will be swinging to the harshest end of that spectrum for its 24-hour distracted-driving crackdown this Friday and Saturday:

'Shattered Glass'

Hayden Christensen as Stephen Glass.

In the 1990s he pretty much faked us all out with made-up stories in publications including New Republic, Harper's, and Rolling Stone.

Now Stephen Glass says he's a new man. He's been working for a Beverly Hills law firm. And he wants to be a certified lawyer in the state of California. The State Bar's Committee of Bar Examiners has said no, but the California Supreme Court might have the last word starting next week:

That's the recommendation of the board today following its review of a summer 2010 Missouri highway crash that killed two and injured 38. The NTSB says it was caused by a pickup driver who was texting and distracted.

Now the federal board wants all of us to ...

This guy's a U.S. Senator. Really.

The largest supplier of adult diapers in the nation charged us more than twice what it paid for the items, a no-no under federal law. Now Santa Clarita-based Shield Healthcare is sending us a $5 million check, according to a statement today from the U.S. Attorney's Office in L.A.

Ain't that some ...