a Guest Blogger

Back in October, the Yes on 8 "people" challenged California's Superintendent of Schools, Jack O'Connell, to a debate about gay marriage. According to Yes, even the remotest possibility of learning anything about gay marriage is harmful to children. Nothing hateful about that! Anyway, the No side refused to debate. In fact, not only did (self-described) Campaign Manager Steve Smith hide from the debate, but his response was obscured from public view in a hard-to-find...

Photo by Hot Meteor via Flickr In recent weeks, Los Angeles seems to be the "it" city when it comes to becoming eco-friendly. First, Gov. Schwarzenegger held the Global Climate Summit in Beverly Hills. Shortly thereafter, Mayor Villarigosa announced plans for Solar LA in his continued effort under GREEN LA. And then, earlier this week, iHollywood Forum hosted "Hollywood Goes Green", inviting industry and advertising personnel to attend and learn what has been done,...

A series of explosions rocked the residences of Canoga Park, within a block of the intersection of Jordan Avenue and Saticoy Street Monday night. There were three explosions heard at 7:30, 9:30, and 11:30 p.m. The Los Angeles Fire Department was on the scene twice canvasing streets, looking for fires and smoke. The firemen on scene reported no fire, and no damage. When we went to look later ourselves, we found a blast mark and...

A family of four were irate and shaken last night after one of them had his car stolen after being shot at a Washington Mutual bank branch, on the corner of Sherman Way and Vassar Avenue in Canoga Park. Kami, a resident of the area, said he was approached at the bank's street-front ATM by a man holding a gun demanding money. When Kami explained that he was only checking his account to confirm that...

In probably the most comprehensive study of its kind, a series from USA Today--The Smokestake Effect: Toxic Air and America's Schools--pinpoints toxic hotspots near schools in over 34 states. Working with the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, they looked at over 127,000 public, private and parochial schools, ranking them by air quality. Thirteen thousand schools across California were involved, with 3,266 schools residing in Los Angeles County. The worst school? Stephens Middle School in Long...

Colorado River's Horseshoe Bend | Photo by Matt York/AP Los Angeles is in a drought. Without more rainfall, this city will be starting rationing very soon. New data was released today about our water shortage: Seven Western states will face more water shortages in the years ahead as climate change exacerbates the strains drought and a growing population have put on the Colorado River, scientists say. Without fundamental shifts in water management, the result...

Marc Sahara of The Inconvenient Bag at a California Green TV filming. The episode airs on Thanksgiving Day at 8:30PM on KCET (left to right: Marc Eco, Huell Howser, World Famous Artist Greg Pnut Galinsky & Morgan Pharoh - VP of The Inconvenient Bag). Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for the challenges we have met thus far, and to be at peace knowing that people are becoming more open to our green...

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was named the villainous winner of the 2008 Heroes & Villains Face-Off in the just-released Holiday issue of Field & Stream magazine. His faults were closing state recreation areas in the midst of budget cuts while taking away funding for steelhead and salmon restorations. Then again, the magazine also named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a hero for being an active hunter and fisherman. But we saw the other side of Schwarzenegger...

Photo by tom.arthur via Flickr Dean C. Logan is the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk for LA County and has released this basic, but helpful op-ed. Although he has a controversial past in his previous post in Washington state, LAist has found Logan to be one of the most accessible politically appointed officials in the region. He and his office are easy to work with, return calls (he makes most of them) and is always looking to make...

LAist reader Kristi Nicole who blogs at Pico and the Man had a chance to interview Teresa Wang from Roots of Equality about this Sunday's rally that will include specials guests such as Chastity Bono and Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, the couple whose court case paved the path for legal gay marriage in California. Here's what she learned... Tell me about Roots of Equality, whose idea was it and how did you guys...