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. "While people across the country are looking for ways to reduce their fuel burden by using less, the federal government doesn’t appear to be taking the same steps to reduce wasteful energy consumption and save taxpayer money," he wrote. "Each and every day, there are likely dozens, if not hundreds......

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., right, is greeted by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Tuesday, July 8, 2008, at the League of United Latino American Citizens in Washington. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) 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......

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,......

Washington DC based minimalist postpunk trio, Antelope, is hitting town tonight at The Smell along with Bad Dudes 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: 1. First, you've gotta explain what minimalist postpunk is. It's difficult to talk about music, which is invisible. We just try to create songs that are simple and......

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......

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......

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......

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......

- 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......

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......

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. Wounded, 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......

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......

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......

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......

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......

Back when this LAister was a dewey-eyed new Angeleno, we loved all things that were genuinely Los Angeles, that were cheap, that were a little bit strange (we haven't changed much). Back then we were drawn irresistably to Venice Beach, which was free — and a freakshow of street performers, muscle men and the scruffy hippie punks of Zendik Farm. The Zendik Farmers carried smeared newsprint zines that they wanted to sell you, and if......

In response to the pro-amnesty (is that the ultimate political goal of the rallies?) marches on Monday, the Minuteman Project is starting a 12 city caravan to Washington DC today. It launches off from Los Angeles and will visit Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia before reaching the Nation's Capitol on May 12th where they will ask for tougher border control and laws. While most of the marchers on Monday wore white......

Immigration: Nationwide, rallies for immigrants' rights continue to swell — there were 500,000 in Washington DC yesterday. But here in LA, we might have a bit of rally burnout, or maybe the threat of rain kept many at home; estimates for our downtown march are 2,000-5,000. Dave Bullock was there and tells his story on blogging.la (he also took great photos, including the one above). The same old same old: The average age of......

If you're like me, and you love both NFL Football and the city of Los Angeles, the last decade has been tough. Without a team to root for (I go for the nearby Chargers as a temporary fan), LA football fans have simply been longing for the next team to waltz through our doors. Based on reports from last week's NFL owners meetings, it looks like we'll have to wait longer. The NFL is......

Well, not quite, but she does plan on breaking bread with the Commander -in-Chief in June. The Porn Star turned recall candidate for Governor will join her boss, Michael Kulkis (of Kick Ass Pictures), at National Republican Congressional Committee events (NSFW) in Washington DC next month. Carey also announced her intention to run for Lt. Governor next year and hopes that hobnobbing with the Republican faithful will get her in good with Schwarzenegger. The......