The Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores, and none of them are on the honor roll, according to ABC7. more ›

"Transportation Freedom Day is the day of the year on which a median-income household has earned enough money to pay for transportation for the year," explains The California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) about Tuesday, when L.A. celebrates it. "Americans who live in areas with good access to public transportation tend to spend less on transportation than those who are fully dependent on cars. As a result, residents of transit-friendly neighborhoods achieve 'Transportation Freedom' earlier in the year, and can spend more of their income on other things," the group says. For example, San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood celebrates on February 8th while the city at large does so on February 25th. San Jose takes February 20th, Orange County takes March 5th and Santa Monica takes March 9th. more ›

The Emmy award winning SoCal Connected, which airs Thursday nights on KCET, produced this web video that was posted on Wednesday. Good points all around, but it should be noted some City Councilmembers have... more ›

A state board voted today to hand out IOUs that will be repaid on October 2nd at the earliest. Although Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's staff wanted a repayment date to be set for as last as next year June with an 1.5% interest rate, staff with Controller John Chiang said people need their money and next year would be too late. Ultimately, the Pooled Money Investment Board sided with Chiang and put the interest rate at 3.75%. "In 1992, CA IOUs were at 5% interest," twittered John Myers from KQED, noting that it will be interesting to see if people buy and sell IOUs hoping to make a profit. Wells Fargo and Bank of America have said they're willing to accept IOUs before July 10th. $140 million in IOUs will be sent to people expecting income tax returns. A full list of where IOUs will be going is here. more ›

• In the wee hours of the morning, a cop driving west on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys crashed his patrol car into a tree in order to avoid a collision with another driver who was believed to have been under the influence. The suspected DUI driver allegedly was driving away from a bar, and got away after the cop's crash.
• A small wildfire broke out this afternoon north of Arcadia in the Angeles National Forest. No homes are in danger, but a group of Boy Scouts had to leave their camp.
• Did Caltrans ignore warnings saying that the stretch of I-5 that saw a deadly 30-car crash last fall was imminently dangerous? An AP report claims "transportation experts had made repeated requests to close the road in stormy weather that went unheeded."
• Think California is a 'land of plenty'? This year's average income as reported by the Franchise Tax Board might change your mind. "Tax returns filed before this year's recession began showed that the average Californian earned $35,390 a year."
• Need to know the latest about the SAG contract talks? Deadline Hollywood Daily has an update.
• Glendale is getting ready for next week's grand opening of the Americana, SoCal's latest shopping "destination." The mall is expected to cause 20,000 more drivers to hit the streets of Glendale per day, making for a potential traffic headache.
• Up in Ojai, folks are talking about Jennifer Moss, an eccentric resident who likes to ride around on her motorcycle in a hemp g-string and flower-shaped pasties in the name of environmentalism. Her latest outing was on Easter Sunday outside a Catholic Church, which locals did not appreciate.