Last night, the Manhattan Beach City Council voted and passed a ban on plastic bags, according to the City Clerk's Office. A month ago, the city tried to pass the ordinance, but opposition claimed the city did not go through the correct environmental review processes. Nevertheless, one group said prior to last night's meeting they would probably still sue the city over the new law. The oceanside city joins Malibu and San Francisco in plastic......

After both San Francisco and Malibu successfully passed plastic bag bans in their respective cities, Manhattan Beach is taking up the issue tonight at their City Council meeting. The measure is similar in nature to Malibu's ordinance, but opponents, Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, say the city did not go through the correct process to initiate such a ban and threatens to sue. Another issue to them is that paper bags are not addressed, which......

It's been all the rage and everyone is talking about it -- today is day one of the new cell phone law. No more putting that phone to your ear unless it's an emergency. Otherwise, it's all about ear pieces or in-car systems (for more info on help buying the system for you, check out this post from LAist). And if you choose to break the law, it will be depend on where you are,......

If you plan on breaking the hands-free cellphone law tomorrow and in the future, your chances of being pulled over will be determined by where you are the LA Times finds. The California Highway Patrol plans to be the most aggressive about it and with the annual beef up (80% of officers on the roads) in staffing around the 4th of July, the two will go hand-in-hand well together. As for the LAPD, enforcement will......

Photo by Happy Birthday to Joe Shlabotnik! via Flickr Two brawls between surfers and paparazzi over the weekend are leading Malibu officials to look more closely into the law regarding 1st amendment rights. "The city of Malibu will do all it legally can to protect and preserve the natural beauty and tranquillity of our town," Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said in a statement, per the LA Times. Last month, the Times reported that......

Using your cell phone after July 1st could get you a $20 ticket (up to $100 in LA County after fees and the such). But if you cause an accident that ends in someone's death, a misdemeanor manslaughter charge could come with that, resulting with a year in jail for each death, reports the LA Times. That's because driving while talking on a cell phone (except for when using a hands-free device) can more easily......

On July 1st, after a two year warning, driving while talking on your cell phone, unless it is with a hands free device, will be illegal. There's some confusion, however, on how it all plays out and it depends on whether you are a teen or adult. Adults (that's 18 and over) can hold a phone, dial a number or answer a phone, but must converse hands free. Teens cannot do any of that, including......

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist "I looked to make sure. I wasn't being unsafe," Porcia London told the LA Times in a report about red-light enforcement cameras that questions if they are for revenue or safety. The issue at hand is that in Los Angeles, it is estimated that 80% of the photo-enforced tickets go to "california stop" right turns. "As London realized that day in court, her turn was illegal because she did not......

It's been nearly 30-days since the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a law that will severely affect taco trucks in unincorporated parts of the county. Trucks can park for 60-minutes, but after that, they face high fines and even jail time if they do not move to another location. Within a moments notice of hearing about the new law, two Occidental alumni with a penchant for taco trucks began a movement complete with......

Photo by discarted via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Contrasting the Los Angeles City Council's vote earlier today on mansionization, affecting single-family homes, another ordinance was passed today -- one that replaces a temporary 2005 law regarding downtown residential hotels, mostly used by low-income and nearly homeless people. The ordinance protects single-room-occumpancy (SRO) and residential hotels within Los Angeles from becoming expensive lofts and condos. If owners want to convert their buildings, they must......

May Day will not just be a day for marching. It will also be a day to celebrate taco trucks. After Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to extend the amount of time a taco truck can stay put in one spot from one half hour to a one hour, but also upped the fine for violating that restriction from $60 to $1000 and/or six months in jail, a pair of teachers began a......

You may or may not be aware of a new state law that went into effect on January 1, 2008. We were reminded of this a couple days ago, driving west on Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Effective Jan 2008 / No smoking allowed / Inside a vehicle / When a Minor is with youThis is important and effective legislation because -- why?!? It is often laughable how the term "liberal" applies to......

Yes, as reported in various LA Newspaper Group dailies, there is an East L.A. Taqueros Union. And they are going to fight a law that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted "yes" on Tuesday -- taco trucks have to move every 60 minutes or face $1000 fines or jail time. Currently, taco trucks must move every 30 minutes and face a nominal fine, one that, if ever enforced, is considered a cost of......

Photo by marcbenton via Flickr On LAist's "Contribute" page, there are three ways you can participate: submit a link, join the LAist Featured Photos group on Flickr or leave us an anonymous tip. And one reader did more just leave a tip, he submitted an entire rant. It's a good rant and it raises good questions regarding policing for sidewalk smokers, local economies and police resources: Last month I was in downtown Burbank for......

Everyone is in a tizzy about The Wire coming to a close yesterday - it's one of the few shows that decided to go out while it was on top so kudos to them. The TV Junkie is barely keeping his head above water with the deluge of new shows coming out in the next week, tonight it's Julianna Margulies' return to the little screen with Canterbury's Law (that's a mouthful, say: Julianna Margulies in......

Photo by ChazWags via Flickr He already served a month of jail time when he was convicted last Spring, but today, sleazy wannabe slumlord Darren Stern, who also goes by Henry Shalom, was ordered to pay millions back to rent-control tenants that he mistreated in order to get them to move out so he could raise rents, eventually selling the buildings at "inflated" prices, according to CBS2. The money will be split and given......

There are a few things you can't do in apartments. There are things that you can't do anyway, like drugs, but you also can't break holes in the walls unless you own the place. Well, that's what Jackass star Steve-O did this weekend before his neighbors placed him under citizen's arrest, then turning him over to police, who in turn searched his apartment and found drugs. And if his drugs are of the smoking kind,......

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed one of the country's most stringent pet sterilization laws yesterday, requiring dog and cat owners to spay/neuter their pets or face hefty fines. What does this mean for you and fido or fluffy? It means that you must have them spayed or neuteured by the time they reach four months of age. All dogs? All cats? Pretty much. The only animals exempted from the new law are those that compete in......

We love when politicians and government officials chime in on LAist's comment section. The latest political celebrity, Senator Jim Battin (R- La Quinta), caught wind of an article this morning about SB 1374, a bill he submitted last week that would allow car pool lane access for any car owner who off-sets their emissions with carbon credits, ultimately letting solo drivers of all sorts, including SUVs and Hummers, onto California freeways. Commenters brought out ammunition......

Don't try this at home -- or at the Civic Center Metro Station. / Photo by puck90 via LAist's flickr pool. TRANSIT TALK Metro is studying alternatives for connecting the Gold, Blue and Expo lines through downtown Los Angeles. This study will examine linking the future Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (near the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station) and the 7th Street/Metro Center Station. Tonight Metro will update the public on the project and allow......

Photo by Salaam Allah West Coast Transitphotography KING! via the LAist Featured Photos pool It sounds really boring: California Health and Safety Code Sections 43845. However, within that state code is a something pretty neat: if your place of work has 50 persons or more employed for them and subsidizes leased parking for your and your fellow employees, then they must participate in the Parking Cash-Out program offering you a cash allowance in lieu......

This morning at Elysian Elementary in Echo Park | Photo by Andy Sternberg/LAist *UPDATE, 5:33 P.M.: More problems continue throughout LA County at the beach, in Santa Monica. At Los Angeles City Hall, two City Councilmembers had an emergency press conference telling voters to pay attention when voting and Dharma & Greg Actor Mimi Kennedy explains what's going on in a video interview with LAist. Also, Hillary Clinton answered our interview questions. We're getting......

Untitled by discarted via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr To update our avalanche story from yesterday, 3 have now been confirmed dead after the snowy storm struck near the town of Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains. One missing person was located Saturday, after apparently walking out of the snow encrusted mountain. Another missing person was located Friday, but died on Saturday morning. Remember when Fred Thompson was running for president and NBC......

City Council President Eric Garcetti has just announced that City Hall now provides bicycle lockers, access to showers and a subsidy to City Hall staffers who ride a bike to work. End of trip amenities is one of the simplest and most effective ways to encourage cycling as a transportation solution and Los Angeles City Hall has just raised the standard. For those cyclists who don't work at City Hall, this action is still very......

The first is, be a police officer, do your duty. The second choice is, leave the job, join the the ranks of the paparazzi. From TMZ last night: TMZ has learned that a message was sent down loud and clear today to LAPD cops working the Britney court beat today -- no photos allowed! Law enforcement sources confirm to TMZ that an order came down to officers at the courthouse today, mandating that no cell......

One of the best lessons from Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek is how firing clients can make you happy. It fits into the 80/20 principle, or Pareto's Law. Think about it this way as Ferriss exemplifies in the book: "80% of the consequences flow from 20% of the causes. 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort and time. 80% of company profits come from 20% of products and customers." It can be......

TV character actor John Berg was found dead at his Van Nuys residence Sunday afternoon. Berg took his own life by carbon monoxide poisoning using a hibachi grill. He was 58. "He died as a result of suicide ... from suffocation," Lt. John Kadas of the coroner's office said. "A hibachi grill was used inside his bedroom. It's a fairly common form of suicide where it's put inside an enclosed space and then lit up.......

An article from the Daily News takes a look at the toll the 6-month old smoking ban in Burbank is taking on its local workers, most of whom are flummoxed by the fact that a smoke break means breaking the law. According to the article, one local businessman "Barry Kessler, 48, owner of a downtown jewelry store bearing his family name, has led the charge against the anti-smoking ordinance. In the coming weeks he plans......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

This weekend marks the height of the "celebrity" dog-and-pony shows for the Democrats: Hillary Clinton brought daughter Chelsea (we wondered where she was) and her momma Dorothy Rodham on the campaign trail in Iowa. And Barack Obama brought out the big gun -- Oprah Winfrey -- to Iowa and South Carolina. But Republicans have friends in Hollywood, too. Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, also has his own celebrity endorsement: Chuck Norris. Yup. Walker......