--> Thursday afternoon, there were two DASH buses and a DASH shuttle vehicle parked on Hollywood Boulevard, all of them idling. The 2nd DASH bus had an operator at the wheel and he pulled out into the street, passing the 1st DASH bus and stopping to chat for a moment with an operator on the street who then jumped into the shuttle vehicle and drove away, leaving an idling DASH bus on the street.......

The huge "Buses Only" parking lot at the Universal City Transit Center is rarely at capacity, in fact it is usually completely empty. This prime real estate sat empty and proved irresistible to this Caltrans driver who parked the rig, left the engine running, stretched, walked, made some phone calls and conducted some busy work in the back of the truck. Perhaps the operator had been driving for a long time and needed a......

A little over a week ago, the Daily News reported that transit agencies were struggling with the increasing cost of fuel and that some were considering raising fares, cutting services and delaying upgrades as solutions to the strain on their operating budgets. Los Angeles Department of Transportation spokesperson Bruce Gillman reported that their fuel costs had gone from $4 million three years ago to $8.9 this fiscal year to fuel its fleet of 400......

A state report (.pdf) to be presented today says that "as many as 24,000 deaths annually in California are linked to chronic exposure to fine particulate pollution," according to the LA Times. That's more than triple the figures announced by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) when they asked Governor Schwarzenegger and President Bush to declare a state of emergency regarding the 5400 environmental/pollution related deaths a year. With the alarming amount of deaths,......

Photo by ILoveButter via Flickr There are still many comments to be left today by readers, but torrmoz's comment on an earlier story about vegetarian eating highlights points from a New York Times Mark Bittman story (Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler) about meat production and the environment. These are well worth bringing to the forefront: If Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a......

Taken near Olvera St. and Union Station | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist If all goes well, Assemblyman Mike Feuer's bill, AB 2321, will let Metro and local officials "go to the ballot in November to ask voters to consider a half-penny sales tax hike. That would raise at least $720 million annually in a county with a long, long list of needs," according to LA Times' Road Sage Steve Hymon wrote today. It would......

Here's some food for thought. Last Fall, TreePeople founder Andy Lipkis told a group at a Farmlab Salon that "the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) send a request to the Governor and President to declare a state of emergency regarding the 5400 environmental/pollution related deaths a year. That equals out to be one and half 9/11's a year."...

Photo by Plankton 4:20 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr More on the arrest of Kazuyoshi Miura, who is accused of killing his wife in LA in 1981 and is being extradited from Japan: Turns out it was his blogging that got the authorities' attention. Bad blogger! Bad! Another one from the Cold Case Files solved: 47-year-old Wayne Osbourne of Virginia has been charged in the 1988 murder of Diana Michael, who......

Photo by Skampy via Flickr For the second time in recent months, the federal government tells California that they ">cannot tell cars, and now, ships to lower their emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency argues that "unlike smog and diesel fumes, climate change is a global problem, not a state one," says the LA Times in their leading California section article today. And the EPA is right, it is a global problem. But time is......

Plans to expand the Long Beach airport have cleared a long-standing hurdle, as a Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that "that the city did not violate state law when it approved an environmental report for the expansion." There has been tremendous tension between the city and residents regarding the potential harm to air quality and noise in the area if the airport receives the addition of a new parking garage and an expanded terminal. The......

Following a flap from an LA Times article that found 60,000 LAUSD students attend school within 500 feet of a freeway, the school district is looking into ways it can reduce the health hazards for kids close to pollution-filled freeways. Maybe the school district can use the $53 million in funds they're trying to recoup to build domes over playgrounds. Thousands of birds and an immeasurable amount of fish have died as a result......

While it is hard for most to understand or imagine, once you have become entrenched in the archipelagic enclave of skyscrapers and bona fide mass transit that is Manhattan Island, it is difficult to leave. For a New Yorker, geographic displacement can fester into a self-induced internalized affront (even if just for a few short days). But the compelling lure of a free trip to Los Angeles to accompany my aunt on a business trip......

Last Sunday, September 23rd, Dr. Jane Goodall head-lined the International Day of Peace with Roots and Shoots, a global network of youth dedicated to protecting human rights through environment-centered campaigns. Children marched with giant home-made peace puppets as environment and human rights organizations were on hand to provide information and network with locals. Goodall mingled for a while, greeting children and petting dogs before leading the Peace Dove marchers through Griffith Park. After demonstrating......

Dr. Jane Goodall. Photo courtesy of Roots and Shoots. This Sunday, September 23rd, Dr. Jane Goodall (primatologist, ethologist, author, researcher, and United Nations Messenger of Peace extraordinaire) be speaking at Griffith Park as part of the Roots and Shoots Fifth Annual Peace Day. Dr. Goodall, who is most famous for her research on chimpanzees in Gombe, will be leading a parade of giant home-made dove puppets and speaking at this free all-ages event. Roots......

Quiz Question: So it is four in the morning, September 1st, the bars have long since stopped serving alcohol for the night, and you've had too many of those in-lieu-of-booze Red Bulls, and you are wide awake. What should you do next? Should you...? a) go home and watch television until you pass out on the sofa b) go to the after-party of your friend's friend c) stumble around the streets of West Hollywood for......

Douglas E. Hanes became the new publisher for the Daily News today with the goal of strengthening the Los Angeles Newspaper Group's presence in the Valley. If you haven't noticed, it's still freaking hot out and it's not going away. Over 11,000 customers lost power today in Laguna Beach and it wasn't heat related. If someone is trying to rob you, throw a hot cup of coffee in his face. That's what a woman......

One of the last songs WIlco played in its just over two hour, two encore long set, was the lovely "California Stars" and it was a fitting song for the mood and atmosphere of the evening. The moon was full, those "California Stars" were out, albeit hidden behind the light pollution of LA and the crowd was into it, it was an overall great night for music, especially the brand that Wilco delivers.......

If you haven't had the chance to visit Farmlab's weekly salon series, do try. Every Friday at noon, Farmlab, the people behind Not a Cornfield, host a salon with a special guest speaker (except next week when they are doing something different by presenting a play about environmentalism). A complimentary lunch is served and the energy of a lazy Friday is transformed into good vibes by the community that attends the talk in the......

Tonight marks the first night of the Perseid meteor shower's peak viewing season in North America. Up to sixty meteors per hour will steadily begin appearing in tonight's August 11th sky around 10:00 PM, and will continue to make their presence known at least until Monday's dawn on August 13th. The Perseid meteor shower is named after the Perseus constellation and is essentially just a really long trail of cosmic debris. The shower is expected......

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has launched an inquiry into allegations of racism and discrimination within the LAFD. Two men have filed suit against the L.A. Zoo and the city to stop construction of a $40 million elephant exhibit and to prevent it from having elephants on the grounds, alleging instances of abuse and neglect. Bring on the air pollution: the South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted to approve, 8-3, rule changes......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

Just when you thought the public transportation and traffic situation in Los Angeles couldn't possibly get any worse... it did. Yes, in a true stroke of brilliance, the State Assembly decided to cut close to $1.3 billion in funding from mass transit transportation in this year's budget bill. As Siel over at green LA girl notes, this means we can probably kiss that planned Expo line expansion from Culver City to Santa Monica good-bye.......

It must feel flattering to be Air Quality Management District chairman William Burke. After all, how often can a legislator claim to have a bill introduced by colleagues whose sole purpose would be to ensure that he/she remains in office indefinitely? That seems to be the exact goal of SB 886, a piece of legislation authored by Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, that would specifically exempt Burke from the current two-term limit. Burke has......

Chilly temps and a plane crash in the valley kept yesterday's news busy while Angelenos enjoyed their Friday before a three-day weekend. Some dressed warm for clubbing in Hollywood, others dressed nice for Sting at Disney Hall and we're sure some cuddled under blankets while watching Academy Awards screeners lent to them by their friends. By the way, did anyone notice just a day after David Beckham's announcement, the Daily News website leaderboard ad......

One of Hollywood’s Highest-Ranking Female Execs Gail Berman, the president of Paramount Pictures, has resigned. “This has been an extraordinary two years for Paramount, but after the DreamWorks purchase and the evolution of Nick movies and MTV films into our label structure, Gail’s job became too small for her. She’s a great talent," Brad Grey, chairman of Paramount. (New York Times) LA River Plan Businesses in the San Fernando Valley take a look at......

Cameron Smyth is the newly elected State Assemblyman who succeeds outgoing Assemblyman Keith Richman in the 38th Assembly District, which covers all of Santa Clarita Valley and portions of Simi Valley, Los Angeles, Glendale and some northern communities of the San Fernando Valley. Twice elected to Santa Clarita city council and appointed mayor for two years, Smyth rode to higher aspirations easily this past election season. Gossip around the city talked of how he would......

The Leonid Meteor Shower will be visible late tonight (around midnight) to early dawn on Sunday. While our pals at Londonist and Gothamist will catch the best of the show, with scientists predicting 100s of meteors an hour, us West Coast folks have to settle for a paltry 10 meteors an hour. Every November Earth passes through the debris left behind by the comet Temple-Tuttle, with more dense debris trails resulting in spectacular showers.......

- Mass: Man Beats GF After She Takes Him Off Her MySpace Top 15 - UPI - LA: LA Beaches Worst in State - LAT - Indiana: Researchers conclude that Men are "always" thinking about Sex. - UPI - LA: USC Teen Produces Spaghetti Vomit on the streets of Isla Vista - Daily Nexus - New Mexico: While Busting a Scientist for Meth, Cops Discover Classified Nuclear Documents - AP - LA: White Powder......

"Why don't they ban cars, which create so much pollution?" - A Spanish tourist on Santa Monica's steps towards a new smoking ordinance. "As of Thursday, they had confirmed that 28 are alive." - Woman in LA Killer's Photos Strangled in 1980 Central air is a status symbol now? Really? If your neighborhood is not represented with a blog, LA City Nerd wants you. "... average weekday ridership on the Gold Line reached a......

Mayor Tony plays softball in Dodger Stadium, poses with Playmates, meets the President of the Dominican Republic, and introduces Al Gore before a screening of the former VP's new film - all captured by LA Observed. It's good to be #1. It's also good to be 734. The Valley today gets a new Metro Rapid line. Luckies. The NY Times spends 36 hours in LA and go horseback riding in Griffith Park, eat at......