The collective of street food vendors who used to operate as the Breed Street Food Fair were forced to close down in 2009, but several of the vendors are hoping to resume operations legally in Boyle Heights at a planned evening farmers' market. more ›

After about four years of closure, the historic First Street Bridge has finally reopened as of last Thursday. Los Angeles city officials will gather on the viaduct in celebration Tuesday morning. Closed to accommodate the construction of the Metro Gold Line extension to East L.A., the 82-year-old bridge is one of the L.A. River spans linking Boyle Heights to downtown L.A. more ›

We met Paranormal EXP, one of LA's foremost ghost hunter squads, outside the Old Zoo in Griffith Park. Coming off the recent taping of an episode of Paranormal Challenge for the Travel Channel (airing August 26th) and a win at STU CON, Clare, Jason, and Marcus were happy to talk about some of their recent adventures as we wandered the empty cages and picnic benches on an all-too bright Sunday afternoon. more ›

A nearly century-old church in Boyle Heights returned to a normal day of piety just hours after LAPD cleared out following a deadly standoff in one of the building's hallways, according to The Eastsider LA. more ›

Mariachi Plaza, a square in Boyle Heights, has served as a gathering spot for musicians since the 1940s. Players arrive with guitars, violins and trumpets, ready to perform for any interested passers-by. In recent years the mariachi mecca has seen a surge in instrumentalists, causing hourly rates to drop and fists to raise, as reported by The NY Times. more ›

So many tacos, so little time! Those of you planning to attend Casa Vega's 55th anniversary on June 28 can prep your appetite this Sunday, June 26 at the first annual LA Taco Festival in Boyle Heights. more ›

The naked body of a deceased woman was discovered late Monday night next to an off-ramp of the I-5 Freeway in Boyle Heights. The corpse, left in a plastic storage container, was likely dumped by her killer or killers, say the Los Angeles Police Department, according to LA Now. The body was found in the brush off the freeway at State Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue by a homeless person, who notified authorities. more ›

Just a few days after the Los Angeles Police Department made public edited portions of surveillance video taken inside the foyer of the "Centro De Alegria" Pre-School in Boyle Heights showing a nude man amusing himself and moving about in the empty room, an arrest has been made in the bizarre case. Using a tip from a Boyle Heights resident, detectives were able to positively identify the suspect, who is a 15-year-old male juvenile. more ›

A Los Angeles man was sentenced today to serve 26 years to life behind bars after bludgeoning another man to death with a sledgehammer. According to the Daily News, 21-year-old Adam Quintana was found guilty of the 2008 murder of Fernando Garcia, also 21 at the time of his death, whose body was later found dumped in a trash bin in Boyle Hieghts. more ›

The 122-year-old Boyle Hotel on the eastern edge of downtown Los Angeles has been a mariachi mecca for decades, but the process of remodeling and renovating the "slum-like" conditions of the property into 51 studios and apartments for musicians and families (plus two meeting rooms, a mariachi center with a break area, and a rehearsal space) has caused the community of mariachis to scatter, reports the L.A. Times. more ›

Miguel Santana, Administrative Officer for the City of Los Angeles, wants to cut the graffiti removal program in half to save city budget dollars and residents in graffiti-heavy neighborhoods are none too pleased, according to the Venice Patch. Slashing the graffiti program down to the bare essentials will save the city $1.5 million - a figure that many supporters of the program believe is paltry compared with other programs that could be cut and would save the city far more dollars with less negative impact. more ›

Across from Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, La Serenata di Garibaldi offers fine Mexican dining in a comfortable, friendly setting. Nestled amongst numerous authentic, but much grittier, eateries, only minutes from downtown L.A., La Serenata serves a wide range of dishes flavored with tasty sauces for gringos (make sure to ask for your sauces mild) and for hardcore spice-lovers alike. more ›

Boyle Heights shooting, Santa Monica deal site, Porto's Parking Passion, donation-stealing thieves, frozen tracks and more news of the day. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports more ›

Investigators in Los Angeles are saying a man purposely crashed his Cadillac Escalade six feet into a Boyle Heights house on Sunday evening killing his infant daughter and the 19-year-old mother. more ›

A school bus carrying 54 high school students was turned onto its side when it was involved in a crash that left one person dead this afternoon. The incident occurred around 3:20 p.m. at 1st and Soto in Boyle Heights (map) under circumstances still under investigation by the California Highway Patrol, which takes the lead on school bus crashes. more ›

The LAPD this morning was looking for a teenaged girl who allegedly stole a car this morning with an infant inside. The incident happened around 8:30 a.m. when two-month-old child's grandfather stopped to pick up a newspaper at a newsstand, leaving the red 2000 Ford Expedition running and the child inside. As he returned, an apparent 16-year-old girl wearing a high school uniform jumped in and drove away, according to Police. more ›

Billboard installers aren't being taken to jail like earlier this year, but the fight over signage in Los Angeles continues. A billboard company accused installing an illegal supegraphic in view of the 10 Freeway in Boyle Heights has been ordered to take it down or pay two $2 million bonds to keep the sign up during the length of the trial. more ›

Hector Becerra at the LA Times this weekend shared the home and musings of Bamboo Charlie, a homeless man who has built a home away from homelessness amid four freeways along the L.A. River and train tracks in Boyle Heights. more ›

It's been a bicycle month in Los Angeles. From the LAPD getting together with Critical Mass to the installation of sharrows, even if controversial. Last Friday came the news that CicLAvia was really happening, coming to Los Angeles in September. more ›

As plans and fundraising move forward to cap the 101 Freeway in Hollywood, a similar idea in downtown will take a step next month when Park 101 District organizers host a community meeting and open house. The event, which dovetails with the Downtown Art Walk is on May 13th from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Caltrans District 7 building. more ›

Located at 3200-3300 E. Olympic Blvd. in Boyle Heights, The Estrada Courts is a low-income housing project known for its colorful murals depicting the Chicano experience. The housing was built in the early 1940s in response to the housing crisis in Southern California that took place due to the boom in World War II-era industry work, "followed by the return of servicemen to the region and the Bracero program," according to Wikipedia. more ›

The L.A. City Council yesterday voted to rename an Eastside police station from the Hollenbeck Police Station to the Rudy de Leon/Hollenbeck Station. But it wasn't without a lenghty public comment period where an outpouring of residents spoke up on both sides of the issue. more ›

A shootout between police and three suspects this morning prompted the LAPD to shut down an area of Boyle Heights as they began a manhunt. Still reportedly ongoing in the area around Cesar Chavez and Soto, police are searching for three male hispanics, approximately 24 to 27 years old, according to the LAPD. At 11:53 a.m., undercover officers from the city of Huntington Park--it's unknown why they were in L.A. city limits--observed the suspects engage in a burglary. The suspects shot at the officers, who in turn shot back. No one was hit, but the suspects escaped on foot. more ›

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck is continuing his appearances at public meet and greets with his first in the new year. The public is invited to a community a forum tonight in Boyle Heights and participate in an "interactive question and answer session," the department announced today. It takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Bishop Mora Salesian College Preparatory at 960 South Soto Street. UPDATE: The event is tonight, not tomorrow. more ›

Celebrate the holidays Vegas style without the long drive. The show A Vegas Holiday is at the El Porta Theatre in North Hollywood featuring the stars and songs from Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara with Jake Broder as Louis Prima, Vanessa Claire Smith as Keely Smith with Luca Ellis as Frank Sinatra. The vocalists are backed by a seven-piece orchestra. The show begins at 8 pm tonight and tickets are $45-60. more ›

The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power is currently reporting two large power outages affecting nearly 11,000 customers. 8,000 in the Westlake area and 2,900 in the Boyle Heights have been without power since around 5 p.m. "Crews are on site working to restore power," said Gale Harris, a public information officer with the utility. The exact causes of the outages are unknown. UPDATE: Power has been restored to Boyle Heights and 2,000 customers are left without power in Westlake. more ›

If you see the Gold Line running through the Eastside and East L.A. on a regular basis next week, don't think you can hop on board at the nearest station. Metro officials announced today that pre-revenue light rail train testing will begin Sunday, lasting at least a month before opening to the public. more ›

Last week LAist took MTV up an opportunity to hang out at Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, a 25,000 square foot complex which is home to Rob's business empire Dyrdek Enterprises and the setting for his reality show, which enters its second season tonight at 9pm. To celebrate the new season, Rob along with the cast of "Nitro Circus" and "Bully Beatdown" (season two of both premiere tonight as well) got together for a Tuesday afternoon of Velcro suit dirt bike jumping and other various shenanigans that most human beings wouldn't dare to try. more ›

You've got the original Eastside--LA city neighborhoods east of the LA River including unincorporated East LA--and you've got the newish Eastside--Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Echo Park--battling it out for their title. Tomorrow in the LA Times a feature, which is already posted online, dives into the issue head on: more ›

LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold takes on burritos of the north and south in a question from a local reader about her Berkeley loving Burrito friend who is visiting. Says Gold: Bay Area residents tend to have peculiar ideas about burritos, which they regard as monstrous things wrapped in tinfoil, and filled with what would seem to be the contents of an entire margarita-mill dinner, including grilled meat, rice, beans... more ›