New Years Eve

Las Vegas is one of the best places in the world to ring in a New Year (they don’t call the celebration on the Strip “America’s Party” for nothing). Not only are the crowds huge as midnight approaches on Dec. 31, but the spirit is unusually festive as most revelers are on vacation and away from the responsibilities (and inhibitions) of home. The New Year’s Eve festivities at Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas have traditionally been a locals’ favorite.

Dick Clark, the youthful-looking television personality who literally introduced rock 'n' roll to much of the nation on "American Bandstand" and for four decades was the first and last voice many Americans heard each year with his New Year's Eve countdowns, died Wednesday. He was 82. Clark died after suffering a heart attack following an outpatient procedure at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, according to a statement by his longtime publicist, Paul Shefrin. Clark's health had been in question since a 2004 stroke affected his speech and mobility, but that year's Dec. 31 countdown was the only one he missed since he started the annual rite during the Nixon years.

Weren't we supposed to be partying with robots on Mars by 2010? While someone's working on that, L.A.'s finest night owls have prepared some stellar parties for us to celebrate the beginning of this new decade. Here are a few of the best. But before you read further, please note: Lineups and ticket prices are subject to change, so call ahead before heading out Thursday night. Twenty Ten: A Space Odyssey L.A. Center Studios The club kingpins at Dolce Group have teamed with the event producers at Pandora Nightlife to take over L.A. Center Studios, an 18,000-square-foot soundstage.

Reporting from San Francisco -- A contrite and tearful Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, sentenced for falsely imprisoning his wife during a New Year's Eve argument, apologized Monday for the pain he has caused and said that "I accept full responsibility. " In a plea agreement reached as the high-profile case was about to go to trial, the district attorney's office dropped misdemeanor charges of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness. Mirkarimi was sentenced to three years' probation.

Anyone with a mind to whoop it up theatrically as the '80s wind down is in luck. New Year's Eve celebrations take center stage at several theaters around town, with shows and extra goodies to help audiences ring in the new. Here's a sampling: At the Los Angeles Theatre Center it's a champagne toast at 7:30 p.m. and special ticket prices for the 8 p.m. performances of Raymond J.

In a stepped-up effort to prevent a deadly barrage of gunfire on New Year's Eve, officials have enacted a citywide ban on munitions sales and announced plans Thursday to arrest revelers who shoot off firearms as part of holiday celebrations. The campaign, coupled with an advertising blitz, is designed to stop people from firing guns into the air to mark the new year--an illegal and sometimes deadly tradition that police battle annually.

First Night Fullerton, the city's annual New Year's Eve party, will take place this year after all. Lack of funds had threatened to abolish the street party, which typically draws thousands of people for various activities, including midnight fireworks. But the City Council voted this week to use $34,900 of redevelopment funds to put on the celebration, which it bills as a family event that offers a nonalcoholic alternative to conventional New Year's Eve parties.

The city will start a New Year's Eve tradition tonight when the downtown area is cordoned off for an alcohol-free evening of entertainment, art and other family activities. "First Night Fullerton" is modeled after a New Year's Eve celebration started in Boston in 1976 when Zeran Earls, a Boston resident, offered a "very grand arts celebration" in that city's downtown, said Ann Mottola, special events coordinator for Fullerton.

More than 100 police officers, four times the usual number, will patrol Hollywood's streets tonight to prevent a New Year's Eve repeat of Halloween rioting that damaged 12 stores and injured nine people--including three officers. Police said they are taking no chances, even though Hollywood street revelers typically usher in the new year more peacefully than they welcome November.

Last year, when I toasted in the New Year, it was around 10 p.m., and I was wearing a flowered flannel granny nightgown. It wasn't just because I was a grandmother. I was tired. And it's cold in New Jersey in December. New Year's used to be different. I remember when planning what I was going to wear on New Year's Eve took up all of December, and most of November. New Year's was the time to sparkle, twinkle and shine. New Year's was rhinestones! New Year's Eve, 1948: I was 13.

Kanye West earns a living as a rap impresario and moonlights in fashion with women's apparel and sneaker design collaborations. But there's a new bullet point on his résumé: celebrity DJ. On New Year's Eve in Las Vegas, West climbed into the booth to spin the grand opening of 1 OAK — the Mirage hotel and casino edition of New York City's exclusive haunt from Scott Sartiano and Richie Akiva. Under the name "Yeezyworldpeace," West played hits of his own (natch) like "Gold Digger," "Good Life" and the ubiquitous duet "… in Paris" with Jay-Z.

A Navy pilot committed suicide after apparently killing three other people in a Coronado apartment during a night of New Year's Eve celebrating, according to information released Wednesday by San Diego County authorities. John Robert Reeves, 25, an F/A-18 Hornet pilot in training at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, killed himself with a gunshot to the head, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and medical examiner. The other three people killed — Navy pilot David Reis, 25; his sister, Karen, 24; and Matthew Christopher Saturley, 31, of Chula Vista — are listed as homicide victims.

As Kaskade, Ryan Raddon is at the forefront of an electronica wave that's sweeping pop music and upending underground dance culture. But after a year when he did almost everything right as a DJ and producer, he's still trying to shake the one concert that went wrong. The San Clemente-based artist was among the biggest stories in dance music this year, reportedly commanding up to six figures per gig and conquering the global circuit with a double album, "Fire & Ice," that redefined his near-decade-long career and landed in the Billboard Top 20 (with its iTunes release hitting No. 4 on those charts)

Far from the lights of Hollywood, Las Vegas is the town where you star in your own movie — especially on New Year's Eve. Big stars host the partying there, and Ministry of Gossip tracked down Stevie Wonder and Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am and Fergie, all of whom are hosting events, to talk New Year's Eve do's and don'ts and just how that midnight kiss is supposed to go down — if you're lucky enough to nab one. Stevie Wonder, performing at...

New Year's Eve in Southern California has it all. Whether you want to ring in 2012 partying with 10,000 of your closest friends, sharing an intimate dinner with someone special, meditating for personal growth, or honking party horns with the kids, we have found an event for you: Big parties Together as One The gargantuan shindig moves from the L.A. Coliseum and takes on an all-star lineup of entertainment, including Diplo, Chromeo, Duck...

Pink Martini, the "little orchestra" of Portland, Ore., returns to ring in the New Year with its genre-crossing fusion of Brazilian samba, '30s Cuban dance and Parisian cafe, with special guest National Public Radio correspondent Ari Shapiro, who sang vocals on the group's fourth album, "Splendor in the Grass. " Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 7 and 10:30 p.m. $78-$209. (323) 850-2000. http://www.laphil.com

Hundreds of New Year's Eve revelers brought in 1989 with a barrage of random gunfire that resulted in one death, at least four injuries, dozens of arrests for illegal gunplay and a loss of electricity to nearly 14,000 customers in Los Angeles. Four police patrol cars were damaged by errant bullets in South-Central Los Angeles during the night as thousands of calls flooded police switchboards. "Every year it's the same thing," a 77th Division officer said Sunday.

Americans bade farewell to 1990 Monday under a blue moon with a second to spare, while revelers in major cities were warned not to fire their guns. A church that survived the 1871 Chicago Fire hoped to still be around next year. New Year's Eve was a fraction longer as a "leap second" was added to 1990 to help adjust for the slowing of Earth's rotation and to keep the official time in sync with the sun and the stars.

The Mexican electro band Kinky plays its signature Latin-rock-funk-techno blend for this pre-New Year's Eve celebration. The quintet has earned an international following touring with Modest Mouse, the Flaming Lips and De La Soul and playing festivals including Mexico City's Vive Latino and Austin City Limits. The Conga Room, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. $35-$65. (213) 745-0162. http://www.congaroom.com

Those who hesitated might have lost out on bargain New Year's Eve hotel rooms in New York City and San Francisco, but how much you pay also might depend on where you want to stay. NewYorkHotels.org reports prices in Big Apple hotels are way up for Dec. 31 compared with regular rates. The survey shows rooms at Hotel 91 on the Lower East Side jump from $125 to $933, and the Cosmopolitan in the Wall Street area increases from $129 to $549. Even the midtown Holiday Inn NYC's rates jump from $179 to $649.