Zach Behrens

KTLA If you thought the DaVinci Sleep Schedule was intense, check out what this Hollywood celebrity photographer is doing: Tyler Shields says that last month he completed 40 days straight without sleep. This story may belong in the nearby Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Odditorium , but if true, experts think it's a very dangerous endeavor. Shields, however, found it "an interesting way to create different brain waves and see things differently," he told...

Walt Disney Concert Hall | Photo by Greg Lilly Photos via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A spacecraft from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena had a close encounter with Hartley 2 comet and sent back a photo. The NFL + downtown Los Angeles by 2016? That's the ideal plan! Were you frustrated with the Secretary of State's slooow website on Election Night when looking for results? The vendor has now offered a mea...

The bomb squad has been deployed to check out a "suspicious container" tied to a tree in Sherman Oaks, police said today. A coffee can-sized container tied to a palm tree with wires and batteries protruding on the southeast corner of Ventura and Sepulveda (map) -- that's catty corner to the Sherman Oaks Galleria -- was reported to the LAPD around 1:45 p.m. Police activity is affecting traffic at the intersection, which is one...

Aaron Shannon Jr. The two suspects sought in a South L.A. shooting that left a toddler dead and two of his relatives injured have been arrested, police announced today, according to the LA Times. It was around 2 p.m. on Halloween when two young men walking down an alley opened fire into a backyard where 5-year-old Aaron Shannon Jr. was showing off his Spiderman costume to his grandfather and uncle. All three were hit,...

A minor 3.8 magnitude earthquake struck Long Beach Friday at 9:06 a.m., according to the USGS. People reported feeling it as far as Riverside, Orange County and the Antelope Valley. Per the Long Beach Post on Twitter, the quake was centered around the traffic circle in city's Park Estates area. As always, every little earthquake should be a reminder to get prepared for when a large strikes....

Photo by sfxeric via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The prison private sector is big business. So big, in fact, California will spend $60 million a year for three years to send 2,600 prisoners to GEO Group Inc.'s facility in Michigan, according to Neon Tommy's Paresh Dave. Millions more are likely to be spent by sending thousands of more prisoners to facilities owned by Corrections Corp. of America, which was a major player behind...

Photo by Lucyrk in LA via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr High temperatures were broken on Wednesday and they followed suit on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. This time, however, it was not as extreme and only a handful of records were broken: LAX: 96 tied 1976's record Downtown L.A: A new record of 96 tied a record set in 1976 Long Beach: A new record of 96 beat a 1976 record...

This morning's sunrise | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist (thanks for all your work over the years, Tom!) Prop 23 was defeated in Tuesday's election, but Prop 26 won. NBC says that means polluters still win. Jessica's Law, which restricts where sex offenders can live in relation to parks and schools has been struck down by a L.A. County Superior Court judge, but the state plans to fight the ruling. L.A. County Sheriff's will get...

Photo by McBLG97 via Flickr The LAPD is once again sending a message to drivers across the city to not drink and drive. There will be at least one DUI checkpoint tonight, located in the San Fernando Valley on the border of North Hills and Van Nuys along Roscoe Blvd. between Woodley and Haskell. The LAPD does not have to announce all checkpoints, so there could be more out there. Traffic deaths statewide have...

Starting Monday, all but one of Metrolink's train schedules will be slightly tweaked, the agency announced today. "We made these adjustments to provide the best service possible to our customers. We added time to many schedules to provide better connectivity, compensate for new safety enhancements such as decreased speed limits in some areas and to make sure we are on time as often as possible," said John Fenton, Metrolink's CEO. "We understand even minor...

Long desired, and more recently rumored, residents and workers will soon have a Target store in downtown Los Angeles. The big box retailer this week finalized its agreement with Brookfield Properties for an approximately 100,000 square foot space -- that's one-third smaller than their typical size -- at the 7th+Fig mall...

Several news sources are predicting that Republicans will take control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Although not all races are called, the party is holding a lead in enough for a takeover. Says the The New York Times' FiveThirtyEight blog: "Frankly, this night is looking slightly anticlimactic, with both the House and the Senate having moved in relatively clear directions so far." They predict a 1% chance Republicans will take the Senate....