As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice and the press making the speaker of the California State Assembly, Fabian Nunez, run away when being asked hard questions about sketchy luxurious and worldly expenses.

DCist spent the week honoring some local heroes. First and foremost, they honored 75 year-old Mona Shaw, who smashed up a local Comcast cable office with a hammer after she got fed up with their terrible service. They also premiered a new music video by rising D.C. band Georgie James and got some great comments in support of a local reporter who got kicked out of the White House by First Lady Laura Bush for asking a tough question about voting rights. Finally, they got a chance to hear from famed photographer Annie Leibovitz about her new exhibition at the Corcoran and...they had to bust Wizards star Gilbert Arenas for cheating at Halo 3. Sometimes Agent Zero isn't always a hero.

Gothamist loves fall - and can't helping loving City Councilman James Oddo for letting his f-bomb flag fly when a Norwegian comedian fails to be funny. Also fun: A makeover that a statue of Mahatma Ghandi got. Not so fun: A noose found outside a Columbia professor's door, a , or the strange murder where a man killed his date and slept next to the body for days. The And the Big Apple blog spoke to Jonny Greenwood about his solo projects and that album his band Radiohead dropped this week.

Phillyist rubbed elbows with teenagers and had their pens stolen at a concert, which made the, stark "raven" mad. A local drug bust proved that they really do need you to take your shoes off at the airport, and got a glimpse of what might have been a normal sight if the Phillies hadn't choked. They also made it through hell, and found themselves back in 1995.

Oh, it's on. Sparked by Desperate Housewives' recent assessment of medical schooling in the Philippines, SFist witnessed a heated protest at the Disney Store -- i.e., Disney-ABC TV. (Come again, Teri?) A building manager/tenant feud led to a passive-aggressive find. (Meow!) And an electronic mail exchange between SFist and SF Bay Guardian scribes amused and angered readers. (Pft.) Flare-ups notwithstanding, cyclocross enthusiasts impressed us with their bloody knees, perilous cycling skills, and tight spandex. (Dangerous? Yes. But safer than riding Muni buses these days.)

In London, an almighty crack has appeared in the floor of the Tate Modern gallery which allowed plenty of puns and innuendos to fly around to coincide with a sudden load of sexy stuff that has flooded the city. Meanwhile, for those trying to avoid getting hot under the collar about cracks and coupling, there was the chance to ponder the economics of music tickets and then taking all that financial thinking to a free lunch and a little learning. And learning is cool, as long it's free and makes it onto the map.

All week long, Bostonist has laughed until their sides split at the Boston Comedy Festival Comedy Contest, in which over 90 comedians compete for a big break. But it's not all funny--some extremely talented female comedians got robbed this year. Bostonist had plenty of other reasons to laugh besides the comedy festival. For starters, the public transportation system has decided that commuters need a little soft rock to get through the day. Bostonist will laugh until the strains of Neil Diamond's "Cracklin' Rosie" drives them insane. And, if they weren't laughing, Bostonist was definitely smiling as the Red Sox advanced and beat Cleveland in Game 1 of the ALCS. But it absolutely wasn't funny when the MLB rained on a presidential candidate's attempt to raffle off much-coveted Red Sox tix.

Want to know what else is happening across the Ist-a-Verse? Check out this week's favorites on Austinist, Chicagoist, Houstonist, Sampaist, Seattlest and Shanghaiist, and Torontoist.

SFist's Disney-ABC TV protest image: Jim Herd