Jeremy Oberstein

Left the house this morning at 6 a.m. (that's 3 a.m. in California). The streets were already teeming with inauguration goers. There was a palpable sense of excitement, as there has been in DC for days. The swarm walked toward the capitol building in heavy anticipation of... something. No one knew exactly where they were going and security wasn't sure what to tell anyone. It was a mad house, a chaotic scene that was calmed by hundreds of red hatted volunteers who wished all a "happy inauguration day" and gave high-fives.

A Metro fare ticket | Photo by Jeremy Oberstein/LAist With one day left until Inauguration Day, thousands of constituents fanned out among hundreds of congressional offices Monday to collect their prized Golden Ticket to today's swearing in. 240,000 tickets were handed out by Congress, but hundreds more pressed their luck, hoping to secure a place for history. One couple, a young boyfriend/girlfriend duo from Pasadena, showed up at Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff's prepared for...

View Larger Map LAist contributor Jeremy Oberstein is traveling east this weekend for the 2009 Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. What makes this trip different from the estimated two million slated to converge on the National Mall? He and two other Angelenos are making the trip by car, driving a total of 5,724 miles in a week. Follow his journey on Twitter and each day on LAist. We left Los Angeles at 6:20 p.m. Friday,...

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.

Tomorrow, Los Angeles's own Rep. Henry Waxman will begin his reign as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee when Congress inaugurates its 111th session. Waxman, who bested Detroit Rep. John Dingell in a congressional death match for chair of the powerful committee, faces a daunting shopping list when he is handed the gavel. Exactly what's in store for Waxman, the direction he takes the committee and what that means for California remains...

At 45 years old, Charles Phoenix has achieved a sort of legendary status in Southern California and beyond. Though he is well known for his Disneyland tours of Los Angeles, Phoenix has toured this country in search of the kitschiest cities and most vibrant offenders of class. His travels have brought him to Tulsa, Portland and Denver, which he calls the most kitschy city in the nation. But he calls Silver Lake home and has...

Hours after officials conferred the presidency upon Barack Obama, an agent of change in what could be a new era of American politics, millions around the state celebrated the win with a bittersweet tinge, recognizing that a majority of voters had dismissed the right of same-sex couples to marry. The loss of Proposition 8 set off a frenzied spate of rallies across Los Angeles and other parts of the state where outraged gays and straights...

Long early voting lines Oct. 31 at the county clerk's office in Norwalk. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Reports are slowly trickling in from around Los Angeles that, surprise, voting lines are long. LAist contributers Sam Kim and Sarah Ardalani report varying wait times in West L.A. and Echo Park, respectively. At Kim's polling place, lines stretched about 40 minutes long while Ardalani waited about 15 minutes at Golden West Christian Church off of Alvarado and Sunset...

Election Day has finally arrived and with it continued worries about expected record turnout and what that means for each voter. The County Clerk has asked that voters arrive at their polling places after 9 a.m. and before 4:30 p.m. to avoid the crush of residents casting ballots during the morning and evening rush hour. Don't let that dissuade you, however, from voting when you need/want to. Last minute tips: Still don't know where your...

LAist Editor Zach Behrens, from his Sherman Oaks polling place: "I have never waited more than a minute at this location but this looks like a 20 minute wait, maybe more. We'll see."...