Los Angeles

R&B singer Ray J was arrested early Thanksgiving morning, according to jail records and a police spokesman.

The 44-year-old artist — whose legal name is Willie Norwood — was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, according to Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Mike Bland.

Jail records show Norwood was arrested around 4 a.m. by officers from LAPD’s Devonshire Division, which patrols parts of the San Fernando Valley including Chatsworth and Northridge.

Bland could not provide details on the incident or say exactly where Norwood was arrested. He was released on $50,000 bond a few hours after his arrest, according to jail records.

The younger brother of actress and singer Brandy, Norwood is best known for the tracks “One Wish” and “Sexy Can I.” He was sued for defamation in October by his ex-girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, over comments he made in a TMZ documentary.

Ray J is married to actor and producer Princess Love Norwood, whom he co-starred with on the reality show “Love & Hip Hop,” which showcased an often contentious relationship. The two, who share two children, are in the process of a divorce, as People reported last year.

DICK Van Dyke has admitted he’s “finally slowing down”, as the Hollywood icon prepares for his 100th birthday.

The father-of-four is set to celebrate his milestone birthday on December 13, and he has been reflecting on his long and incredible life so far.

To celebrate his HUGE milestone, Marry Poppins star Dick chatted to Today’s Al Roker, for an emotional interview about his life.

During their sit down, they discussed the actor’s new book, 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life.

Al also revealed how the actor had admitted “to finally slowing down” in his incredible career.

Reading from Dick’s new book, Al said: “You’ve written here, ‘I care about the survival of what I have shared with the world.’”

To which Dick replied: “It’s true.”

The star also added of his incredible career: “I got to do for a living, what I would’ve done for nothing.”

Dick also encouraged fans to “look for the best of everything, look what’s positive and the people that are positive.”

It comes just days after Dick revealed that he was becoming increasingly housebound as a result of “physical decay”.

“It’s frustrating to feel diminished in the world, physically and socially,” he penned in an essay for The Times at the weekend.

“I get invites to events or offers for gigs in New York or Chicago, but that kind of travel takes so much out of me that I have to say no.

“Almost all of my visiting with folks has to happen at my house.”

SECRETS TO A HAPPY LIFE

Despite his physical ailments, the iconic actor is still positive about life.

“Boiled down, the things that have kept my life joyful and fulfilling are pretty simple: romance, doing what I love and a whole lot of laughing,” Dick wrote.

Despite his physical ailments, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star is relentlessly positive about life, praising his wife for keeping him young as well as seeing the world and his experiences of it like a “giant playground”.

“Boiled down, the things that have kept my life joyful and fulfilling are pretty simple: romance, doing what I love and a whole lot of laughing,” he wrote.

Dick also revealed he goes to the gym three times a week, as well as continuing to dance and sing.

BECOMING A STAR

After starring in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie in the role of Albert J. Peterson, which he played on Broadway, Dick got his huge break and was cast by Disney in Mary Poppins in 1964.

His main role was as Bert, a jack-of-all-trades who is very good friends with Mary Poppins, but he was also cast as the doddery old bank chairman Mr Dawes Senior.

The film, which starred Julie Andrews in the lead role, was a huge success and Chim Chim Cher-ee, which Bert sings in the movie, went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song.

However, to this day, Dyke’s Cockney accent is lambasted as the accent in film history, and according to Dyke, no one on the set of the film told him how bad it was.

But to this day it is still his best-known role and on his 90^th birthday, he was surprised by a flash-mob at The Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles.

Dyke also starred in Disney’s 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the lead role of Caractacus Pott, after he turned down the role of Fagin in the 1968 musical Oliver!

RAY Donovan star Liev Schreiber has been rushed to a New York hospital after suffering a massive headache.

The Tony award-winning actor is reported to be going through a series of tests since he was hospitalised, according to TMZ.

Isaac Liev Schreiber, 58, experienced the massive headache on Sunday and called his doctor.

He was then directed to go to hospital immediately.

Doctors have been unable to determine the exact cause of the pain.

However, Schreiber is said to be able to speak and walk without any issues – having full use of his arms and legs.

In the past, the Emmy-nominated actor has experienced a sudden episode of memory loss triggered by a migraine.

This occurred once when he was starring in a Broadway production of Doubt: A Parable.

He spoke about the episode on an appearance with Late Night host Seth Meyers last, describing it as “the worst nightmare that an actor could possibly ever experience”.

Schreiber added: “I was in my dressing room and I had a terrible headache. I thought it was maybe a fast food headache, but it felt a little stronger than that. I’m walking down the stairs and I’m thinking – this is not normal.

“I don’t feel okay.”

He recalled knowing “something was really wrong” when he could not remember his co-star Amy Ryan’s name backstage before having to perform.

An MRI led to the father-of-three being diagnosed with transient global amnesia.

He shares his 18-year-old son, Sasha, and 16-year-old daughter, Kai, with ex-partner Naomi Watts.

The two actors ended their relationship of 11 years in 2016, and both remarried.

Schreiber is now married to former beauty queen Taylor Neisen who was crowned Miss South Dakota in 2012.

They welcomed their first child together in August 2023 after marrying in July.

Schreiber list of acting credits includes Scream, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Mixed Nuts, Party Girl, and The Daytrippers.

He has in the past been nominated for nine Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards.

Michael Fiorelli’s pizza could be categorized as a cross between New York and Neapolitan, based on his dough hydration levels, and the temperature of his oven.

“If you showed a pizzaiolo what I was doing, they would say it’s all wrong,” says Fiorelli. “Wrong flour, wrong temp. But we do it that way because we like the way it tastes.”

Fiorelli and business parter Liz Gutierrez opened a pizzeria out of a teensy Beverly Grove storefront in early November. Before that, they were making pizzas with a mobile oven at Cook’s Garden in Venice. Fiorelli’s crust has the structure of a New York pizza, with just enough crunch, and an interior with the supple softness of a traditional Neapolitan. He brushes the crust with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkles on sea salt just before the pizza goes into the oven, ensuring that each slice is well seasoned through the last bite. Crushed Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes and sea salt constitute his red sauce, for a base that’s flavorful but not overly acidic. He covers the tomatoes in leaves of Brussels sprouts and hot cherry peppers on one pie, or there’s the classic pepperoni or supreme. The Bianco deserves special praise, with a symphony of four cheeses, roasted garlic, fingerling potatoes, fresh lemon and guandilla peppers. Bite the tip of a pepper, drizzle the juice on a slice and enjoy.

Seasoned fitness coaches Mary Pelino and Lizzy Picardi met at their local powerlifting gym, where they instantly became friends in meet-cute fashion. The hours they spent together sparked the beginning of an idea: to open an inclusive, women-owned gym. After finding a space, Pelino and Picardi officially launched the small-but-mighty Rose City Barbell in the summer of 2022.

“Our mission from the beginning,” Pelino told me, “has been to make humans stronger. That includes everyone — women, men, any gender, from beginners to advanced lifters.” This is why Pelino designs the Monday through Friday barbell programming with modifications in mind: so that everyone can perform the same lifts, no matter their skill level.

I am self-conscious about my piddly strength, but when I walked into Rose City’s brick-lined main room, where there were daisies painted on the lilac-colored deadlift platforms, my lizard brain felt at ease. The gym was also stocked with a variety of inclusive, high-quality equipment, such as 15 to 55 pound specialty barbells, belts of all sizes, 10-pound bumper plates and fractional plates as light as a quarter pound.

That morning, I was greeted by my coach, Sionann, as well as my gym-mate, Davida, before preparing to work on our bench presses. We warmed up together, then performed a light set of bench presses, three sets of six. In between sets, I learned that Davida was a gallery owner, a mother of two, and like me, found Rose City through word-of-mouth. Pumping iron, as it turns out, is a social affair — especially when the classes, which are capped at eight, are this intimate.

“The beauty of the gym comes from the people who we spend time with,” said Picardi, which is why Rose City hosts an array of social events for the community, including clothing swaps, lettering classes and Friendsgiving potlucks. The gym also hosts seasonal mock meets where attendees compete in a setting that emulates the experience of a professional powerlifting meet, prizes and all.

After the main lift, we moved onto accessory work. Sionann gently corrected my form as I performed gorilla rows, instructing me to picture my arms as if they were chains. I pulled the dumbbells off the floor toward my hips, mimicking the movements of a majestic ape. By the end of the class, I did indeed feel like a stronger Homo sapien.

Parking: Plenty of street parking

Pricing: $45 per drop-in; $325 for 13 classes per month; $433 for unlimited classes plus gym access

BELOVED actor Dick Van Dyke has issued a concerning health update as he shares his secrets to a long and happy life ahead of his 100th birthday.

The award-winning star revealed on Sunday that he feels “diminished” and is becoming increasingly housebound as a result of his frailty.

The father-of-four is set to celebrate his 100th birthday on December 13.

Ahead of the celebrations, he penned an essay for The Times, issuing an update on his health and opening up about the secrets to a long and happy life.

Reflecting on some of his most iconic roles as aged men, the TV icon accepted, “I’m not playing a super-old any more. I am a super-old”.

“I am now a stooper, a shuffler and a teeterer. I have feet problems and I go supine as often as is politely possible,” he wrote.

“I have trouble following group conversations and complain frequently about my hearing aids.

“At mealtime I spill stuff, and when my wife, Arlene, asks me to put on an unstained shirt before we go out, I get impatient.”

The TV icon revealed that he is becoming increasingly housebound as a result of “physical decay”.

“It’s frustrating to feel diminished in the world, physically and socially,” he said.

“I get invites to events or offers for gigs in New York or Chicago, but that kind of travel takes so much out of me that I have to say no.

“Almost all of my visiting with folks has to happen at my house.”

Despite his physical ailments, the Mary Poppins star is relentlessly positive about life, praising his wife for keeping him young as well as seeing the world and his experiences of it like a “giant playground”.

“Boiled down, the things that have kept my life joyful and fulfilling are pretty simple: romance, doing what I love and a whole lot of laughing,” he wrote.

As well as still going to the gym three times a week, being part of a singing group, and always dancing, Dick has a number of rules to staying young at heart while making it to 100.

Trying not to let negativity take over is one of the key tenants of his life.

While he admitted that he can “spiral into anguish over the mayhem and cruelty” of the world, and turn into a stereotypical grumpy old man, “that’s not the essence of me,” he says.

Instead, he recommends embracing all life throws at you – the good, the bad, and the ugly – without giving into it.

Dance, sing, and be able to laugh at yourself, he said, if you can’t do the latter, “you’ve got big problems”.

Two other rules he lives by are to always be playful and to refuse to live in the past.

Even on rare outings, the actor makes sure his playful side is on full display.

Last year he even joked that he “hopes he makes it to 99th birthday” as he was seen running errands in Malibu.

Now, as he prepares to reach a century, he is showing no signs of slowing down with his new book ‘100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life’ being released on November 18.

Handwritten notes. Free product samples. Email responses to questions. And in some cases (shout-out to Surfing Cowboys in Malibu), an old-school phone call to discuss a gift item.

This is the kind of service that sets local businesses apart, offering personalized experiences you won’t find on Amazon.

From independent artists working at home to brands manufacturing in downtown Los Angeles, these businesses offer a diverse range of products and services that reflect the unique character of our city, which has been affected by wildfires, ICE raids and a struggling economy.

The gifts I’ve included here are all from Los Angeles-based businesses. They carry a personal touch — a connection to the people and the city. Some are handmade while others are manufactured, but all of them are a part of our city’s unique fabric.

Let’s keep it going and support small businesses in Los Angeles this holiday season. Our connection to one another is our strength.

If you make a purchase using some of our links, the L.A. Times may be compensated. Prices and availability of items and experiences in the Gift Guide and on latimes.com are subject to change.