Between this weekend and Labor Day, Angelenos can expect to find DUI checkpoints run by the Los Angeles Police Department at just about any turn all over town. The LAPD announced that they are ramping up efforts to get impaired drivers off the streets, and to educate the public about the dangers of driving drunk. more ›

DTLA's July Art Walk experienced the tragic death of an infant boy, spurring protests and petitions demanding the city shut down traffic during the Art Walk hours. While the city has not complied with street closures, City Councilmembers José Huizar and Jan Perry are unveiling new policies to ensure safety during the monthly event. more ›

Yesterday's devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand has impacted many people world-wide, and now Los Angeles is reaching out with assistance in the form of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s 74-member California Task Force 2 team, who deployed in the evening to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts there. This morning, the official death toll remains at 75, however hundreds of people remain missing, buried beneath the rubble. more ›

Though the problem is daunting to officials in the County of Los Angeles, a homelessness task force is aiming to creating solutions for 48,000 people living on LA streets. "We believe that with the release of this plan, we now have a blueprint to end chronic homelessness and veteran homelessness,” said Christine Marge, director of housing for the United Way of Greater Los Angeles in the New York Times. more ›

Imagine Los Angeles County with a homeless population that is 70 or more per cent smaller than it is today. That's the vision according to a task force report issued by he United Way and the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, according to KPCC. They have a plan to end homelessness in L.A. County in five years. more ›

Where does "good food" come from in Los Angeles? Who has access to it? Who doesn't...and why don't they? These are questions tackled by a task force assembled in September 2009 by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to address concerns about food sources, availability, sustainability, and much more. The task force worked for months, and recently issued their report, signaling a need for Good Food for All in Los Angeles. more ›

The decision to implement a health grading system for food trucks and carts today was pushed back to a meeting in October, but officials still took steps to address issues. County Supervisor Don Knabe announced that he is creating a taskforce made up of mobile vendors and restaurant owners. more ›

First Fridays in Venice draws crowds, and so do the food trucks that park along the vibrant strip of Abbot Kinney to take part in the monthly festivities. However, there has been concern growing about the impact the mobile businesses have on the neighborhood, reports The Argonaut, and now the Neighborhood Council has formed a task force to explore the issue. more ›

In the wake of the recent Electric Daisy Carnival, a rave-like music festival held at the Coliseum, the "Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted to form a task force to examine safety hazards at rave parties," according to the Daily News. more ›

After a death of a teenager and over one hundred injuries at last weekend's Electric Daisy Carnival, two L.A. County Supervisors today called for a multi-agency task force to address the health and safety issues associated with rave party events and report back with findings and recommendations. more ›

In response to this weekend's massive 8.8 quake off the coast of Chile, " Los Angeles County Fire’s world-class Heavy Rescue Task Force, has been mobilized for deployment to Chile to help rescue and recover earthquake victims..." more ›

Possibly taking cue from Korea's DMZ and TMZ's branding (it stands for the historical Thirty Mile Zone), check this sticker out that was spotted over the weekend at one of Malibu's famous celebrity hunting grounds--the Cross Creek Shopping Center in Malibu. Blogger Veronique Tuerenne, internet-rolls her eyes and calls this sticker "wishful thinking." Malibu is one of the cities particpating in a regional paparazzi taskforce that most recently published a citizen's guide to help navigate the law when dealing with paps. more ›

Last week, the LAPD arrested 28 people at downtown businesses and seized 200,000 pirated or counterfeited DVD's, CD's and other apparel equaling up to $2.76 million in street value. more ›

Councilman Dennis Zine's, who created a regional Paparazzi Task Force this summer, has proposed an ordinance to keep paparazzi a modest 20 feet away from schools, hospitals and medical facilities when recording celebrities. Zine defines the prohibition for photographers and videographers taking photos/video for a "'commercial purpose" defined as the expectation of a sale, financial gain, or other remuneration. However, the celebrity or facility can give consent for photographs. But does 20 feet matter? With a long lens or a great zoom function, the product won't change much. What will happen is an easier walk from the door to the curb for the celebs. more ›

It was in July when musician John Mayer, Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Eric Roberts, the Screen Actors Guild and others told their paparazzi horror stories to a regional paparazzi taskforce led by City Councilmember and former LAPD Officer Dennis Zine at City Hall. On Thursday, they will meet again in Malibu. more ›

Jimmy Kimmel called our police chief a gossip columnist last night after LAPD Chief William Bratton walked up to KNBC cameras clad in his morning workout clothes to talk about yesterday's paparazzi taskforce hearing, which included John Mayer, Milo Ventimiglia and Eric Roberts. Bratton showed off his gossip/current events knowledge by listing off what was going on with Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. He said since "Lohan has gone gay," the paparazzi issue is not as bad at the moment. more ›

As John Mayer, Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Eric Roberts, the Screen Actors Guild and others tell their paparazzi horror stories to a regional paparazzi taskforce at City Hall right now (aired live online and on Channel 35), the LAPD is setting up their own press conference for later this morning. more ›

In response to the 4th of July Mandeville "road rage" incident, a former deputy for Council District 11 wrote in an e-mail to LAist that she "was not shocked when" she read the gruesome story. "When I working for CD11 on 2001 and 2002, there were problems on Mandeville Canyon with speed bumps." more ›

After quickly championing the rights of vehicles and bicycles sharing the road in the aftermath of the Mandeville Canyon "road rage" incident, Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl has canceled this Monday's community town hall that he quickly put together last week (he even changed locations once to accommodate the expected large crowd comfortably). more ›

As reported earlier today, Los Angeles is America's favorite city to own a Bulldog as a pet. With the high concentration of the breed and their close relative, the pit bull, there's bound to be a few bad seeds. And when we say that, we do not mean the dogs. From CBS2:

Police arrested a 55-year-old man after the Los Angeles City Animal Cruelty Task Force found scarred pit bulls and equipment related to dog-fighting at a property in the Hyde Park section of Los Angeles, authorities said. more ›

The community of Watts seems to be undergoing a shift in atmosphere, reports the Daily News, as the area's gang violence has been decreasing, thanks in part to the Watts Gang Task Force. In terms of statistics, homicides were halved last year from the year before--11 in 2007 as compared to the 24 in 2006, and 2007 saw "a three-month stretch without a single slaying. Gang homicides for the approximately 1-square-mile home to an estimated 2,000 gangsters dropped from 13 in 2006 to eight last year." The larger area, known as the South Bureau, which includes 35,000 Watts residents, also saw a marked decrease in homicides from 2006 to last year. more ›

Within 48 hours, building fires in Los Angeles did not take a holiday vacation. more ›

It is a shame Oprah does not upload video clips to YouTube, especially important and touching ones dear to us here in Los Angeles. Such is the amazing rerun segment from last Wednesday (originally aired in April) where she brought together two men who met in an alley on an almost fateful night in WeHo: Twenty years ago, Matthew was a young teenage runaway - he now currently works as a manager at the... more ›

- Bring popcorn: The MacArthur Park Task Force's first meeting is Monday at 6pm at Charles White Elementary School, 2401 Wilshire Blvd. - NBC4 more ›

LA County Supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke will retire after 40 years in politics. She was the first African-American woman elected to the California State Assembly. While there will be many heartfelt farewells for the 73-year-old, more interesting will be the race for her seat. The 5-member Board of Supervisors controls the pursestrings for the County and is vastly powerful; so far, Mark Ridley Thomas, Herb Wesson and Bernard Parks are rumored to be possible successors. more ›

We're still not quite sure what's really going on between the disgruntled former models of Suicide Girls and the company behind the site. From everything we've been able to gather, most of the complaints seem to be about one of the company's owners and founders, Sean Suhl, and the perception of SG as a punk-feminist-free speech advocating adult site versus a reality of what many former employees feel is about censorship and the exploitation of their young group of models. more ›

Those crazy meteorologists keep saying the rain is coming but it's sunny right now so we're just going to ignore them. Besides that, this week the only things we're more obsessed with than "American Idol" and "Project Runway" is crime. more ›