When a blaze broke out in a Hollywood Hills home late on the night of February 16, 2011, among the LAFD firefighters responding to the scene was Glenn Allen. When the luxury home's water-logged ceiling collapsed, Allen was critically injured, and he died two days later. Now the architect who designed the home is facing an involuntary manslaughter charge in Allen's death. more ›

After 10 weeks of rerouting buses to congested streets while some sections of Metro's Orange Line were being repaved, service is now back to normal operation, Metro said today in a statement. The repaving was needed to improve strength and durability of the roadway because soon after its October 2005 opening, the pavement began to rut. Metro blamed the contractor, the contractor blamed Metro and they finally settled to split the costs of the $1.5 million project. " am an enthusiastic supporter of the Busway and ride it regularly, but this is just bureaucratic and institutional stupidity," opined Andrew at Here in Van Nuys. more ›

Blackwater might be a more appropriate name for the future of some private firefighting business. Robert at Calitics has been looking into federal firefighter shortages during the recent spate of wildfires (over 1700 in total since June 20). He reports that there have been "deliberate staffing shortages have left the USFS [US Forest Service] unable to do vital off-season brush clearance, and left them without the staffing to get a quick jump on fires in their crucial initial stages." more ›

"You don't actually think they spend $20000.00 on a hammer, $30000.00 on a toilet seat do you?" ~ Independence Day Well, it's the difference between what the new LAPD headquarters currently under construction should cost and is costing. And City Controller Laura Chick, who is responsible for auditing city spending to find misuse, abuse and savings, is making headlines by putting departments city who oversee contracts and contractors themself on notice, starting with the... more ›