Home of the Week: Santa Monica Canyon contemporary

The steel, copper and glass house, built in 1992 by L.A. architects Mark Cigolle and Kim Coleman originally as a live-work space, has an asking price of $4.95 million.

Listing details: 455 Upper Mesa Road, Santa Monica

MTA endorses Villaraigosa’s ambitious transit plan

The so-called 30-10 plan seeks to reduce construction times up to 20 years for a dozen transit projects, including the Westside subway extension, that were approved when voters passed Measure R.

Needle poke turns into big problem at L.A. charter school

Parents of a 6-year-old student at Goethe International in Marina del Rey have faced complex challenges in their effort to test a syringe that wounded their son on campus.

She'd call herself dirt rich

Ex-screenwriter Denise Ritchie thinks her Malibu Compost will save cows from slaughter -- and help dairy farmers too. It's already smoothed some rough patches in her life.

Teenager elected to South Robertson Neighborhood Council

Rachel Lester, 15, will serve a two-year term -- and go to high school, do her homework, sing in a choir and work for her school paper.

A web search in the Santa Monica Mountains

Adults and youngsters hunt for spiders as part of a Los Angeles-area arachnid survey.

Suspect arrested in North Hollywood synagogue shooting

Two men were wounded in the October attack. The suspect had been held earlier in a separate assault case in Beverly Hills.

Preliminary injunction bars Venice-area dispensary from selling medical marijuana

The judge again sides with prosecutors' arguments that California law does not permit the sale of pot. His ruling says the Organica store was not operating as a true, nonprofit collective.

West Hollywood doctor accused of running 'pill mill'

The psychiatrist sold prescriptions for medications to patients he did not examine and who had no need for the drugs, a federal complaint says. He and his office manager are arrested.

Venice High holds onto yesterday's values and today's dreams

Alumni return to campus to welcome the new statue of Myrna Loy, an alum who made good.

A star is reborn at Venice High

A group of alumni and students unveil a bronze, and vandalism-resistant, re-creation of the famed lawn sculpture of alumna Myrna Loy before she rose to fame as a leading actress of the 1930s and '40s.

In Santa Monica, affordable-housing rental agreements are often not enforced

The city is now vowing to crack down after complaints of violations by developers, who have been allowed to exceed zoning restrictions in exchange for offering low- and moderate-income rentals.

Culver City challenges new oil drilling

A Texas company wants new wells in the Inglewood Oil Field, which lies along the city's border and already has 1,463 active, idle and abandoned wells.

Hot, dry Santa Anas a particular threat in some Southern California areas

A high-resolution map of Santa Ana wind events shows that they follow certain corridors to the sea, consistently skirting other areas. It's why Malibu seems to erupt in flames every fall.

2 historic Westwood theaters saved from possible closure

Regency agrees to run the Village and Bruin, whose fate had been in jeopardy since last year, when Mann announced that it would let its leases on both theaters expire in March.

Hard-to-kill snails infest Santa Monica Mountain watersheds

Even Formula 409 has proven ineffective at destroying the New Zealand mudsnail, an asexually reproducing invasive species that poses a threat to steelhead restoration efforts and native creatures.

Search teams fan out to look for Mitrice Richardson

Richardson, 24, was last seen Sept. 17 at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station. Volunteers searched skid row, Calabasas, Malibu, Santa Monica and Hollywood for the Cal State Fullerton graduate.

Surfers seen as the heroes in Malibu paparazzi case

Two years after a beach brawl with photographers angling for a shot of actor Matthew McConaughey, defendants Skylar Peak and Philip Hildebrand go on trial for misdemeanor battery. Local sentiment is behind them.

USC student's 1994 shooting could be reopened as a homicide case

Lisa La Pierre was shot and paralyzed in West Hollywood. She died this year. A gang member who pleaded guilty to attempted murder and served time in a juvenile jail could face new charges in her death.

Peace grows in a Culver City garden

Pain and loss are part of life. So is quiet remembrance in the comforting shade of a tree.

Ordinance cuts business taxes for Internet-based firms in L.A.

The measure, signed by Mayor Villaraigosa at a Westside Internet firm, will affect an estimated 1,400 businesses. Some of them had threatened to move out of the city if the rate was not reduced.

In Great Urban Race, the adventure comes first

The annual event -- a wacky mixture of scavenger hunt, footrace and more -- sends participants, armed with clues, to various Los Angeles locations.

Santa Monica sushi restaurant closes after serving whale meat

A statement on the Hump's website calls the decision a 'self-imposed punishment.' Federal prosecutors have charged the owner and chef with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Homeless people can find compassion at the beach

When the ACLU sued three Southern California beach cities over their treatment of homeless people, the municipalities protested. But they've also made changes.

Veteran sues VA over removal of upside-down flag

The West L.A. man joins with the ACLU in a lawsuit that alleges his free-speech rights were denied in his protest of what he sees as commercialization of the VA's Brentwood medical center grounds.

Mitrice Richardson's family complains about search's slow pace

The 24-year-old woman disappeared Sept. 17 after being released from the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff's Station. Her parents have filed negligence claims against L.A. County.

Santa Monica sushi restaurant charged with illegally selling whale meat

The eatery admits the wrongdoing, its attorney says. Federal agents and animal activists cooperated in a video sting orchestrated by a producer of the Oscar-winning documentary 'The Cove.'

PASSINGS: Herbert Zeitlin

Herbert Zeitlin, former West L.A. College president, dies at 91

Santa Monica-Malibu schools going mail-in route for parcel tax election

Officials hope that by keeping the proposal off the bigger June ballot, their odds of winning the tax hike will be higher.

PASSINGS: Evelyn Haas, Ernest Auerbach, Keith Crown, Rex Nettleford

Evelyn Haas, philanthropist, dies at 92; Ernest Auerbach, Santa Monica developer, dies at 93; Keith Crown, USC art professor, dies at 91; Rex Nettleford, Jamaican choreographer, dies at 76

In Westchester, preaching to the canine-ites

A Presbyterian congregation welcomes dogs, which the minister views as part of the church family.

Howard Zinn dies at 87; author of best-selling 'People's History of the United States'

Activist collapsed in Santa Monica, where he was scheduled to deliver a lecture.

Gerald McCabe dies at 82; founder of folk music venue McCabe's Guitar Shop

The Santa Monica store played an important role in the evolution of Southern California's folk music community.

Dale Rickards dies at 88; horse wrangler for movies and TV shows

The retired mounted officer for the LAPD also turned his Malibu ranch into a faux western town for location photography. He left the LAPD to work on 'Little House on the Prairie.'

Seeking Establishment recognition of Beat hangout's importance

The former Venice West Cafe, headquarters of the L.A. beatnik scene and gathering place for the Doors' Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek, could be designated a city historic-cultural monument.

Go tell it on the mountain: The Edge doesn't need five homes here

The U2 guitarist is lining up political muscle and environmentalist star power to support constructing his eco-friendly castles on a pristine ridge near Malibu. What's greener? Not building at all.

John Edmond Jr. dies at 67; popular golf teacher at Rancho Park in West L.A.

'He had a huge following,' an observer says, and when Edmond's job was endangered in 2003, protesters helped save it. In 1962, he became the first African American pro to work at an L.A. city course.

It's not the Playa Vista of developers' dreams

The thriving community of 6,000 is on track to begin its final phase of construction, but the entire project is less than half its original size.

A member of a musical dynasty writes a postcard about the past

Thomas Newman, whose father, uncles and siblings have composed for films, draws on his life for 'It Got Dark,' being performed by the Kronos Quartet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.