Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa heads to Washington, D.C., (again) today with a mission to secure federal funding and support for Los Angeles issues and projects - two of them being the Westside Subway Extension and the Metro Green Line to LAX extension. more ›

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, along with at least 17 mayors from Los Angeles and Orange counties, heads to Washington, D.C. today for the 80th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. More than 250 mayors will descend on Washington today, and they have a big fish to discuss with President Barack Obama - a transportation spending bill. more ›

Occupy L.A. activists recently escaped the City of Angels to head east to the hometown of President Barack Obama. Twenty-two local occupiers boarded a red-eye flight from LAX to Washington, D.C. to occupy the nation's capital. more ›

We may be 3,000 miles away from the apocalyptic events that are bombarding the Northeast (now some experts thing that in addition to earthquakes and hurricanes, tornadoes may make their way through the area), but we're not wholly unaffected: most flights heading east have been cancelled because of Hurricane Irene, reports CBS News. Air traffic control has been suspended as of 10:00 p.m. GMT last night at five airports in the New York area, including JFK and LaGuardia, and Logan International Airport in Boston is reporting numerous cancellations. more ›

The assistant coach for the Los Angeles Kings was arrested last night in Washington D.C. for sexual abuse -- or at least that's the news floating around Twitter and what ABC7 is reporting. But the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C. cannot confirm if it is that Mark Hardy. "That's a pretty ubiquitous name," Officer Eric Frost told LAist over the phone. He said someone named Mark Hardy has been arrested, but has not confirmed it is the one from the LA Kings. ABC7 says Hardy was arrested overnight at the Mayflower Hotel after a complaint "from a woman in her 20s who claimed to be a relative of Hardy's." Hardy played for the team on and off twice since 1979. He became an assistant coach in 2008. more ›

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made his way back to the U.S. Capitol today to testify before a congressional subcommittee on securing billions in funding for regional public transportation projects. It's the fourth trip so far on the sole topic. more ›

The 7th season of Bravo's Top Chef will give viewers two opportunities to root for the home team thanks to the casting of two Los Angeles-based chefs who will be going knife-to-knife with their fellow hopefuls for the accolade. more ›

Last year was a rough one for Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Their label dissolved and the album that they were working on was scrapped. Undeterred they set about writing new material and self produced a new album in Brooklyn which was released a couple weeks ago on Matador Records. We caught up with Leo a few weeks ago to talk about these crazy transitions, the health of punk music, and Malibu rum. Here is some of what was said. more ›

Even though the Mayor was just in Washington D.C., he's going back this week to ask for an advance on money. A lot of it. Thanks to Measure R, the voter-approved sales tax hike, L.A. County is looking at some $30 billion in dedicated transit funds over the next 30 years. So why not ask the feds for a loan upfront so we can start now? Other city issues will also be worked on. This is part of the annual Access D.C. trip where 200 business leaders and several city councilmembers head to the capitol. more ›

In 2001, California native Chandra Levy disappeared while interning at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington D.C. Her body was not found until a year later in Rock Creek Park, but the investigation revealed that California Congressman Gary Condit (D-Modesto) was having an affair with her, even though he was not considered a suspect. Now, 27-year-old Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadorian immigrant who was questioned by police for Levy's murder and is currently serving a 10 year term for two attacks on women during the same year at the same park, is reportedly now the prime suspect in the case. Police contacted Levy's mother, who said they are expecting to press charges in the next several days. Police have no comment. more ›

In less than 24 hours, your LAist Inauguration 2009 correspondent will set off on a mad dash toward Washington, D.C., along 2,870 miles of this nation's most barren and beautiful landscapes. Through 10 states and four highways, I and two other Angelenos will drive toward a massive storm of an estimated two million people from around the country and world who will crowd this nation's capitol for the historic moment. more ›

LAist likes to think of Democratic National Committee member Ed Espinoza as LA's Superdelegate. We chatted with him last week. more ›

At the cost of $1.6 million, Washington DC's Metropolitan Police Department has asked the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department send 340 sheriff's deputies to the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama next month. It's a nice honor, but in this recession, LA County Board of Supervisors are not happy, especially since the reimbursement may be a million dollars short. "A report presented today at the Board of Supervisors meeting estimated that only about $630,000 of the cost would be recouped," found the LA Times. more ›

LA's Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is headed to the nation's capitol today where he'll meet up with other mayors from other large US cities and ask for monetary aid in the form of "federal grants, loans and other assistance." According to MyFoxLA, Villaraigosa intends to focus on implementing "a Main Street Economic Plan that invests in local infrastructure, creates jobs and boosts the green economy of Los Angeles." Although the Mayor is networking with other heads of cities, like Miami's Diaz, Chicago's Daley, and NYC's Bloomberg, LA Observed wonders when Villaraigosa will start to take advantage of social networking sites, like the Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr pages created for him, noting there's "not much happening yet on the mayor's social networks, but then they just started looking for a New Media director." more ›

Pumpkin, the turkey pardoned by President Bush on Wednesday in Washington DC, was honored as the grand marshal at Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day Parade today in Anaheim. He, along with Pecan--the backup turkey--will now be part of the park's holiday display of live reindeer. After that, the two will retire to Disneyland's Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland. more ›

Yesterday, Iowa Senator Charles Grassley wrote a letter to President George Bush asking him to consider taking a stand against car idling in Washington D.C. more ›

Here's Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama pumping fists with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at yesterday's League of United Latin American Citizens convention in Washington D.C. The Illinois Senator wasn't the mayor's first choice, but he's certainly showing "dedication" as he flew a redeye out to be there and is already back in LA today. more ›

About an hour before today's bomb scare at LAX, a man walked into the World Bank in Washington D.C. and went up to a security guard with a suspicious package claiming it was a bomb. The incident prompted nearby streets to close and people inside the bank were not allowed to leave. An hour later, a man walked up to an LA World Airports police officer and said he had a bomb in his backpack, which prompted the roads around LAX's terminal's to close. It was later found, like the incident in DC, that the bag did not have a bomb. more ›

Mi Ami (ex-members of Black Eyes from SF) and Bipolar Bear. Since we love classical minimalism, we thought to ask the band a few questions before tonight's show: more ›

Back in July, LAist and you, our dear readers, had some fun with Walk Score, a site that lets you punch in your address and spits out a walkability score for your neighborhood. Some Los Angeles neighborhoods earned a very respectable "walkers paradise" rating and some just plain sucked (that's what you get when you live on Quakertown Ave. in the northwest Valley). A recent Brookings Institute study finds that Los Angeles ranks 12th... more ›

Not since Pee Wee's Playhouse has there been a children's show that grown-ups can enjoy as much as kids. Washington DC's local cable-access show, Pancake Mountain, has been attracting rockers like Deerhoof, Scissor Sisters, and Arcade Fire since 2003. Scott Stuckey's concept for the program was to have a children's show that is focused on fun, not on marketing. It's all about the music, and their live dance parties invite local kids to join in by way of an email list sent out to parents. The show is produced by Stuckey's Monkey Boy Studios, and run entirely by a group of volunteers (Bands also volunteer their time). The title song is written by the drummer from Fugazi, Brendan Canty. more ›

Visiting Washington D.C. during the summer is like reliving all your high school field trip nightmares. Every snotty-nosed kid and their mother was there. Despite the heat, humidity, and the rampant smell of Republican carcass, I had a great time. When Maryland and Virginia donated some land for Charles L'Enfant to build Washington D.C., as a capital city for this nation, I don't think they envisioned the polarity and contrast that metropolitan east coast city... more ›

Today's LA City Beat's LA Sniper column focuses aim on 30th District Congressman Henry Waxman who led the banning of subway construction under Wilshire Blvd. in the mid 1980s. Could you imagine what LA would be like today? A Los Angeles with a subway down the god friggin' most congested city street in America? Instead we have the one of the nation's busiest rapid bus lines, the 720, which the Sniper suggest should be... more ›

- Telemundo puts Mayor Tony's corazon on a leave of absence so they can investigate her - AP - 70 year-old bicyclist killed by an SUV in Tarzana - Daily News - Sticky Fingaz' brother X1 found dead this morning in LA, may have committed suicide - HHNLive - A 13 year-old kid get four fingers blown off thanks to fireworks - LAFD - "L.A. now recycles about 60% of its trash, the highest... more ›

interview by Carolyn Kellogg A year ago Tony Pierce took over the reigns of LAist, and I have to say he's done wonders with the place. It's bigger and shinier and got a gorgeous crowd standing out front (that's you). Will he tell us what it's like behind the LAist editor's curtain? Can we ever really know the man, the blogger, Tony Pierce? Carolyn Kellogg: Where'd you grow up, Tony? I was born in... more ›

Have you ever gone to a play and felt like your whole life could change? It might sound dramatic, but this is the theater after all, so maybe this kind of grandstanding and overwhelming support can be justified. , which opened this past weekend for the second year in a row at the Powerhouse Theater is Santa Monica is just such a production and being billed as "more timely than ever." Created by the Los Angele Theatre Ensemble under the direction of Tom Burmester, Wounded is a collaboratively conceived play researched and written by members of the ensemble. It is based on true accounts of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and set in the Fischer House rehabilitation home at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. It is easy to connect with one of the of the four main characters, they all have something in them that we have in us. more ›

As we discussed last week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in Washington D.C. today telling the rest of America why LA and its surrounding area is getting ripped off from federal investment. If we get jammed in traffic, we can't deliver for the rest of the U.S. Here are some facts: This delegation is part of the kick off of Access Washington, D.C. 2007, a trip sponsored by the L.A. Chamber and Mobility 21. Southern... more ›

In a civil war of words and politics (LA v. Rest of the Country), Mayor Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce will lead a delegation of Southern California business leaders and other regional officials to advocate for federal investment in local education, public safety and transportation. Their reasoning: SoCal's 18 million residents make up part of an economy that ranks 15th in the world. The population of 18 million is larger than... more ›

Kicking the party while they're down, last night Bill Maher went on CNN's "Larry King Live" and was as politically incorrect as always, stating that many chiefs of staff in Washington DC are homosexuals. When asked by King to name names, Maher threw out the name of no one less than GOP party leader Ken Mehlman himself. Larry said he was unaware that Mehlman, who is rumored to be stepping down as RNC Chairman... more ›

Sean Bonner is the co-founder of Metroblogging, which is the largest network of city-based blogs on the entire Interwebs -- with 50 cities under their masthead. When he's not launching new web ventures or contributing to blogging.la, he's running the Culver City art gallery sixspace with his wife Caryn, being Vegan, or riding his mountain bike while humming Ice Cube tunes. 1. name: Sean Bonner 2. birthplace: Washington DC 3. LA neighborhood you live... more ›