It's time to accept what we've known for so long. Traffic in Los Angeles sucks. Argument over, in fact, we may as well just quit whining and save our breath for smoggier (or more radiated) days ahead. A new Top 100 list released by INRIX puts Los Angeles at the very top. As in the #1 Worst. Number one most-congested metro. more ›

Part of Downtown Disney's retail area was closed Tuesday morning as the bomb squad responded on the scene to reports from Disney employees that a suspicious cylindrical object was found during a routine sweep near the ESPN Zone, reports LA Now. more ›

Anaheim Union High School District is the first in California to test GPS technology as part of a "six-week pilot program" aimed to cut down on the frequency of cutting class, reports the OC Register. Last week, 7th and 8th graders with four or more unexcused school absences were assigned to carry a handheld GPS device. more ›

Finally, some actual breaking news! One of a pair of missing sex offenders who had removed his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet turned himself in on live television earlier this morning. more ›

Whether you're a frequent visitor to Disneyland or you make it to the house the Mouse built just once in a blue moon, there's an iPhone app that will take you on a virtual treasure hunt and allow you to explore the park in perhaps a whole new way, explains the OC Register. more ›

For little over a month now, DASH buses in downtown Los Angeles have been enabled with GPS. The results are two-fold: it helps drivers space out their distance to the bus before them (so two buses don't arrive at the same stop at the same time) and it gives riders the edge of knowing when the next bus will arrive (or where exactly is the bus I'm waiting for at?). Today, Eric Richardson at blogdowntown points out a useful tip, now that the city is printing transit stop identification numbers on DASH stop signs. more ›

Chatsworth is Los Angeles. San Fernando is not. Hollywood is Los Angeles. West Hollywood is Not. Venice is Los Angeles. Marina del Rey is not. Studio City is Los Angeles. Culver City is not. Yesterday, NPR's All Things Considered decided to inform listeners about their NPR West studio's location, interviewing the very proud Andrew Weissman, mayor of Culver City more ›

In less than a months time, rangers with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area area have captured and placed a GPS collar on a second mountain lion. Found Saturday morning in a trap set by National Park Service scientists around Malibu Springs, the approximately 2-year-old lion became the 14th to wear a tracking collar around its neck. At the end of July, a female with a similar age was found and collared. P14 and P13, respectively, have blood samples being analyzed by researchers at UCLA to determine connections, if any, to other lions studied in mountains. more ›

Well, she may not be the newest or youngest in our local mountains, but she is the most recent cougar to be trapped, tagged and released by the National Park Service, who has been conducting a study with them over the past seven years. P-13 (they are named in the order they are caught) was captured on July 31st in the Hidden Valley region, which is the northwest sector of the mountains south of Newbury Park. She is now the third active GPS collar being tracked. more ›

All 6,622 Sex offenders on parole in the state will now be hooked up to and monitored by a GPS system, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced today. According to a press release, those individuals have now been "fitted with an ankle bracelet that transmits its location to parole agents, who also visit [them] on a routine basis." The program is the result of Jessica's law, which was passed on the ballot in 2006 as Prop 83, and it requires "that every paroled sex offender be monitored by GPS." The system was meant to be fully implemented by June 2009, but they're now 6 months ahead of schedule--a rare accomplishment in this era of state-level stagnation. The CDCR may next move to using GPS to track gang activity, although our budget may make this a more long-term plan. Another reason to be a proud Californian? Tripling Florida's meager 1,800 GPS units, our state is now "the nation's leader in using GPS technology to track sex offenders." more ›

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Last night, two men robbed the 52 Market in West LA on Santa Monica Blvd. leaving police few clues, if any at all. But it was only around 15 minutes when the two allegedly struck again in South LA. This time, their car was recognized and police connected it to one of the suspects who was on parole and under court order to wear a global positioning device. Well, that's easy--follow the signal. And so they did, soon arresting 29-year-old Chelminski Walker of Inglewood at a motel with a handgun and the car seen at the South LA robbery. Case. Closed. more ›

Anyone under the age of 35 these days has a tendency to switch phones, well, as soon as the newest, coolest gadget comes out - which these days can be every couple of months or so. It appears that the slider Helio Mysto is one gadget you might want to keep around for a while. more ›

In Santa Clarita, transit officials will roll out a plan within the next nine to twelve months that will make bus commuting less frustrating. GPS tracking on all buses will fill up interactive maps on the city's website as well as ones placed at the city's 35 busiest bus stops, reports The Signal. Additionally, when busses are running late, the system will automatically notify authorities and text message or call commuter's cell phones. more ›

"This is not. . . targeting or profiling. It is an effort to understand communities." Police Chief William J. Bratton defending a LAPD counter-terrorism program that uses "U.S. census data and other demographic information to pinpoint various Muslim communities and then reach out to them through social service agencies." [LA Times] "Over my dead body." Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on any limit of his goals of expanding the LAPD. A fiscally conservative and wary City... more ›

It's time. As much as we hated seeing silver stars and winter white wonderland at the Beverly Center as early as October (did they completely gloss over Halloween or did we just miss it when they were promoting it back in, say, July?), we must accept that Holiday shopping is indeed upon us now that it's December. To make it easier on us all, LAist has toiled, worn out our mouse clicking fingers, scoured... more ›