Musician Ray Manzarek, keyboard player of The Doors, died today in a hospital in Germany. He was 74.
Manzarek’s chance meeting with Jim Morrison at Venice Beach in 1965 led to the band’s formation.  Manzarek, a Chicago native, moved to Los Angeles to study film at UCLA.  He met Morrison on the Westwood campus while the future Doors frontman was briefly studying there.
“[Manzarek] was the …

Fans of the cult favorite TV show Arrested Development already have this Sunday blocked off the calendar. That’s when Netflix will release all 15 episodes of the latest season. FOX canceled the show seven years ago, yet it has only grown in stature.
While the program is a comedic masterpiece, far more interesting is its choice of setting: Orange County, California. What statements does Arrested …

Has your mailbox been overflowing in recent weeks with political mailers touting candidates for tomorrow’s election? Mine has. At some point, I started to wonder: Who makes these things? How does the business work? I recently spoke to two slate mail producers — one Democrat, one Republican — to get some answers.
The mailers I examined are simple advertising vehicles: Candidates pay for their images …

Election’s eve. Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel will be criss-crossing the city today in a last-dash effort to sway undecided voters. After two years of campaigning, the hard fought and expensive campaign for mayor of L.A. comes to an end tomorrow.
A new USC-L.A. Times poll gives Garcetti a seven-point lead over Greuel – 48 percent to 41 percent – with 11 percent of likely …

Just a few more days before you go to the polls.  Let’s review, shall we?
We’re in the final stretch, so here’s some information you need to know about the candidates and propositions before you punch, pull or bubble-in that ballot.
KCRW’s Warren Olney, host of Which Way, LA? and To The Point joined us, as did KCRW reporter Saul Gonzalez, who’s been covering some of the campaigns …

This Tuesday is the Los Angeles general election. Thousands of paid canvassers have taken to the streets to get out the vote. And there have been lots of TV ads that have been increasingly negative.
Much of the money for these efforts isn’t actually coming from the campaigns. They’re coming from outside expenditure groups – PACs. They can pretty much say and do whatever they …

There’s a Ride-Share War raging in the loading zones of Los Angeles.
On one side, you have a fleet of flashy social media companies with names like Lyft, Sidecar and Uber, which offer car services at the swipe of a smartphone app. On the other side, you have the hardened professionals behind the wheels of United Independent, Yellow Cab and the like.
I was totally ignorant …

Did you know that L.A. has more than 2 million eligible voters, but that 1.6 million of them are expected to skip the election on Tuesday? This means that you, dear voter, have a lot of responsibility.
When to Vote:
Polls are open from 7AM – 8PM on Tuesday, May 21st.
Where to Vote:
Find your polling place and a sample ballot here.
Wendy Greuel vs. Eric Garcetti:
Angelenos will finally …

Top prosecutor. The city attorney’s race came to “Which Way, L.A.?” last night as KCRW’s Warren Olney conducted separate interviews with the candidates in Tuesday’s run-off election. The incumbent, Carmen Trutanich – or “Nuch” as he’s commonly known – finds himself in an uphill battle to keep the job that he won in a surprise victory four years ago.
After pledging not to run for another …

Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to vote for the next mayor of Los Angeles and several other key offices. But will there be a flood of ballots, or merely a trickle?
Used to be, a lot more votes were cast in L.A. during big city elections. Here we are on the cusp of selecting a new mayor for the second most populous …