Portal:Greater Los Angeles

Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the unincorporated Universal City community of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketing headline is "The Entertainment Capital of LA", though during the summer it is often advertised as "The Coolest Place in LA". It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios soundstages and sets. It is the first of many full-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks located across the world. Woody Woodpecker is the mascot for Universal Studios Hollywood. The entrance to the theme park may be accessed by the Metro Red line subway line at Universal City Station and other Metro bus routes.

Outside the theme park, a new, all-digital facility near the Universal Studios backlot in an effort to merge all of NBCUniversal's West Coast operations into one area. As a result, the current home for KNBC, KVEA and NBC News with Telemundo Los Angeles Bureaus with new digital facility on the Universal lot formerly occupied by Technicolor SA. Universal City includes hotels Universal Hilton & Towers, the Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, the multi-screen Globe Theatre, often used for banquets and receptions and Universal CityWalk, which offers a collection of shops and restaurants. In 2013, the park hosted 6,148,000 guests, placing it 17th in the world and 9th among North American parks.

More...

• ... that Rabbi Ezra Schochet, dean of Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad, Los Angeles, is also the yeshiva's CEO, curriculum supervisor, and senior professor of Talmud?
• ... that former UCLA Bruins basketball player Joshua Smith became a fan of the university after his eighth-grade report on Bruins coach John Wooden?
• ... that before she died of cancer, art curator Karin Higa was writing her doctoral dissertation entitled Little Tokyo, Los Angeles: Japanese American Art and Visual Culture, 1919–1941?
• ... that Rome & Jewel is a hip hop musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set in Los Angeles?
• ... that artist Edith R. Wyle, grandmother of actor Noah Wyle, founded the Craft and Folk Art Museum (sign pictured) in Los Angeles?
• ... that Trent Reznor recorded The Downward Spiral at 10050 Cielo Drive, the house where Sharon Tate was murdered?

January - May 2014

Villaraigosa in 2013

Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (/ˌviːəraɪˈɡoʊsə/; né Villar Jr. on January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, a member of President Barack Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board, and chair of the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Before becoming mayor, he was a member of the California State Assembly (1994–2000), where he served as the Democratic Majority Leader (1996–98), and the Speaker of the California State Assembly (1998–2000). As speaker, Villaraigosa was an advocate for working families and helped to write legislation protecting the environment, expanding healthcare access, and increasing funding for public schools. (Full article...)