It's a bear market for the city's budget | Photo by BigMcGuire via Flickr The city is entering on of the worst budget woes it has ever faced. And while it's been talked about for sometime now, the effects are now becoming more apparent. Yesterday in a long city council meeting over most things money, the most controversial subject of water and power rate hikes ended with the increases on hold for further discussion,......

In Rick Orlov's weekly Daily News column on City Hall and local politics, today he touches on the Democratic presidential race and Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa, who has recently been criticized for his time away from the city to campaign for Hillary Clinton. He defends his out-of-town moves and talks about what happens if Clinton loses: "Look, if you're a big-city mayor and you want money from Washington, you have to get involved in these......

In a quite quickly put-together press conference slated for 2:00 p.m. today at the First Street Steps at City Hall, Councilmen Eric Garcetti and Dennis Zine will be reminding voters that if you're nonpartisan or 'decline to state,' you must mark the box at the top of the ballot if you want to vote for an American Independent or Democratic candidate. Unconfirmed field reports are saying that the LA County Registrar is expecting to disqualify......

This morning at Elysian Elementary in Echo Park | Photo by Andy Sternberg/LAist *UPDATE, 5:33 P.M.: More problems continue throughout LA County at the beach, in Santa Monica. At Los Angeles City Hall, two City Councilmembers had an emergency press conference telling voters to pay attention when voting and Dharma & Greg Actor Mimi Kennedy explains what's going on in a video interview with LAist. Also, Hillary Clinton answered our interview questions. We're getting......

The day has finally come. And if you didn't do your homework, you still have some time study. Yesterday, LAist Contributor Jeremy Oberstein talked up the California props and the "phone tax" with Ken Wall on KABC 790's Al Rantel Show. For the aurally inclined, here you go... Press "play" to listen &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://aprodxn.com/laist/Olberstein_KABC.mp3"> And if you want to read about each of the propositions, here they are, both sides of the coin and all: S:......

"You would think that something affecting millions of voting Americans would top the list of talking points for every one of the candidates. Yet most of those stumping for the nation's highest office have offered little more than platitudes: When it comes to transportation, they're basically for it."...

Torchwood is a guilty pleasure and its new season starts tonight on the BBCA. If you've ever been in a foreign land and seen a slightly dated American TV program come on and felt that queasy embarrassment then you know what watching Torchwood is like. It's cheesy and over-the-top science fiction with British accents and the odd dashing American thrown in. Everyone is hyper-sexed and they don't seem to discriminate between whichever sex they are......

City Council President Eric Garcetti has just announced that City Hall now provides bicycle lockers, access to showers and a subsidy to City Hall staffers who ride a bike to work. End of trip amenities is one of the simplest and most effective ways to encourage cycling as a transportation solution and Los Angeles City Hall has just raised the standard. For those cyclists who don't work at City Hall, this action is still very......

I didn't want to just do a "best of" list. So this year, I've decided to take a years worth of personal New Year's Resolutions, ask around for those of friends and put a call out to readers (email me here) about things you've always wanted to know, always wanted to do and then take those requests and ask an expert, an insider to help out. The result? Here goes... Today's Resolution: "I am......

No direct link, but ABC7 has a large red breaking news banner at the top reporting that "Fox Hills Mall in Culver City is locked down while police search for a stolen car suspect." The leaning tower of Pisa. Check. The leaning tower of Hollywood? Double check. The Sunset + Vine building appears to be leaning. Timber! Donda West, mother of Kanye, who passed away after plastic surgery at a local hospital died from......

A frequent City Hall visitor and community activist, Zuma Dogg of Venice, is rallying up the troops once again -- this time to fight Proposition S, otherwise known as the Phone Tax, that we will be voting on in the February 5th Presidential Primary election. Zuma Dogg was a special guest editor to LAist back in July. Check out his introduction interview.......

We once knew Captain Automatic lead man, Josh Kamensky, as the public relations guru for the popular councilman Eric Garcetti and one of the very few at City Hall that was hip to new media. Back in October, Kamensky left the job to pursue other goals, part of that being music. Last night, the band of of three and a half jews sent us a clip of their holiday song, "(We Used To Have A)......

Today, in his weekly city hall column, Steve Hymon takes on funding that darn 'Subway to the Sea.' It's projected to cost a dazzling $5-billion and we can't seem to find a tree that grow this amount of money. Here are the funding ideas Hymon uncovers: The feds tend to contribute half, but some say they won't if the next bullet item is not repealed. In 1998, voters declined the government to use local......

Hey, lady, you're going the wrong....Uh oh. A woman driving eastbound in the westbound carpool lane of the 118 near Simi Valley around 1:30 this afternoon collided with a motorcyclist. The bike rider was sent to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, but the elderly driver of the wrong-way car was unhurt. See kids, learning is fun! A 5th grade class at McKinley School have made a model of their home city......

Could you imagine Los Angeles without the Getty Museum? If that serene white chunk of Italian marble nestled above the 405 suddenly removed its bulk to some other parts, would you notice? Would you care? An article in yesterday morning's LA Times reconsiders the Richard Meier-designed edifice in the light of its 10th anniversary, and in doing so, asks some important questions about the nature and integrity of architecture in Los Angeles. "there is......

The white smoke flowed from the chimney, doves were released, and virgins scattered to deliver the Good News that the newest Editor of LAist is Zach Behrens. Valley boy Zach has been a contributer to this fine blog since 2005, he's an outdoorsman, he sits on the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, he's a vegetarian, he volunteers selflessly, and yes ladies, he's single. Softspoken, strong-willed, and determined to get you to ride public transportation, Zach......

Simon Pastucha is the kind of city government employee Los Angeles needs more of. Why? He walks the talk and the Daily News tagged along for a day of his car-free, public transportation life. The Pasadena resident is an urban designer and planner at the Urban Design Studio, a two-person office charged with making the city a more community oriented, walkable and people friendly one. With his salary, Pastucha used to lease a Mercedes......

Every Monday morning, Rick Orlov of the Daily News and Steve Hymon of the LA Times write their weekly "what's going on at city hall" columns. Orlov brings an interesting story about City Council Member Dennis Zine, who represents the 3rd District in the West Valley. Zine has been given a cease and desist order from Warner Bros. over a lapel pin he has used for years as a political token to supporters. It......

On Monday, not many people in Los Angeles knew the name Jack Chiang, a city planner overseeing a project in Valley Village. Then on Tuesday, The Daily News published the Department of Planning staffer's name. Come Wednesday, the LA Times caught on. Why all the sudden popularity? Sometimes when you pick up the phone and dial a number, you call the wrong person and leave a message.A Los Angeles City Council panel voted Tuesday......

" "Just because you've rolled horse manure in powdered sugar doesn't mean you have a doughnut": people aren't very happy with the Farm Bill, and yet the Senate still seems set on passing a totally inadequate "reformed" bill that continues to subsidize Big Agriculture at the expense of our nation's health. City officials are "identifying" Muslim communities across the city -- but it's not profiling, it's "community engagement"!! Those kooky kids at City Hall!......

Last December, I embarked on a mission to find a solution to a problem in my immediate neighborhood. Trying to cross Moorpark St. on foot (or left turns in a car) during rush hour is a nightmare. There is just too much constant flow and you really have to have a brave moment to cross at the unmarked crosswalk because as we all know, there is about .001% of drivers in the city who......

How we love thee RIDE-Arc. You showed us a good time on a Friday night. You got nerdy on us. You got on sweaty with us. You rode long into the night with us. This past Friday, RIDE-Arc, a monthly event on the first Friday that combines night time bicycle riding with architectural themed tours, led a green tour of sustainable buildings, communities and ideas. The near 3-hour tour that began at City Hall......

It's Halloween and that means it's a big day at CreepyLA.com. Among many stories posted today, an interview about today's holiday with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. How does one do a green Halloween? Do like Siel: organic pumpkins, drink and go by public transit and send eco-Halloween e-cards. There's plenty to do in the ghost town that was tonight. Head Downtown! And while Downtown, Mayor Sam has some updates from political ghosting at City Hall.......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

Last night came and went, but we know a select bunch of aware Angelenos turned off their lights last night for Lights Out LA, a program in San Francisco and Los Angeles asking residents to turn off lights for one-hour in the name of conserving energy. Alisa Pugha in Koreatown participated and she spoke to LAist last night. "So just as Light Out LA starts, my power starts dimming. What the fuck?" The anonymous blogger,......

The LA Times is reporting today that the city has a near $77.5 million unspent in Quimby fees that it has been collected from developers for park space and improvements. The fees, from the California 1975 Quimby Act (not that quimby folks), require developers to help mitigate the impacts of property improvements and new development by paying a fee that goes into a city parks department fund or set aside land on the development.The......

CityWatch is reporting that today is quite a busy day at 200 N. Main St. Here are some highlights for the mayor and city council: "The Mayor and the Governor open the action with the announcement at a 9:30 media conference that LA will receive $150 million to pay for synchronizing every traffic light in the city. The funding is LA’s share of the $250 billion transportation bond passed by voters in 2006." "With time......

"This is the guy who once called me the worst columnist in America," Steve Lopez explained in his column today about downtown activist, blogger and now King, Brady Westwater. "I did not," Westwater responded. "I called you the worst columnist in history."If you move downtown, Westwater will be your neighbor. Try, though you might, you will not be able to shake him. At every turn, you'll see Westwater wearing a cowboy hat and a......

She has her eye on becoming City Controller and maybe she has a knack for it. After working on a "Clean Money" system for City elections and helping to create the Waste, Fraud and Abuse Investigation Unit in the City Controller's office, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel introduced a motion yesterday that asked the City Ethics Commission to expand the City's ethics code to ex parte communication with City Commissioners. Whoa, what? Ex parte communications are communications......

Consolation Prize of a Lifetime - Al Gore is a man of peace and gets the homepage of Apple.com all to himself -- should we expect the iAl to come out by the holidays? The Catalina Island Avalon city employee who beheaded a deer and left it in a soccer net is definitely not getting any peace prize. There was another suspicious package today left around City Hall, forcing street closures and the evacuation......