Photo Credit: Malingering

Image captured by Chicagoist's Laura Oppenheimer.

After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked a question sacreligious to many hardcore local fast food chain fans: is Fatburger better than In-N-Out? It is rumored that the burger debate angered so many readers that it led to a 7:00 a.m. bicycle heist, victimizing one of their writers (who the hell lurks around at this godforsaken hour with bolt cutters?). More punishment in Los Angeles came with the arrest of immigration activist Elvira Arellano where it made national headlines, except in local papers where the story was buried. On an ultra local level, they caught up with artist Juan Devis about the Boyle Heights cybermural project.

Bostonist has been enjoying the whimsical, carefree last days of summer by attending one of the city's best festivals, and they're also looking forward to football season. Bridget Moynahan finally had Tom Brady's baby - good news because Brady won't be skipping out on this season's opening game. In others sports news, Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon is looking to end his summer on a high note. He invented a new pitch and christened it with the bold name of "The Slutter." Unfortunately, Papelbon's fellow pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka, appears to be ending his summer with a whimper. Meanwhile, the local schools are gearing up. One of greater Boston's more prominent colleges is gloating about how rich they are, while another is suffering yet another embarrassment at the hands of its athletes. Last, but not least, a nearby town stood up to a prominent national institution - and its actions are having a global impact.

The folks at Chicagoist are still cleaning up from the monster storms that hit their area Thursday. Before they donned their waders, however, they found that readers were glad that Elvira Arellano was deported back to Mexico but frustrated that the French are refusing to extradite a suspected murderer back home to stand trial. Lucky for them, there's a new beer company in town, so they can drink their problems away, at least for a while. Just don't bike home inebriated in the wider bike lanes Governor Blagojevich signed into law. Finally, a post about the kid-friendly qualities of a popular brunch spot led to the readers ripping each other to shreds in the comments.

SFist, yet again, dealt with a couple of old items resurrected by new controversy: the Tenderloin Housing Clinic's cam scandal and the evacuation-of-Golden-Gate-Park kerfuffle one month later. "Cult Alert!" flyers warning against YWAM papered downtown San Francisco. Sacramento's NOW chapter admonished a most vile Big Brother 8 houseguest, the fittingly-named Dick. And, for better or for worse, Burning Man wackiness has begun.

While LAist is prepares for Burning Man's 21st, they celebrated what would have been Charles Bukowski's 87th birthday. Hell, why not celebrate The Dude at Lebowski Fest. Or guys and girls dressed up as Oompa Loompas or sexy 1960's flight attendants playing beach volleyball in a tournament? But the true celebration for Los Angeles will come on the peaceful day when black and brown learn to get down.

This week, SFist found (a presumably pre-AA) Mayor Gavin Newsom looking strikingly similar Sophia Loren. On the downside, the Tenderloin Housing Clinic forced its one-time ally and documentarian to foolishly take down his informative and helpful hallway cam. SFist cover boy Ed Jew came to the defense of local radio nut, Michael Savage; SFPD got cross with some skaters; and the left-hand-inflicted folk finally got their day.

Londonist met some interesting characters this week. First, they spoke to a lady who collects stories about virginity loss. Another Londoner is renting herself out on dates to raise money for brain tumor research. And why was Bill Cinton wearing orange socks with a green tie?

Bostonist welcomed Ron Jeremy to town, but his visit wasn't without incident. A drunk driver nearly took out the porn star's tour bus. Of course everyone wanted a picture with Ron Jeremy - and a cop might be in trouble for posing in uniform. If it's not porn, it'll be sports and politics on the front page. Mitt Romney was mixed in both when it was released that he and his wife have significant investment in YES, the TV network that televises all of the Evil Empire's games. Bostonist issued a warning about peeing on the toilet seat, as such action may have been the background that will send a woman to jail for first-degree murder. And Boston beat out all the other -ist cities in the survey that gave Boston the title of Bloggiest city.

Over at DCist, the news that former Mayor Marion Barry and Michael Jackson have become friends was just too much for them to take, so they spent the rest of the week trying to get over it. While recovering, they wondered why movies set in D.C. never get it right, why Metro won't just outright direct people to stand to the right and walk to the left, why GQ Magazine could possibly think Condoleezza Rice is the most influential person in town, and what's up with that Samuel Gompers Monument.