Melena Ryzik, lead writer for the New York Times' Carpetbagger awards blog, hit town this week and attended the Hollywood Reporter Oscars party on Thursday night at the mayor's residence...

Kind of a ragged show on IFC tonight from the Film Independent Spirit Awards — lots of gaps and fumbles. The actors also seemed fairly miserable about the chilly temperature in the tent on Santa Monica Beach.

"Caution," located at Soto and 1st streets, was sawed off the wall in broad daylight, as they say.

Jeremy Bernard, Darryl Morden, Cardinal Mahony and more.

There's lots of visible snow this afternoon on the mountain slopes lining the Los Angeles basin, but the predictions of snow below 1,000 feet proved to be overly enthusiastic.

Nikki Finke says that the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences this morning pulled her film editor Mike Fleming's backstage press credential to cover Sunday's Oscars, citing Deadline's reporting of spoilers about the show.

Reacting apparently to Nikki Finke posting details of Sunday's Oscar telecast, Hollywood blogger David Poland has posted a "Crazy Nikki" rant that's aggressive even for him — and also says that motion picture academy president Tom Sherak should be fired "if he continues to feed her any information."

Maurice Cruz made his first alleged prank call to 9-1-1 last August 27 at approximately 4:46 p.m.. He placed the last of more than 18,000 calls this morning at about 2:35 — and then he was arrested.

She tells the New York Times fashion magazine that she's now a French housewife who cooks every night, but there's also the designer clothes and front-row seats at the fashion shows.

There are spoilers galore in Nikki Finke's report on what will be in the Oscars show on Sunday, so tread carefully if that matters to you.

Ted Soqui at LA Photo has posted a page of pictures from this morning's memorial procession in Downtown for fallen LAFD firefighter Glenn Allen. Links to more coverage.

Venues being considered include Staples Center, Honda Center, the Sports Arena — plus Ontario, Bakersfield and San Diego.

Brown to get support of L.A. Chamber for taxes, Tom Campbell to run Chapman Law, Villaraigosa wants higher wall around Getty House, plus Charlie Sheen, Cardinal Mahony, Frank McCourt, Chris Erskine, "Glee" and more.

An NBC source says that "Today" will do a pre-Oscars piece about (or with?) Deadline's Nikki Finke in the 7:30 a.m. half-hour on Friday's show.

Danielle Berrin, who writes the Hollywood Jew column for the Jewish Journal, recounts her failed attempt to get an interview with Aaron Sorkin about the women in "The Social Network" — and his reaction to the column she did finally write.

Streets around City Hall and the cathedral will be closed Friday morning for the funeral procession and service for Glenn Allen, the LAFD veteran killed fighting a fire in the Hollywood Hills last week.

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown will sign copies of his memoir, "Against All Odds: My Life of Hardship, Fast Breaks and Second Chances" at noon Friday at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena.

They'll take your recommendations at the website until April 10.

State Department warns journos in Libya, Alarcon cleared of one accusation, Abby Sunderland memoir sells and more books notes.

The former editor of Los Angeles magazine and the LA Weekly starts April 18 at the progressive policy/politics magazine based in Washington, DC.

L.A. Times photographer Luis Sinco and staff writer Raja Abdulrahim crossed into Libya on Wednesday to report on the clashes there.

They will get back Mo Williams and Jamario Moon, sources tell ESPN and LAT's Lisa Dillman.

Heather Armstrong has traveled a lot of blog miles since she was fired from her Los Angeles start-up job in 2002 for keeping a personal online diary called a weblog.

Storm that's coming could bring snow to areas that rarely see it.

Javier Bardem, Helen Mirren and Matthew McConaughey have been newly added to the list of Oscar presenters at Sunday's ceremony. Mo’Nique and Christoph Waltz, winners last year and thus invited...

Deadline's Nikki Finke has publicly called out The Wrap for taking her content, and reports that a "cease-and-desist" letter was sent from her corporate overseer to Sharon Waxman and her board of directors

Kriski has been missing from the "KTLA Morning News" since early November while fighting an infection that led to pneumonia.

Part of the 55 freeway in Orange County is now the Paul Johnson Memorial Freeway.

David Viens jumped in Rancho Palos Verdes hours after being named in a Daily Breeze story.

Robert Rizzo leaves on a gurney, Lindsay Lohan walks away but is told that she faces jail time if convicted or if she pleads out.

Los Angeles magazine's Hidden LA cover package this month has some fun stuff. Not amused, though, are fans of the wildly popular Hidden LA website and Facebook page.

On a recent episode of "The Simpsons," Bart Simpson's list of "must-see attractions" for Los Angeles included Cerritos Auto Square, Keyes on Van Nuys, "The Valley," LAX lot C, the...

Apple after Jobs, Cardinal Mahony's mixed legacy, Lohan back in court, politics and media notes and the Ciclavia route.

The Los Angeles Fire Department tweets: No need to call 9-1-1.

KCBS had a good story at 11 p.m. tonight showing the valises, 1930s newspapers and silk wrappings that contained those two mummified newborns found in a Westlake area apartment last year.

Members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department's search and rescue team are at LAX right about now boarding a flight for New Zealand.

Caltech broke its 310-game losing streak with a one-point win tonight over rival Occidental in the final game of the season. It's the Beavers' first basketball win in the conference since, oh, 1985.

Rahm Emanuel, the former White House Chief of Staff and brother of Ari and Zeke, avoided a runoff by drawing 55% despite the presence of five other candidates.

Video: Never underestimate how loud an earthquake can be as it pummels your home.

Jonathan Alcorn spots this latest Banksy piece on a tank at the base of the palisades along PCH across from Will Rogers Beach. Recently: LAT: The truth of 'Exit Through...

It's all about academy voters' second and third choices for Best Picture. 'Social Network,' maybe.

Larry Mendte, a former news anchor in Philadelphia, is interesting here in L.A. pretty much only because he was the colleague who criminally snooped in co-anchor Alycia Lane's email.

Christopher Hitchens, Patti Smith, Jonathan Franzen, Laura Hillenbrand and Michael Lewis (plus others) are on the list of finalists for the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.

Hijacked couple killed by pirates, 6 quake deaths in New Zealand, Philip Bruce leaves NPR West and more local media and politics notes.

Mistakes were made by deputies at the East Los Angeles riot in 1970 at which newsman Ruben Salazar was killed, but there's no surviving evidence that Salazar was targeted, says a report by the sheriff department's Office of Independent Review.

The new West Hollywood restaurant by Craig Susser, former manager at Dan Tana's, got the feature treatment in the New York Times over the weekend.

This year's 25th run of Last Remaining Seats in the Broadway Historic Theatre District will open at the Orpheum with "Rear Window," the Alfred Hitchcock classic starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, and end there with Harold Lloyd in "Safety Last."

Politics and media notes, plus obituaries.

The Los Angeles Times picked up this year's Polk in local reporting for those stories on corruption in the city of Bell.

On Feb. 22, 1911, trains from Los Angeles delivered the first buyers of vacant lots to the new town of Van Nuys.

After a couple of journos recently spotted Britain's Charles Spencer, the brother of the late Princess Diana, in Arianna Huffington's living room in Brentwood, the question went out on Twitter: what's he doing here? Now we know.

LA Weekly editor Drex Heikes told the staff this afternoon that the paper's new arts and culture editor will be Zachary Pincus-Roth.

And now from a real photographer: Jonathan Alcorn, out early Sunday at Marina del Rey.

Up on the roof on Sunday afternoon, after the storm.