By a 13-1 vote, the Los Angeles City Council today voted to approve an aggressive plastic bag ban that is aimed at saving taxpayer money for trash cleanup, promoting sustainability, and improving the environment. more ›

If you're a Dunkin' Donuts fan who doesn't want to make the trip to Camp Pendleton to get your crullers and Coolattas, you're going to be waiting a little bit longer for your 'hood to get a location. more ›

The Wilshire Grand Hotel closed its doors for good at the end of December, but before the walls come tumbling down to make way for a swanky high rise, all of the facility's furnishings are up for grabs. more ›

The Happiest Place on Earth is getting caffeinated, thanks to the impending arrival of global cafe behemoth Starbucks. The Seattle-based chain revealed Monday they are opening a location in each of Disney's six theme parks in California and Florida. more ›

Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council took steps forward in crafting an aggressive ban on single-use plastic and paper bags. The council's Energy and Environment Committee unanimously passed a recommendation for a three-phase ban that would, if enacted, become "one of the most-far reaching measures in the nation," describes Heal the Bay. more ›

Anyone who watches "South Park" knows that it's almost impossible to thwart Walmart, but the small town of Quartz Hill has persevered and done just that. The town, located in Antelope Valley, has been fighting the corporate behemoth for six years over their plans to put a store across the street from the town's high school, reports KTLA. more ›

If an ordinance passed unanimously today by the Los Angeles City Council gets Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's signature, all forms of mobile billboards are about to be outlawed. The ban includes billboards on trailers, cars, mopeds, or bikes, reports City News Service. more ›

We know you're familiar with NorCal's Silicon Valley, but what about Silicon Beach? How about the Tech Coast? This area, home to an influx of tech companies and startups, is rooted in Santa Monica and stretches south along the coast, halting in Redondo Beach. more ›

A policy change affecting much of Los Angeles County is being implemented, which means restaurants are now able to decide if they want to allow patrons to bring their dogs into outdoor eating areas. more ›

When a big chain like Circuit City goes belly up, leaving behind several locations bearing design quirks belonging to the defunct business, what becomes of those buildings is often the subject of much speculation in communities. Such has surely been the case with the empty Circuit City (and its big red entry exterior wall) in East Hollywood. more ›

It's getting real in Whole Foods, but not so much in the parking lot but inside their stores as they work to shed their rep as being a "pricey" grocery store chain. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the company whose chain of just over 300 stores nationwide are often referred to as "Whole Paycheck." more ›

Just when you thought your days of browsing a big-box national book retailer store were as numbered thanks to the demise of Borders and the fading of Barnes & Noble comes word e-tailer giant Amazon is prepping to launch a physical store. more ›

The other day we asked WTF is with that new wall sticking out from the restaurant and retail space at Sunset Junction, and we learned it's an expansion of Café Stella that will feature a full bar for all your drinking needs. But that doesn't mean locals, and frequent visitors to Silver Lake alike, will actually like the wall. more ›

If you've been along Sunset Boulevard in the well-known area of Sunset Junction, you might have noticed a few strange changes at the intersection. In case you were wondering WTF is happening with the Sunset Junction sign, and why on earth there's a concrete block wall up on the corner, the Eastsider LA has provided some much-needed answers. more ›

West Hollywood's annual gay pride festival may be world-famous, but some locals are calling the 42-year-old parade and event "lame" and "tired," reports WeHo Patch. For the 2013 festival, organizers and the City of West Hollywood are looking to do a major overhaul. more ›

In the city of Loma Linda, California, those Golden Arches are more akin to the sign of the devil. Imagine if you will a town without a McDonald's. That's how it has been in Loma Linda, a city with a population of health-conscious residents who often live into their 80s, and many who are Seventh-day Adventists. more ›

A national organization is helping pet retailers move away from selling commercially bred dogs and get shelter pets in the store and for sale. In March, the Barkworks store at the Westside Pavilion will "become an official adoption center for rescues." more ›

Eight car washes in the state are paying a combined settlement of over $1 million to employees who were underpaid and treated unfairly in the past. The settlement comes as a result of a civil lawsuit filed by Attorney General Kamala D. Harris [...] more ›

This could be great news for Los Angeles, or double the hurt: Dunkin' Donuts has (re)announced they plan to double their U.S. locations over the next two decades. But whether any of those locations will be in Dunkin' Donuts-denied Los Angeles remains to be seen. more ›

Smokers who enjoy lighting up with a drink or after a meal on the patio of West Hollywood restaurants are going to have to butt out for good starting Sunday, when a ban in such spaces goes into effect. more ›

Beverly Hills is still working away at getting a plastic bag ban in place, and Patch checked in with officials there to see how long it's going to be before a ban is in the bag. more ›

For starters, if your neighborhood Barnes & Noble store is the one at the Westside Pavilion, the short answer is: Yes. That said, the nation's hang-on big box book retailer could end up closing the doors on hundreds of the locations around the country over the next two years. more ›

They're broke, getting increasingly obsolete, and now they're upping their prices: The U.S. Postal Service will raise postage prices in the new year. As of January, 22, 2012, the cost of a first-class stamp will go up a penny to 45 cents. Other postage rates will jump up, too. more ›

The man best-known for being the bright mind behind much of Apple Computer's innovative technology products has died. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was 56. He stepped down from his post as Apple CEO just this August, saying he could no longer meet his duties more ›

This Bud's for you, Van Nuys: We might be increasingly interested in craft beer in Los Angeles, but we're also home to a major brewery that's been bottling beer since the 1950s. Now that facility, the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Van Nuys, is about to get a $30 million upgrade as part of an over $1 billion investment plan the company is making towards their American operations. more ›

Beneath their shiny, stylized exteriors and delicious curbside bites, food trucks are businesses and "encounter somewhat unique challenges to get up and running and remain successful," according to a handy infographic by Intuit. more ›

The state of the economy may be a big question mark but one thing's for sure: L.A. tech is hot. Westwood-based Elevator Labs received $20 million in funding this week in another example of investors putting money into innovative Los Angeles-based startups. Managing partner Zack Zalon spoke to us about how his years at Virgin Digital influenced his approach and why he's excited about L.A.'s tech community. more ›

Los Angeles is a hotbed for startups. Mark Suster, a long-time investor in L.A. startups, informed Business Insider of the three main areas where Los Angeles excels - online video, advertising and vertical e-commerce. He also named fourteen local startups that everyone should be following. more ›

The United States Post Office has released their list of the 3,700 locations nationwide they are considering closing in order to stave off further revenue loss. Already prepping the public to lose Saturday delivery, and citing a marked increase in online communication, the USPS has been steadily losing money in recent years, and it's not getting better. more ›

To help explain Amazon.com Inc.'s shut down of their affiliate program in California, the debate over the new sales tax law and the current petition, Next Media Animation, a Taiwanese subsidiary of Next Media, has produced a short animation entitled "Amazon takes on California over sales tax." Animated Californian voters are shown checking "YAY!" in support of a tax-free online market. more ›