Los Angeles has a lesson to teach credit rating agency Standard & Poor's: Downgrade our credit rating and we just won't hire you anymore. (You can almost see us thumbing our nose, right?) Basically, L.A. is joining in with other cities and counties in giving the group the boot and claiming their rating doesn't really mean much, anyhow. more ›

Tuesday's presentation by Planning Department staff detailed a proposed ordinance on billboard regulation in L.A. The Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) of the L.A. City Council revisited this "familiar but long-neglected topic," reports Curbed LA. more ›

It was a unanimous set of "aye" votes at around Noon today by the Los Angeles City Council that helped the plans to put an NFL stadium on the L.A. Live campus in Downtown L.A. to move forward. more ›

Local motels may soon see film crews renting rooms by the hour, after a unanimous LA City Council vote on Friday instructed the City Attorney to look into requiring porn actors to wear condoms in order for porn companies to obtain a filming permit. more ›

Rudy Martinez, the Eagle Rock businessman challenging Jose Huizar for his seat on the Los Angeles City Council, reportedly quit his post as an LAPD volunteer in 2005, according to a police report, and refused to cooperate with an investigation into why he possessed the badge of a slain officer who died in the line of duty, reports the LA Times. more ›

It isn't often you have most all facets of L.A.'s cycling community in agreement, but today they are coming together to protest the City of Los Angeles' bike plan, which goes up for a vote at Thursday's Planning Commission meeting. more ›

It may be election day, but the Los Angeles City Council has their work cut out for them as this week is the last to approve items for the March 8th, 2011 ballot. That's the municipal election where half of the City Council is up for grabs along with a number of measures. A couple ballot items are already approved -- like pension reform -- but at this morning's meeting, several more will be considered. more ›

He warned them nearly nine months ago and last Tuesday, L.A. City Council President finally took them on his promise. "We have an obligation to be here at 10 o'clock on meeting days," Garetti said about canceling the meeting around 10:20 a.m., when there still were not enough present members to legally conduct a meeting. more ›

Does this mean the budget is fixed? For a few years, the Los Angeles City Council met in the San Fernando Valley monthly to add great accessibility -- after all, the Valley is nearly half the physical size of the city -- but then the idea was shelved due to budget cuts earlier this year. more ›

If you've been paying attention to campaign commercials for the U.S. Senate and California's governor, the theme is jobs, jobs, jobs, thanks to high unemployment. Today, the L.A. City Council will consider a motion to give employers citywide a tax credit when they hire new employees who are Los Angeles residents. 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 ›

L.A. City Councilmember Richard Alarcon, who has been accused of not living in the area for which he was elected as representative, has been indicted by an L.A. County grand jury on 18 felony charges, according to the Press-Telegram. more ›

Under new rules approved by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners today, Angelenos could be soon allowed to water three days a week instead of the two currently allowed. more ›

More than many other major cities, Los Angeles has year-round access to locally grown food, but it doesn't mean hunger is a problem. And in a city known for its large events and parties, a plethora of catering companies are out there serving food, yet are also throwing it away when all is said and done. One of those institutions at the receiving end is the city of Los Angeles, where leftover food at city functions might get wasted. more ›

Surprised? We're not. The seemingly omnipresent Los Angeles community activist Stephen Box has announced his candidacy for the city's fourth district, which includes Silver Lake, Hollywood, the Miracle Mile, Griffith Park, Toluca Lake and the NoHo Arts District (see map). It is currently held by Councilmember Tom LaBonge. more ›

Which days Angelenos water their lawns may soon be determined by their street address. In a proposal to be considered by the Los Angeles City Council today, officials may change the water conservation ordinance to give the system more daily use, which will not increase total usage. more ›

Los Angeles City Counciman Richard Alarcon has been the subject of an investigation by the District Attorney's office since the beginning of the year and now six members of his city staff have been ordered to appear before the grand jury, according to the LA Times. Earlier this year, the councilmember was accused of not living within his Northwest Valley district, instead residing at his wife's home in the nearby Council District 2, which is represented by Paul Krekorian. more ›

Los Angeles will not turn off red light enforcement cameras at 32 intersections this summer. The City Council this morning unanimously voted to extend a contract with Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions for 10 months. When the issue comes up again next year, the Council will have to decide to either keep ATS, find a new vendor -- either based in Arizona or not -- or scrap the program altogether. more ›

A neighborhood council last night may have been the first to take action regarding Arizona. In a unanimous vote, the Greater Valley Glen Neighborhood Council voted to "oppose the L.A. City Council’s boycott of Arizona." Furthermore, the panel officially opined "that the Mayor and Councilmember’s time is better spent rectifying the problems in Los Angeles rather than meddling in the affairs of another state.” more ›

Assemblywoman Julia Brownley is taking another shot at reducing plastic waste currently endangering marine life and littering our coast. Back in 2008 she introduced AB 68 that would have charged a 25-cent fee for every single-use plastic bag used in grocery stores and other retail outlets. But because of the costs to collect those fees -- in hopes of distributing them to education programs -- the bill never made it out committee. more ›

If all goes to plan at today's regularly scheduled meeting of the Los Angeles City Council, the massive backlog of DNA rape kits sitting on LAPD shelves--around 7,500 in Fall 2008--should be eliminated by June. A motion introduced by Council President Eric Garcetti and to be vote upon this morning seeks to hire and outsource enough personnel to complete the Spring-time goal. more ›

First proposed in December by Councilman Bill Rosendahl, the motion seeking a cyclist anti-harassment ordinance is on deck for tomorrow morning's L.A. City Council meeting. Two routes (err, proposals on how to tackle the issue) are up for grabs, as proposed by two separate committees, explains Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA: "The basic difference between the two? The process spelled out by the Transportation Committee is a two-step process, first an ordinance is created, then voted on by the Council. The one by Public Safety adds a third step at the beginning: first a report on possible ordinances is created, then an ordinance is written, then the Council votes." more ›

In a 9-3 vote, the Los Angeles City Council this morning approved the long-fought-over medical marijuana ordinance, despite protests from members of the public on both sides. During public comment, advocates for medical marijuana threatened to bring lawsuits while advocates for limiting the facilities questioned how the city would afford enforcement. more ›

Thousands of rape kits waiting to be DNA tested and the ominous threat that 40,000 prisoners will be released onto the streets are expected to be dominating issues at today's Public Safety Committee of the Los Angeles City Council. more ›

If you've ever wanted to adopt your own entourage and get world-class A-list treatment, apparently Los Angeles International Airport is the place to go. So throw on your best pair of sweats, grab your $1000 handbag, and slip on those shades! Of course, you might want to enlist your own security detail, because yesterday "the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday decided against any new regulations to control paparazzi at [LAX]" reports the Daily News. more ›

Turn on that hose during the day and you may find you've been hosed--the LA City Council unanimously approved a change to the outdoor water usage ordinance yesterday that calls for one extra hour of banned watering time and double the fine. more ›

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As we lamented in February, Beyond Baroque was in danger of losing its lease and Venice was in danger of losing one of the most unique places for poets to gather and perform their work. Mere hours before their lease was to expire, L.A. City Council voted to extend the lease for 25 more years - at only $1 a year! more ›

For the last ten years, state representatives from Los Angeles have dominated the role of Speaker of the Assembly, including Mayor Villaraigosa, LA City Council Herb Wesson and Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle. Today, Karen Bass, the assemblywoman who represents neighborhoods from West LA to Culver City to Baldwin Hills, had enough votes to become Speaker of the Assembly up in Sacramento. more ›