Demonstrators in Westwood are filling the streets in front of the Federal Building in support of the anti-government protests happening for a fifth day in Egypt. Members of the local chapter of Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) are planning to gather through the afternoon, reports CBS Local, while a separate demonstration is set outside the Egyptian Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard, "where protesters will call for an end to about $1.5 billion annually in U.S. economic and military aid to the Mubarak regime. That group plans to join the Westwood demonstration about 2:30 p.m."
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It's considered the unofficial gateway to Santa Monica, and now artist Tony DeLap's sculpture "The Big Wave" has been restored, and is lighting up Wilshire Boulevard at Franklin Avenue. Since its installation, the piece suffered from deterioration, including rust and corrosion, and the failure of the original light system, Now, however, using LED lighting, the "Big Wave" is shining once again. more ›

The Metro Board of Directors unanimously voted today to support LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and the vocal condominium residents and will remove a contested one-mile segment of the proposed Wilshire rush hour bus-only lanes from the project, reports Streetsblog Los Angeles. more ›

Westwood condo-dwellers who object to converting lanes on busy Wilshire Boulevard into Metro Rapid bus-only lanes twice daily during rush hour periods insist a one mile segment of the proposed 8.7 mile stretch be exempted. Now the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority says that exemption won't render the project ineligible to receive federal aid for bus rapid transit endeavors, according to LA Now. more ›

A one-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood nicknamed "Condo Canyon" is proving to be a wrench in the works for proposed bus-only lanes that could improve the commute for transit users, according to the LA Times. more ›

There was probably only--thankfully--one moment during Saturday's Great Los Angeles Walk when my companions and I sang a cheery chorus of "Nobody Walks in L.A." We were walking in L.A., part of a larger group of determined urban hikers, journeying through rain, then sun, then dusk, from Downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean, trekking the length of Wilshire Boulevard. more ›

A late-night explosion rocked the lobby of a 15-story building on WIlshire at Bixel, igniting a small blaze, according to KTLA. LAFD officials believe the 2:14 a.m. "blast may have been related to record-breaking electricity use during Monday's extreme heat wave." more ›

The Beverly Hills Police Department conducted a crosswalk sting to nab motorists who failed to yield for the decoy pedestrian, reports the Beverly Hills Courier. more ›

And the food truck battle continues on the 5700 block of Wilshire Boulevard. A reader this afternoon sends in this photo of a sign posted to one of the junker cars apparently used by Museum Square management to block food trucks from parking across the street from restaurants that rent space in their building. Last week, someone began posting different signs to the cars. Museum Square management has declined to comment, but employees who spoke under the condition of anonymity said the cars are used to block food trucks from competing with the brick and mortar businesses. Parking tickets are handed out often. more ›

Shortly before 1:30 this afternoon, LAPD Commander Andrew Smith sounded the siren of a squad car and got on the loudspeaker to declare the protest at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Highland Avenue an unlawful assembly. more ›

Traffic has come to a halt around Wilshire and Highland as a protest about Arizona's immigration law, which goes into effect today, becomes more out of control. Initial reports indicated some 30 to 40 protestors were lying in the street, according to Weho Daily, which monitors police broadcasts, but a further report by the LA Times says about 200 people laid down in the street. 14 people who chained themselves on a downtown street were arrested in a similar type of protest in May. more ›

For the past few weeks, Metro has been "unscientifically gauging" the public on where a few key stations should be located for the Westside Subway. The latest poll focuses on a Westwood Station, which will likely be the busiest station in the system with some 14,300 boardings a day. more ›

The battle for lunchtime business on the Miracle Mile has moved to the next level, as an unidentified person or group of people has lobbed back with a call to retort, announced via signs left on the cars that are being parked there as part of an elaborate and orchestrated plan allegedly concocted by management at the Museum Square building. more ›

The civil war between food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants in the Miracle Mile seems to be kicking into high gear. LAist has received a few observations from readers stating that passenger vehicles are now taking up all the parking spaces on the 5700 block of Wilshire Boulevard, staying there all day and getting ticketed. There's no confirmation that these vehicles are from restaurants, but workers in the area are suspicious. Here's one e-mail that we received: more ›

A pedestrian was struck and killed by a big rig this afternoon, prompting police to close local streets. The woman was apparently walking on Hauser Blvd, just north of Wilshire when the incident happened at 1:06 p.m. more ›

Did you know that West Los Angeles is home to nine consulates? We didn't, but thanks to the latest newsletter from the community's Neighborhood Council, we do now. They say eight national consulates are on the south side of Wilshire Boulevard, between the 405 Freeway and the Santa Monica border: more ›

Wilshire Boulevard has reportedly been shut down by a DREAM act protest led by students. In an alert by LAPD's West L.A. division, "Wilshire Blvd off the 405 Fwy at Veteran ave is severely congested. use alternate route to get into Westwood." The DREAM act is a piece of federal legislation dealing with undocumented alien students. More details coming. more ›

Tonight, residents of homes and condominiums in Westwood and Century City who may be affected by construction for the Westside's "Subway to the Sea" will have an opportunity to hear "how homes, businesses, water lines and other structures will be protected" during the course of the drilling for the project, according to the Daily News. more ›

A pilot program loosening rules for where taxi cabs can pick up and drop off customers in downtown and Hollywood was extended today by the Los Angeles City Council. The program, first established in 2008, allows drivers to temporarily stop at “No Stopping” and “No Parking” zones and alongside parked vehicles to load and unload passengers. more ›

Jason Alexander, perhaps known best for his run as George Costanza on the sitcom Seinfeld, struck a cycling middle-schooler early this morning, according to LA Now. The 14-year-old boy was on his way to campus when he was struck by Alexander at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and June Street. The "was taken to a hospital in stable condition." However, while the LAPD "took an accident report and are investigating the incident," Alexander was not cited. A spokesman for the actor says he was "shaken up" and that he "stayed with the cyclist until the paramedics and police arrived and all indications are that the injury was minor." more ›

A bag left at a Chase Bank in Westwood prompted the closure of the immediate area and a bomb squad response late this morning. At 11:43 a.m., the LAPD was notified of the bag, which was left at the bank by a customer who did not return to pick it up. As of 1:25 p.m., streets in the area were shut down, according to Officer Gregory Beck. "Traffic is awful," bemoaned one Twitter user. Standard operating procdure in these cases are to shut down streets three to four blocks from the suspicious item. more ›

The Los Angeles City Council today will decide to direct staff to lay out detailed plans and needs to ensure that the Wilshire Boulevard Bus-Only Lanes Project--dedicated peak-hour lanes between Santa Monica and the Pico-Union neighborhood--becomes a reality in a few years. more ›

Curbed LA attended Wednesday night's scoping meeting about adding an additional stop to plans for the Westside Subway Extension. Public comments ranged the gamut, from it's absolutely needed to hell no. Curbed's conclusion seems right on: "If we were betting bloggers, we'd have to say Metro will skip a Crenshaw staton. The ridership isn't quite there, the density can't be changed, it's cheaper to build the line without it, and you have wealthy homeowners adamantly against the stop." more ›

The group of schools on the site of famous Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 will be named in his honor, the LAUSD Board of Education decided today. The move had been in the works for a long time and was voted upon unanimously. more ›

For a lot of people, today marks the end of the year. Vacations start. School is out. Holiday parties begin. Whatever it may be, the cause for celebration also means a higher rate of drunks on the road. Tonight there are various DUI checkpoints throughout the Southern California region. more ›

A 12:15 p.m. call to police from someone who apparently saw two people breaking into a home on or near the 4900 block of Wilshire Boulevard prompted the the LAPD to shut the area down, forming a perimeter for a manhunt. Both suspects were recently taken into custody and the perimeter should be taken down, if not already, allowing traffic to resume. UPDATE: KTLA says the suspects were hiding in a storage shed and taken into custody by SWAT. more ›

Although they even fooled one LADOT representative, further research has shown that Tow Zone signs put up yesterday on the 5700 block of Wilshire Boulevard were not placed by city workers. "Our temporary sign posting folks reported those are definitely not our signs," explained spokesman Bruce Gillman. "We log all postings by LADOT personnel." more ›

Earlier this morning, we showed you the video of The L.A. Wall being torn down. Now, here are photos of the art before it was destroyed in celebration of the Berlin Wall's falling 20 years ago. more ›

The 20th Anniversary for the falling of the Berlin Wall was a big deal here in Los Angeles, a sister city of Berlin's. Thanks to the Wende Museum of the Cold War, Wilshire Boulevard last night was bisected by the 60-foot L.A. Wall, donned with images by such artists as Shepard Fairey and Thierry Noir, who began painting the Berlin Wall in 1984. more ›

In addition to the Berlin Wall display, the building 5900 Wilshire Building across from LACMA opened another art exhibit today. Canstruction L.A. shows off works of art built from canned food by local architects, engineers, and designers. The free exhibit closes November 15th (Hours: Monday-Sunday 8 a.m.-6 p.m.) and that's when all those cans get donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Over the past three years, the event, previously housed in Sherman Oaks and then Santa Monica, has donated over 157,000 cans. As a visitor to the exhibit, you are encouraged to bring canned donations. more ›