In its heyday, the historic Dunbar Hotel hosted W.E.B Dubois, Langston Hughes, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway and Lena Horne at its location on Central Avenue in the heart of the Los Angeles Jazz Corridor. The neighborhood fell on hard times, but now the Dunbar Hotel and buildings around it are getting revamped. more ›

Today was Eric Garcetti's last meeting as L.A. City Council President. He's stepping down from the position, so he can prepare for his mayoral bid. But today's meeting turned into what the City Maven called a "long, awkward goodbye." Comedian Jimmy Kimmel showed up and got things rolling. more ›

What better day than Park[ing] Day L.A. for Los Angeles City Council members Jan Perry and Jose Huizar to introduce a motion calling for a set of mini public green spaces called "parklets" in Downtown and Northeast Los Angeles? more ›

A meeting today by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners found the matter of the future use of the land that was once the South Central Farm still undetermined, when the group opted to pass on making the call, instead sending the issue to the Los Angeles City Council for action. The Board says their inaction is largely due to the property's non-relevance to the Port of Los Angeles. more ›

By a unanimous vote, today the Los Angeles City Council approved a $75,000 reward offer for information leading to the arrest of a suspect or suspects in the fatal shooting of a South Los Angeles toddler. A special motion introduced by City Councilwoman Jan Perry put forth the reward. more ›

Shaded from the sun and 90 degree heat, about 300 gathered this afternoon under a sea of rain umbrellas for the "ground breaking" of California Medical Center's Hope Street Family Center. Billed as much-needed recreation space and home for wellness programs in the "underserved" neighborhood of South Park, the proposed project already has community engagement--at least judging by the excitement at the launch. more ›

A charmless, desolate block-long traffic median in South Los Angeles is about to become the neighborhood's newest "pocket park" thanks to the efforts of Heal the Bay, some local school kids, and an infusion of grant funding from California State Parks. Located at the intersection of McKinley Avenue and E. 87th Street, this "dead" space is about to become the WAYS Literacy and Fitness Park, a green space that promotes sustainability and health by using water recycling and other eco-friendly practices and giving locals a new place to play and exercise. more ›

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and several surrounding parking lots aren't going to be swiftly sold off to the University of Southern California, as the school's interest in buying the property got a yellow light of sorts from The Board of Directors for Exposition Park and the California Science Center, who yesterday opted to "continue studying" the offer, according to the Daily News. more ›

A Los Angeles City Council committee voted to approve a new ban yesterday on "stand-alone" fast food restaurants in South Los Angeles, according to the Daily Breeze. Under this new ban, which can be viewed as an extension of the previously instituted moratorium on new fast food establishments, fast food restaurants cannot open "within a half-mile of existing establishments." more ›

A fundraising event held at L.A. Live brought in $200,000 for the non-profit group who is working to get a streetcar system implemented in Downtown, reports the Downtown News. The money will be used to help fund administrative costs for the group. more ›

No matter what, we are all a pedestrian at some point when getting from here to there. But in a city that has more pedestrian deaths than most others, how much attention is paid to sidewalks and other walking-related infrastructure from our politicians? more ›

John North at ABC7 this afternoon took a great look at the salaries of Los Angeles City Councilmembers. The question is, with a $179,000 salary and other compensation -- you'll often hear people say this makes them the highest paid councilmembers in the nation -- how can they justify furloughing city employees during this massive budget deficit? more ›

Nearly a year after the costly public funeral for Michael Jackson the costs incurred by the city of Los Angeles will be paid back, AEG and the Jackson Estate announced today. The issue last Summer became a controversy: Los Angeles was dealing with (and still is) a depleting budget and had just shelled out over a million dollars -- permits, street closures and mostly a boat load of police -- for an international event that AEG eventually turned into a movie. more ›

A pilot program loosening rules for where taxi cabs can pick up and drop off customers in downtown and Hollywood was extended today by the Los Angeles City Council. The program, first established in 2008, allows drivers to temporarily stop at “No Stopping” and “No Parking” zones and alongside parked vehicles to load and unload passengers. more ›

In the early evening hours of December 28th, a 14-year-old and her 3-year-old niece were crossing Main Street in South L.A. when they were struck by a car. The driver of the vehicle, only described as a female, just kept on driving, leaving the two children in the street with serious injuries. more ›

Here we go, Los Angeles. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa handed out his latest budget proposal last week and now comes its dissection by city councilmembers. Considering the dire state of the city's budget--we're running around a $222 million deficit right now--this year is especially important so Council President Eric Garcetti last week appointed two more members to the Budget & Finance Committee, adding Jan Perry and Dennis Zine. more ›

Taxi cabs might not be the most talked-about mode of transportation in Los Angeles, but it's still an important part of local transit. Back in 2008, a Hail-a-Taxi pilot program began, allowing taxis to stop in red curb areas to pick up passengers in downtown and Hollywood. But the program "officially, and quietly, expired at the end of January," says blogdowntown's Eric Richardson, who notes that Councilmember Jan Perry has introduced a motion to extend the pilot program while taking steps to make it permanent. more ›

Leaders of the Los Angeles City Council today requested that the head of the Department of Water and Power recommend fulfilling a budgeted money transfer, which would save the city from bankruptcy on May 5th. Citing $1 billion in reserves, a letter to David Freeman said there was no need to withhold a transfer of $73.5 million. Freeman said the utility doesn't have sufficient funds to warrant a transfer without jeopardizing its bond rating. more ›

A project five years in the making finally became reality this morning when the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opened its doors to the public for the first time at the corner of Central and Adams in South Los Angeles. On hand to cut the ribbon and speak about the significance of the neighborhood having access to fresh and affordable food were City Councilmember Jan Perry, Vice President & General Counsel for Fresh & Easy Mary Kaspar, Store Manager Aaron Davis, and a number of local officials and professionals. more ›

A resolution to support a ballot initiative that would fully fund state parks, thus protecting them from budget raids that prompt closures, failed to garner support from a L.A. City Council committee (.pdf) yesterday afternoon. At issue for Councilmembers Dennis Zine and Tony Cardenas were the fees associated with the proposal. more ›

With the opening of a new green and satellite L.A. city hall in South L.A. last week comes the re-opening of the Central Avenue Farmer's Market, which by all appearances seems to be a bigger and badder operation. A kitchen built inside the new city facility means freshly prepared foods and cooking classes to be hosted at the the market in addition to the market operator, SEE-LA (they operate the big Hollywood Farmers Market and Farmers Kitchen, too), be working with a federally funded state program to bring more fresh food to families. more ›

The re-burgenoning historic Central Avenue today will get a boost today when a constituent services center-bassically a satellite L.A. city hall--opens up at East 43rd Street. The Silver LEED-certified, $15-million, 9,000 square-foot building--formally a factory space--will house city departments like the Community Development Department and Building and Safety, field offices for 9th District Councilmember Jan Perry, a 1,500 square foot auditorium style community room and a kitchen that will host farmers market classes. more ›

Los Angeles could be seeing some neighborhoods with bicycle rental kiosks in the near future, perhaps Hollywood, Koreatown, downtown and around the USC campus. For over a year, the City Council has been interested in exploring bicycle sharing programs that have been seen in Paris, Montreal, Washington D.C. and in Denver at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. more ›

At today's L.A. City Council Public Safety Committee meeting (.pdf), the issue of what to do with the nearly emptied Parker Center is up for discussion. Since the new Police Administration Building opened in October, only the Scientific Investigation Division (SID) remains until the city finds a new 35,000 to 40,000 square foot facility in downtown. In the meantime, the city is considering a study on what to do with the building in an environmental impact report that will take place over the next year and seven months. Should they keep it? Demolish it? Give it historical status (being over 50 years old, it's eligible)? more ›

Yesterday, the City Council voted unanimously in favor of a proposed ordinance that would mandate all new buildings (residential and business) have a graffiti-resistant coating applied to the exterior, reports the Daily News. more ›

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may be out of town until the end of the week, but his office is still working to keep the finances of the City under control. One unexpected expense this week: The estimated $4 Million cost of hosting the public memorial service for the late King of Pop Michael Jackson. Although City Councilmember Jan Perry, acting in her capacity as Mayor pro tem, went public with a plea for donations, much like the manner in which the costly Lakers Championship parade and rally was funded, no major donors, including the Jackson family or Staples Center owner AEG have come forward with funds. more ›

1.6 million people signed up to be eligible to win tickets to attend Tuesday's highly anticipated public memorial service for late music icon Michael Jackson, according to MyFoxLA. The Staples Center's website caved under the pressure of the hits several times since the lottery was announced and until the cut off time last night at 6 p.m. local time. Initially the registry was open only to US residents, but soon expanded to allow anyone around the world to sign up for the chance to win a pair of tickets to the event, about which few details are known, save that there will be no funeral procession, and that it will cost the City of Los Angeles a pretty penny to host. more ›

So the City of Los Angeles is going to put their hands deep into the Piggy Bank to pull out the cash needed to foot the bill for Tuesday's public memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center. That means shutting down the streets around LA Live's Downtown "campus" and lots of bucks to pay LAPD officers to serve as security to police the anticipated throngs of crowds. And don't bother showing up if you aren't on the list: "Officials said that there would be no funeral procession and that no one would be allowed inside a large area around Staples unless they had a ticket and a wristband, a media credential or could prove they live or work there," notes the LA Times. more ›