Councilman Bill Rosendahl played to the cycling community last week when he announced that he was convening a Community Forum to address issues raised in the aftermath of the Mandeville Canyon "road rage" incident of July 4th. The response to the Community Forum, which was announced last Wednesday, was so significant that the event was moved to a larger venue to accommodate the anticipated crowd. Abruptly, Rosendahl's Office reversed course on Saturday, announcing that the......

No direct link, but ABC7 has a large red breaking news banner at the top reporting that "Fox Hills Mall in Culver City is locked down while police search for a stolen car suspect." The leaning tower of Pisa. Check. The leaning tower of Hollywood? Double check. The Sunset + Vine building appears to be leaning. Timber! Donda West, mother of Kanye, who passed away after plastic surgery at a local hospital died from......

Until 2 p.m. today, residents of Los Angeles can receive free sandbags, courtesy of Department of Public Works Bureau of Street Services. You're going to have fill the sandbags yourself with the shovels provided on site and you get up to 25 bags if you so desire.There are about 35 locations in the city (includes fire stations), so you shouldn't have to go that far. To report storm-related emergencies such as trees down, landslides, potholes,......

Yesterday's citywide public relations blitz, "A Day Without a Bag," to bring awareness to our bad habits of using and and ditching paper and plastic bags in the trash was a quaint effort by city and county leaders -- a step in the right direction, as it were. Though, in a nation where the average household consumes 750 plastic bags a year, one day, or two bags, is hardly habit forming. And habit is......

The LA Times reports that copper thieves have been stealing the wire from streetlights in areas across the city where they think they can get away with it. Scratch that, where they can get away with it. The bikepath along the LA River was such a target that the City of LA's Department of Public Works welded the boxes at the base of the streetlights shut. Didn't work. The copper thefts continued. At at......

Now that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas Tree shopping is in order, it's a good time keep in mind that when it comes time to get rid of that tree, you can recycle it. If you have a green yard trimmings container, then you can the tree up and place it in there. If not, it's a good thing the Department of Public Works is already pushing their Christmas Tree Recycling Program that will be......

The state says the Mayor should get an automatic $8,283 salary increase retroactive to July 1. The mayor says not so fast: “With the City of Los Angeles facing a tough budget year, I do not believe now is the time for me to accept an automatic and retroactive pay raise. Being Mayor of Los Angeles is reward enough, and I’m committed to working twenty-four-seven to protect essential services.” (via a press release) The......

Los Angeles radio station carrying talk show for gangs Monday program on R&B station V100-FM, Bo Taylor, a radio host whose show has become something of a group therapy session for gang members. Removal of Newsrack Blight a Slow-go Several key leaders of the CLEAN Coalition (Coalition for L.A.’s Enforcement Applied to Newsracks) met at City Hall early this month for an impromptu reunion at the Council’s Public Works Committee. apparently, those newsracks aren't......

Last Saturday morning, the Board of Public Works invited all neighborhood councils to attend a meeting to kick start the go-happy 1950s Keep America Beautiful program. Los Angeles has been chosen as the kick off location for the national program, the Great American Clean Up, that takes place from March 1 through May 31. Along with a crowd of about 50 folks, bloggers/downtown neighborhood councilmen Eric Richardson from Blog Downtown and Brady Westwater of LA......

When it rained this weekend 150 tons of trash from LA's sewers flushed beneath us and ended up in the ocean. This is why we can't have nice things. "The volume of trash collected at the L.A. River boom is a powerful reminder that everything in the street - trash, cigarette butts, pet waste, even oil that leaks from cars - washes into the ocean after each heavy rainfall," said Emma Ayala, Head, Public......

West LA Online points us to tract7260.org, the web home of the homeowner's association for the neighborhood between Century City and Santa Monica. The issue of the day is the delay in the completion of the Transitway Project. It is now a year behind schedule and has reduced the number of lanes in each direction from three to two for long stretches. The larger problem seems to be the strain this is putting on......

Mayor Sam's Sister City blog informs us that the City of Los Angeles proposes to increase the sewer service fees in order to cover escalating sewage treatment costs. The City wants to increase fees over a five year period, starting March 1, 2005. The City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works has issued a "helpful" FAQ for those playing at home and has scheduled a slew of community meetings (see below for the......

The Daily News reports that an ill-timed maintenance project in San Fernando threatens a holiday tradition this weekend. Daily News staffer Lisa Mascaro writes: The holiday spirit on San Fernando Valley's famous Candy Cane Lane almost lost some sheen when city crews dug into a street project just weeks before thousands of cars were to come to see the decorated homes. But city officials said Monday that the paving work on Hatteras Street will......

With the redesign and reconstruction of Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood still a fresh memory, West LA residents, commuters, businesses, and a handful of pedestrians are bravely tolerating another major improvement project now taking place along a westerly swath of the Boulevard. A $68.5 million dollar Santa Monica Boulevard Transit Parkway Project attempts to transform the idiosyncratic (some might say disjointed) 2.5-mile long streetscape that follows the spine of the Century City corridor......