Mayor Villaraigosa celebrated “Metro with the Mayor" day by riding the Rapid to the corner of Wilshire & Western where he held a press conference announcing the implementation of the “New & Improved!” traffic signal synchronization program for Wilshire Boulevard. Joined at the podium by Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and LADOT General Manager Rita Robinson, the Mayor explained that the new Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) as implemented on Wilshire Boulevard, would increase capacity by 20%,......

On Thursday, a groundbreaking ceremony was held a few miles north of Mojave for the country's largest city-owned windfarm. The Pine Tree Wind Project is Los Angeles' hope for the future of power, supplying 120 megawatts of renewable energy to our city. In fact, Mayor Villaraigosa, who attended the event and who has been working on ways to make energy more green and efficient, says "20 percent of the city's energy will come from renewable......

A reader, Zach, submitted a question last week about RVs parking on his street in Hollywood: I live on Gower, south of Sunset, and my street is always filled with homeless people living in RVs. Is there any recourse I can take to get them to leave? Are they breaking any laws?Technically, these folks are not breaking the law... yet. And all this can change in a matter of a few months all because LADOT......

View Larger Map Closures have been announced for some areas of Griffith Park due to excessive flooding and debris. The closures are Zoo Drive to Griffith Park Drive, Outbound Griffith Park Drive, In and Outbound Crystal Springs Drive and the Bird Sanctuary “The park has experienced some minor to moderate debris flows and flooding on several of its main roads and the Department will be implementing hard closure of some of areas of the park......

A small patch of land in Silver Lake is about to learn its fate, as are the residents and officials who have been debating about what to do with it for close to ten years. At stake are six acres termed "the Meadow" by locals on the property of the Silver Lake Reservoir which is going to be opened to the public soon, but concerns are already swirling about the nature of the land's purpose,......

Fans of the LA Rams weren't known to be fans of team owner Georgia Frontiere, who moved the NFL football franchise to her hometown of St Louis in 1995. The woman who took over ownership of the team in 1979 from her sixth husband, Carroll Rosenbloom, when he died by drowning, died yesterday at the age of 80 after a long-fought battle against breast cancer. Frontiere had been hospitalized for months prior to her death.......

After LA Animal Services released their latest statistics, The Daily News ran a story with this headline: "Animal Deaths Rise in L.A. Shelters". Yet, the number of animals euthanized in Los Angeles has dropped by 20% this year - a hard-won statistic for Ed Boks, general manager for LA Animal Services. Since Los Angeles adopted a no-kill policy 10 years ago, the number of euthanized animals has dropped from 65,000 to 15,000 a year.......

Every so often when we feel so inspired to do so, we feature a photo from a photographer in the LAist Flickr Pool. It's another way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. Everyone knows Santa Monica College has a radio station (KCRW 89.9). And CSUN (KCSN 88.5) and CSULB (KJAZZ 88.1) too. Even Pasadena City College (KPCC 89.3) and USC (KUSC 91.5) have theirs. Where is UCLA's?......

“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......

When I bought my first car, I first went to the Toyota in Valencia. I walked out soon after when they tried to sell me a car by comparing it to finding a woman and then highlighting how cool spoilers were. What a bunch of fucking morons. Apparently, the troglodyte breed at Toyota goes up the corporate ladder. Siel Ju, aka GreenLAGirl, at the LA Times sticks it to Toyota after visiting the LA......

Fire crews are optimistic, but not yet looking to declare victory over the multiple blazes that have burned over 500,000 acres and displaced millions. We agree, it's best to be sure before declaring victory too soon. One blaze that has partially kept officials from declaring an end to the madness, the Santiago fire in Orange County, is expected to be contained by Friday. But it could take years to rebuild charred neighborhoods. Seven people......

CityWatch is reporting that Gloria Jeff, fired Los Angeles Department of Transportation General Manager, wants her job back. "She says the Mayor … who did the firing … did not give her an annual performance evaluation, gave her no explanation for the firing and demanded that she resign within 21 hours." A spokesman for the Mayor, Matt Szabo, countered: “Gloria Jeff received numerous indications from the mayor’s office that her management of the Department......

The LA Department of Water and Power seem to think that LA will just sit back and let them raise rates, hide money, and allow themselves to get rich. In the last few weeks the public utility has been exposed for a few troubling trends and actions that we quietly await to see what Mayor Tony, and our other elected officials, will do about it. On Sunday the LA Daily News discovered that over......

Guess what, folks? Something huge happened today. Something to have drinks over. Something that is enough reason to run around the streets screaming "joy to the world". You know what that is? GLORIA JEFF GOT FIRED. Okay, that doesn't sound so great -- I know you are scratching your head right now. Who? What? Where? Gloria Jeff was the general manager of the city's Department of Transportation, otherwise known as LADOT. You know, the......

After I declared the Dodger season over last week, they go and make me look like a complete asshole by winning the next four games in convincing fashion. But thanks to the Giants, I didn’t look like a complete asshole. As the Dodgers won game after game, the Giants tanked game after game against the wild card leading Padres. With each win instead of inching closer to the postseason, they were merely jogging on......

After the 2000 season, then Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone offered pitcher Darren Dreifort a five-year $55 million contract. Dreifort had come off of a 12-9 season with a 4.16 ERA. Contract in hand Dreifort made 26 starts, 60 relief appearances and 15 trips to the operating table. He did not pitch for the last two years of his contract. This past offseason GM Ned Colletti signed free agent pitcher Jason Schmidt to a......

Although some might consider it a "feature", toy giant Fisher-Price today announced that they are recalling 83 types of toys cheaply made in China because the paint on the toys contain an unhealthy amount of lead. Thanks to an internal probe (watch it) in one of their Chinese facilities, Fisher-Price discovered that it was churning out Dora and Elmos with more than .06 percent lead. Possibly deadly since everyone knows that little kids love......

Alexi Lalas President and General Manager Los Angeles Galaxy Dear Alexi: I've gotta hand it to you. You are indeed the man. Landing David Beckham is a much bigger deal than any of your fellow MLS owners will ever acknowledge, because they're all steamed that they couldn't pull it off first. The man is the biggest brand in international sports, without a doubt, and his made-for-the-highlight-reel penalty and free kicks are just what the......

On Tuesday night, Zócalo sponsored another in its series of panel discussions, this one titled “Can the LA Times Be Saved?” The discussion was moderated by Kit Rachlis, editor of Los Angeles Magazine. Panelists were Times Editor Jim O’Shea, Managing Editor Leo Wolinsky, General Manager Dave Murphy and Executive Editor of LATimes.com Meredith Artley. There were two related but very different issues at hand: one being the widespread problem of the declining circulation and......

Kobe Bryant has made a bold demand to the Lakers front office. According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, the disgruntled diva shooting guard is asking owner, Dr. Jerry Buss to dig into the franchise's past and bring back Jerry West to replace Mitch Kupchak as general manager. Did I say ask? Actually number 8, err 24 is demanding the doctor brings back the architect of the Lakers dynasty or else...he wants to be traded. "The Logo"......

Now that the Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs after last night’s 119-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns, local sports writers weighed in this morning about where to place the blame. Times columnist J.A. Adande joins a growing number of people who are looking to coach Phil Jackson for some answers. Jackson is a Hall of Famer and is considered by many to be one of the best coaches in NBA history, but......

When an author of a book about cheating in baseball noticed Angel closer Francisco Rodriguez going to his cap an inordinate amount of times on Opening Day, he wrote about it on his blog and got photos, and his allegations against K-Rod made it to the front office of Major League Baseball. Where it died. Yesterday MLB called the Angels to tell them that there would be no investigation of K-Rod's cap because there......

A Word or 36: Baseball season is just starting up folks, am not sure how comprehensively I should be posting gametimes on TV Junkie. Weeknights I will be putting gametimes for the Dodgers and Angels here. Any feedback is appreciated. Tonight - Friday - April 6th, 2007 A's @ Angels (KCOP, 7:00 p.m.) Lakers @ Sonics (KCAL, 7:30 p.m.) Ghost Whisperer/Close to Home/NUMB3RS (CBS, 8-11:00 p.m.) From the paranormal to terrorists, all new stuff.......

A Word or 52: Some people hated last week's "useless" Lost because it didn't further the storyline but I thought it was a humorously macabre and welcome break that reminded me of some of the better tangential X-Files episodes from 10+ years ago. If looks like we're going back to that story line tonight, oh well. Jericho (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Roger goes off the deep end, and who can blame him Friday Night Lights/Crossing......

In a shocking move, Jerry Buss has sold the Los Angeles Lakers franchise to famed New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump, setting off a chain reaction of events within the organization. It had long been assumed Buss would leave the team to his children. However, he almost lost the Lakers to Phil Hellmuth in a late night, big money pot recently at the Mirage, but got bailed out with an inside straight on the......

Yes, like Ventura's split from its original name (San Buenaventura) or San Diego's true Spanish meaning (a whale's vagina), Los Angeles comes from a much larger city name - El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula). And like other rare departments in the landscape of city government (Port of Los Angeles or Neighborhood......

It looks like neighborhood councils are back in style with two new hires for General Manager and Assistant General Manager at the city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE). Their first "whirlwind" week on the job has come on the heels of two new neighborhood councils: Panorama City and Rampart (making a total of 89 councils in LA). In their first letters to the public and neighborhood council members, General Manager Carol Baker Tharp shares......

Ice hockey isn't the most popular game in a land of beaches and palm trees, especially when you're losing. With this town's reputation for bandwagon fans, it's no surprise that the Kings -- dead last in the Western Conference and playing like jokers -- have been shuffled to the bottom of the deck. They even tossed away an ace, team captain Mattias Norstrom, in a gamble to add future draft selections (they now have 21......

Pistons 92, Clippers 74 - The Clippers just want to go home. They wrapped a 7 game road trip with their fifth loss, this one at the hands of a rejuvinated Detroit squad. The Pistons are 11-2 since signing local college star Chris Webber, who had a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds in the game. Los Angeles shot just .324 from the field and was led by Cuttino Mobley with 17. The Clippers haven't......

David Beckham's new team apparently doesn't appreciate wannabe soccer stars paying $130 for a tryout and then showing up with Buddah bellies. Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy's president and general manager held open tryouts at the Home Depot Center on Saturday and although he said that the team probably identified a few walk-ons (confirmed later), there were several gentlemen who were... well... fat. What's a little disappointing to me, but not unexpected, is that you......