From Why Presidents’ Day? via Why Tuesday? No, not tomorrow Tuesday... the first Tuesday of November, aka Election Day. Why Tuesday? Executive Director and local Los Angeles politico Jacob Soboroff reports from Queens, New York asking why can Presidents' Day, a federal holiday, be moved around for convenience, but Election Day remains a regular workday. Is it not that important? LAist: If election reform successfully moved election day to a Saturday, what would that......

Jim Moriarty, Executive Director of the Surfrider Foundation at yesterday's California Coastal Commission hearing | Photo by Branimir Kvartuc of EpicSurf.com Commuters and some politicians say the Foothill South 241 toll road needs to finish in order "to relieve congestion and accommodate development southern Orange County and take some of the burden off Interstate 5, the heaviest traveled corridor between Los Angeles and San Diego," the LA Times is reporting. A section of the......

Taken this afternoon in Simi Valley It couldn't be more true this upcoming Tuesday, but it won't always be a spicy (example, LAUSD board member elections). Speaking of which, what are you doing Tuesday? Partying with LAist on Super Tuesday? Learn more about Why Tuesday? in our interview with Executive Director, Jacob Soborff.......

Built in 1921, famous for its celeb/political/royal visitors and the six academy award shows, the Ambassador Hotel's Coconut Grove nightclub is a Los Angeles landmark officially slated for destruction (most of it at least) on January 22nd, compliments of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The battle was long-fought, even involving Donald Trump at one point, but in the end, a $4-million settlement by LAUSD paved way for a new 4,200-student K-12 campus on the......

Yesterday the National Resources Defense Council and the California Coastal Commission celebrated a new court order against the Navy in a case over the use of sonar in training exercises. US District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper imposed a series of detailed restrictions on current Navy training practices. The Navy is in the habit of using sonar, which can be devastating to marine mammals, in a migration corridor. The judge, who has made clear her......

While the controversy over Beijing's Olympic-themed float in Tuesday's 119th Tournament of Roses Parade has not managed to stir up LA's Chinese-American community, as New Year's Day draws near, murmurings of anti-war protests have begun to surface. The protests are linked to a group called the White Rose Coalition, and involve well-known activist Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son was killed in Iraq. According to a press release: Local and national pro-Impeachment and pro-Peace American citizens......

The Non-Partisan Election Reform Organization, Why Tuesday? only has one Christmas wish. And a fair one to wish at that. Presidential Candidates Mayor Giuliani, Governor Romney and Senator Thompson, listen up! Check our our interview with the Executive Director of Why Tuesday, Jacob Soboroff (who happens to be Los Angeles based).......

“Carol Baker Tharp loved the City of Los Angeles and spent the past year working to strengthen its neighborhoods as the General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today in a statement announcing the passing of Carol Baker Tharp. "Though we mourn her passing today, we take comfort in the fact that her work and ideas will continue to yield positive benefits for the people of Los Angeles.” Tharp was......

LAist had the opportunity to catch up with Jacob Soboroff, Executive Director of Why Tuesday to talk about WT, their upcoming projects and politics. Jacob has worked as a part time advance man for NYC Michael Bloomberg and briefly played the same role for presidential candidate Howard Dean. He moved back from NYC to his hometown of Los Angeles last year, when I first met him, and since returning has video blogged for LA......

By day, Terence McFarland is known throughout the LA theatre community as the Executive Director of the LA Stage Alliance, a reputable non-profit service organization dedicated to building awareness, appreciation, and support for the performing arts in Greater LA. After leaving the fashion industry in New York City to attend CalArts for a master's degree, he quickly found his role as a leader helping solve problems within the experimental art school's bureacracy of BS. It......

2007 Chevy Malibu shown above...no seriously, that's a Malibu On Monday, in a sneak preview of what you can see this weekend at the LA Auto Show, LAist was invited to get an inside look at what GM Design has been working on for the past five years. We took a gander at what's coming up in GM’s future lineups (next year and beyond). David Rand, Executive Director of Interior Design, was eager to......

L.A.’s youth have all the fun these days. Set aside sex, drugs, and violence, there are several organizations that allow them to have a blast. The Boys and Girls Club may be nice and all, but one program stands aside as one of the most unique. The local organization Justice by Uniting In Creative Energy (J.U.I.C.E.) formed in 2001, with a mission to help fight juvenile crime through the hip hop culture – word,......

Marshall Astor loves San Pedro something fierce. He is a working artist who not only manages programs at Angels Gate Cultural Center but also operates the Walled City art gallery in his spare time. He's organized a group show at the Brewery Project called "Contemplating Apocalypse" that will debut on September 9, 2006 with a reception starting at 7 PM. Custom brewed malt liquor will be on hand and patrons will be encouraged to......

We track an award-winning TV writer who worked on Good Times to a homeless shelter and see a Little Old Lady get a jaywalking ticket because she can't get across fast enough (in the same post!). Poets invade Metro and an LAist contributor's new book asks WWJB. Gothamist gets down with the immigration rally and their readers want to be heard. The anniversary of the Mets' 1986 World Series is celebrated via a RBI Baseball......

If rumor and innuendo are to be believed, the nonprofit Self-Help Graphics and Art has been shut down. Artist/blogger Mark Vallen has the story of the state of the East LA landmark, which was founded by Chicano artists in the early '70s and became a center of the Chicano arts movement (punk rock, too). In recent years Self-Help Graphics has featured a gallery, gift shop and community arts classes in addition to its silkscreen......

Westside cinema enthusiasts, fret over traffic no more. The once-threatened Aero Theatre on swank Montana Avenue is now open after a lengthy (alas, the rule rather than the exception) rehabilitation. Better yet, the theater, which was built in 1940 by Douglas Aircraft Company, is now operated by the American Cinematheque. This non-profit entity will use 75% of programming from its Hollywood base at the Egyptian Theatre to illuminate the screen in the Westside outpost.......

If you're planning to pick up visitors at LAX this holiday season, you've got some good news coming. The Daily Breeze and other media outlets report that LAX has established a a new 79-space "Cell Phone Waiting" parking lot on Airport Boulevard, where motorists can wait for free until they get calls from arriving passengers. The Daily Breeze reports: LAX officials unveiled the aptly named Cell Phone Waiting Lot during a news conference at......

As part of LAist's commemoration of World AIDS Day, the LAist Interview this week features Shoshanna Scholar, Executive Director of Clean Needles Now. CNN is a grassroots needle exchange organization which also provides a range of crucial services related to HIV/AIDS prevention. Unlike other types of education and outreach efforts, Shoshanna’s line of work deals with one of the more controversial aspects of harm reduction programs. Shoshanna has much to report from the trenches......

Local political junkies are slowly turning their attention from last week’s election to the upcoming City Hall races. The Mayor’s race is attracting the most attention due to the high-profile challengers to Mayor Jim Hahn, though both of Hahn’s fellow City-wide elected officials—City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and City Controller Laura Chick—are up for re-election. The seven eight odd-numbered Council districts will also hold elections, with six seven incumbents seeking re-election and Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski......