Occupy Los Angeles, whose encampment on City Hall lawn was raided on Tuesday night, marched from Pershing Square down Broadway and through downtown to the jail at the Twin Towers Correctional facility. more ›

The group Occupy L.A. mobilized this morning in the city's civic center to march in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests, which began at the nation's financial capital and have been radiating out to other cities. more ›

Friday afternoon was declared a half-day by LAUSD as an estimated 5,000 teachers and supporters descended on Pershing Square to protest the budget cuts. How bad is it? California has laid off 30,000 teachers in recent years with an estimated 20,000 pink slips already issued this year. And now Gov. Jerry Brown is looking to slash billions of dollars from the state education budget, according to the Calfornia Teachers Association. more ›

Feathers will fly tomorrow during the annual melee of goofy, messy fun at Pershing Square for International Pillow Fight Day. The signal will sound at 2 p.m. and all hell--and pillow stuffing--will break loose for the traditional slumber party game turned community gathering that happens all over the world. Attendees are asked to bring a pillow, preferably feather-filled, and be ready to stick around after to clean up the mess. The rules are simple: Hit only people with pillows, and don't hit anyone with a camera. Oh, and have fun. That's pretty much the bottom line. more ›

Tens of thousands of people marched and gathered for the "Our Communities, Our Good Jobs" labor rally in downtown on "Solidarity Saturday" in support of union workers in Wisconsin and in Los Angeles. more ›

It might be in the 90s, but it's already the time of year to think about donning some skates and hitting the ice at the seasonal outdoor rinks poised to open around town. more ›

If any traffic from President Barack Obama's visit to USC's campus and Glendale wasn't enough, then here's more. A march from Pershing Square in downtown and ending at MacArthur Park in Westlake will begin at 2 p.m. It's just one of the many protests across the nation for the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality. more ›

There was major disappointment earlier this week when organizers of the L.A. offshoot of Jon Stewart's rally in Washington D.C. were denied a permit to gather in downtown's Pershing Square. Officials with L.A.'s Recreation and Parks Department told the LA Weekly the park could not accommodate crowds as it prepares for Downtown on Ice, which begins November 18th and were willing to work with organizers in finding a venue one of the city's other 400 parks. more ›

Comedy will be king on October 30 when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert hold dueling rallies on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In Los Angeles and other parts of the known world, shadow rallies are being organized in solidarity of inside-voices, sanity, and not throwing stuff. more ›

They're eco-friendly, cost-effective, and will work for food--literally. more ›

They came, they saw, they beat the crap out of each other with pillows. more ›

For pretty much no reason except silly fun, people in cities all over the world will meet up on Saturday April 3rd to take part in International Pillow Fight Day. Part of the "urban playground movement," this is a non-commercial event aimed at having people take part as participants, not consumers, and to give people the chance to do something playful in public space. Okay, and it's really fun to smash into friends and strangers with feather-filled pillows. more ›

It was good times this morning as the sexy women of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls and hunky men of the Los Angeles Fire Department met in downtown's Pershing Square for a broomball brawl on the park's winter ice skating rink. The game was a fundraiser for the LAFD Widows, Orphan and Disabled Fireman’s Fund. more ›

At The Edison’s ice-skating and whiskey-swilling Repeal Day and holiday celebration last Saturday, all of the elements needed for some White Christmas-style cheer were in place: the drinks, the sweets, the rental ice skates and Christmas lights. And of course, whiskey. more ›

If you're free tomorrow morning and want to try something fun for free, check out KTLA's "Free Ice Skating Party to Kick Off The Holidays" which happens 7-11 tomorrow morning at the Downtown on Ice rink at Pershing Square, according to Blogdowntown. "The station's Morning News will be doing a live show from the Downtown park," so you'll have a chance to fall on your rear on the local morning show. more ›

Other big (and colder) cities get ice rinks, so what's there to stop us? Great weather might be one factor, but it hasn't stopped the likes of the cities of Santa Monica and Los Angeles. more ›

Hundreds of Angelenos heeded the call of International Pillow Fight Day by assembling in Pershing Square, armed with pillows and many dressed in goofy get-ups. At exactly 3 p.m. the buzzer sounded, and it was every man, woman, and child for themselves as the blows began to land and the feathers flew. And boy, did those feathers fly! more ›

Late-night revelers in downtown may have more options for affordable parking soon. A city council committee has approved yesterday cheaper later-night parking at Pershing Square. "The facility currently offers a flat rate of $6.60 for those entering after 5pm, but after 1am a new $15 charge is tacked on," explains Eric Richardson at blogdowntown. "The current proposal would extend the reduced rate until at least 2am." The original motion asks for the reduced rate to last until 4 a.m., but the Department of Recreation and Parks, which operates the garage, said the financial impact of an added $150,000 is too much. One community organization said even 2:30 or 3 a.m. would be a nice compromise. The issue will now head to the full council. more ›

A bomb threat called in at around 4 o'clock this morning indicated there was a pipe bomb at the Pershing Square Metro station. The call led "sheriff's deputies and police to shut down the facility," at 5th and Hill in Downtown, according to the Press-Telegram. Although Metro's Red Line trains were operational this morning they were "bypassing the Pershing Square stop," up until around 5:42, when "Bomb squad investigators and police dogs [who had] rushed to the scene to investigate the threat" determined it was a false alarm. A similar false alarm occurred at the Pershing Square station in March of 2007. more ›

Watch out, downtown traffic. The United Teacher of Los Angeles will be holding an afternoon protest and march over education budget cuts. more ›

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo warned last month that he would start suing gangs and today he announced his first win, which is actually a first for any local government in California after a 2007 state law allowed prosecutors to go after gang assets. "This is a whole new front that we're waging against these gang members," Delgadillo said per the LA Times. "It's new to them, it's new to us, but it feels like we're winning." more ›

The Official Recession has been upon us for thirteen official months. It’s still not a reason we can’t enjoy life on the cheap. This is LA -- we’ve got options! We last feasted on Thai Town for just a few bucks, and stopped to smell the daisies for even less. more ›

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It's Christmas and hey, not everything is closed. So here are some options of what you can do today... more ›

LAist reader Kristi Nicole who blogs at Pico and the Man had a chance to interview Teresa Wang from Roots of Equality about this Sunday's rally that will include specials guests such as Chastity Bono and Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, the couple whose court case paved the path for legal gay marriage in California. Here's what she learned... more ›

Not a lot of people showed up to "No War on Iran" protest earlier this month on Saturday, August 3rd. Apparently, word didn't get around activist groups e-mail lists and only a small gathering of people showed up to Pershing Square that afternoon. One LAist commenter, jrb, was there and helps put a story to LAist Photographer Tom Andrews' photos. more ›

Acting Mayor Wendy Greuel (Mayor Villaraigosa is on vacation in London) spoke to the press at 1:50 p.m. today updating what was happening within the city limits of Los Angeles after this morning's earthquake. more ›