Richard Stayton, now the editor-in-chief of Written By, was working at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner in 1985 when he met and first wrote about Dennis Hopper.

Email from the Los Angeles Police Protective League asking the community to "refrain from a rush to judgment" usually means one thing: there's some new video or eyewitness report suggesting misconduct by an LAPD officer.

The Lakers almost gave back a 17-point lead in the fourth period, but Kobe Bryant took charge (again) when they needed him most.

Rachel Abramowitz is leaving to to work on "Outlaw Country," a new FX show she wrote with her husband.

The underlings at Deadline Hollywood finally explained this morning the whereabouts of their missing leader.

Writer and blogger Richard Rushfield posted a nice reflection on Gary Coleman pegged to their time together at the Crossroads School, the upscale and academically creative Santa Monica private school....

Dennis Hopper died this morning at home in Venice, likely from complications of advanced prostate cancer.

If the Lakers get past the Phoenix Suns, they will open the finals against Boston next Thursday at Staples Center. Final 96-84....

Charlie Samuel, the 50-year-old transient who kidnapped and killed Lily Burk in July 2009, will escape a possible death penalty by pleading today to first-degree murder, carjacking and other crimes.

The Los Angeles Press Club has secured Sean Penn to present its President's Award to Anderson Cooper for his coverage of Haiti.

The judge overseeing the Associated Press lawsuit against Shepard Fairey — over his famous "HOPE" poster of then-candidate Barack Obama — told the Los Angeles artist that he is likely to lose in court.

Coleman, the child star of the hit sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes," died at a hospital in Provo, Utah after suffering a brain hemorrhage at home earlier this week.

Voltage Pictures' complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. doesn't name anybody, but incorporates 5,000 people it says illegally downloaded the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker."

The Los Angeles Times Media Group on Thursday announced that it "restructured" the entertainment division of its advertising department, naming three new vice presidents. The most interesting part was buried...

Posting will occur at a somewhat lighter pace through the holiday weekend....

OC political blogger Jon Fleischman wonders if talk about tearing down the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center to accommodate an NFL stadium shoots in the foot Mayor Villaraigosa's attempt to lure the big Comic-Con convention away from San Diego.

Anibal Archila was injured in the eruption that closed the airport at Guatemala City, declared missing then confirmed dead Thursday night.

The Huffington Post loves Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, or at least loves his press releases. And now Lu Parker promotes her stuff there too.

CNN's website has an interactive map of all 5,485 U.S. deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, each dot loaded with personal information and corresponding to a dot on the war zone maps.

"(500) Days of Summer" re-envisioned as a thriller.

he Los Angeles Theatre on Broadway was packed last night for the opening film of the 24th year of Last Remaining Seats.

Look whose bio has gone missing from the KTLA website. Victoria Recaño has co-anchored the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news on Channel 5 just since last fall.

The Lakers' Ron Artest missed two three-point attempts in the final minute or so, the second miss coming with a Lakers lead and a full 24-second clock. Then, after the Suns tied the game with three seconds to go and Kobe missed his final shot, Artest grabbed the rebound and sank the game-winner.

Ross and David Newhan have found a blog niche they should have all to themselves.

Janice Min's plans for THR, a Mickey Kaus radio spot, plus billboards, Charlie Beck, Bobby Shriver and a fun transit blog.

Fox 11's John Schwada went with a story Wednesday night on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sitting in free courtside seats at Lakers games with girlfriend Lu Parker or with his daughter ‐ seats not reported on gift forms.

Five years after French writer and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy observed Los Angeles somewhat harshly in the pages of the Atlantic, writer Conor Friedersdorf prosecutes a point-by-point defense of L.A. on the magazine's website.

Anna Gorman of the Los Angeles Times is among the journalists selected to spend the year at Harvard and attend Nieman Foundation for Journalism reunions forever after. She "plans to...

Art Linkletter, who died today at home in Bel-Air, was a ubiquitous broadcast presence from the 1940s through the 1960s, and a voice and emcee at Los Angeles events for long after.

Lynn Garrett, who started the Hidden Los Angeles website and wildly popular Facebook pages of the same name about a year ago, has quit her job to run the sites and plans to hire an employee.

Whitman's people claim big lead, debuts for the new Tom Bradley Terminal and Coadjutor Archbishop Jose Gomez, an LAPD cop gets $2 million from a jury and the Times gives itself its awards. Plus more after the jump.

Former Us Weekly editor Janice Min has been named the editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter, says Huffington Post media editor Danny Shea on Twitter.

Gayle Anderson's segment at Santa Monica beach went on despite a parking officer scribbling out tickets, perhaps not knowing she was on live across Southern California.

The Suns' bench went crazy with three-pointers, and Kobe's 38 for the Lakers weren't enough.

This third round of bonuses will bring "to more than $72 million the amount of pay enhancements the media company handed out while operating under bankruptcy protection."

Mike Barbour, the project manager on the big 405 freeway rehab and widening project from the Westside through Sepulveda Pass to the Valley, will take questions on the Metro website from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

Steve Greenberg's editorial cartoon on Proposition 16 needs a little more size than they usually get in the media box at the top right of the main page. So I'm...

You won't believe what a paramedic call costs in Los Angeles — and they want to raise it 37%. Plus Meg Whitman's polling, advice from David Nahai, some blog and media notes, a job opening at the ACLU and bad reviews for "Sex and the City."

The Orange County Local News Network was a partner of the Los Angeles Times, working out of the Times' offices in Costa Mesa and doing hyper-local coverage.

Kent Mackenzie's 1961 film about Native Americans living in Downtown Los Angeles premiered that year at the Venice Film Festival but was not released commercially. It screens Wednesday at The Hammer.

Tonight on WWLA, Warren Olney talks to Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk about last week's decision to build electric vehicles at the former NUMMI factory in Fremont — and not in Downey or Long Beach. Downey City Councilmember Mario Guerra and John O'Dell, Senior Editor of Edmunds' GreenCarAdvisor.com, are also on.

Jeremy W. Peters, who covers New York state government in Albany, takes over the New York Times newspaper and magazine beat as of June 1.

Today's powwow between the City Hall press corps and City Council president Eric Garcetti (plus members Jan Perry and Dennis Zine) over media access was on the record after all....

Monica Lozano, the publisher and CEO of La Opinión, has been named chief executive officer of parent ImpreMedia

Plans to shut down Metblogs L.A. and the rest of the network are now on hold.

Lindsay Lohan was fitted with a "secure continuous remote alcohol monitor" on her ankle before she left the Beverly Hills courthouse this morning &mash; a lighter, sleeker version than when she last wore an ankle monito

At least one political consultant was chuckling over the weekend about the Los Angeles Times using a photo of Assemblyman Hector de la Torre when the paper meant to endorse Dave Jones. "

City Hall reporters have a noon appointment with Council President Eric Garcetti and pro-tem Jan Perry (or their representatives) to discuss the new access restrictions for the council chambers that...

Sarah Ferguson and Bruce Beresford-Redman skulk into town, though not necessarily together. Plus a Monday assortment of media, politics and news notes.

Metblogs, the global network of local blogs that began here as blogging.la, is closing down due to lack of financial support. Farewell message from Sean Bonner and Jason DeFillippo.

An LAFD crew answering a 911 call pronounced screenwriter Simon Monjack dead at his home in the Hollywood Hills.

The Lakers led by 1 with under nine minutes to play, then Phoenix kicked into high gear while L.A. kept missing key shots.

Lima died today at home in Los Angeles, reportedly of a heart attack. A native of the Dominican Republic, Lima won 89 games in thirteen seasons as a pitcher, including in 2004 the Dodgers' first port-season win in more than a decade.