Lindsay William-Ross

Photo by CPMcGann via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr As previously proposed, today the Metro Board approved a temporary decrease in the price of a Day Pass from $6 to $5. The new fare will be available starting August 1st, and is part of a 1-year test to see if cutting the cost will boost ridership on the transit system. Another perk to today's plan approval is that Day Passes loaded onto...

KCET's studios on Sunset Blvd. (Photo by DB's Travels via Flickr Things are a-changin' over at 4401 Sunset Boulevard, the longtime home of newly-independent TV station KCET, and soon to be programming beaming base of the Church of Scientology. However, when a few bricks were removed from the site, City Councilman Tom LaBonge called for further investigation, to ensure all parties involved with the property were complying with the guidelines for alterations to a...

Photo by melissssaf via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr If you're reading this on your cellphone and you happen to be driving, well, clearly the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and California Highway Patrol (CHP) did not get their message out to you last month during the nation's first and most ambitious statewide campaign against distracted driving. However, 52,664 motorists were busted in April for using their phone without the aid...

Nguyen Tran, Laurent Quenioux, and Thi Tran at Starry Kitchen (Photo by djjewelz via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) The fun and food loving Nguyen and Thi Tran of Downtown's mostly-lunch Starry Kitchen have announced an upcoming pop-up dining event, in which their restaurant will play host to the culinary talents of Chef Laurent Quenioux. The LQ@SK event begins June 5th for a limited engagement, and will offer two nightly seatings for...

Wind power in action near Palm Springs (Lindsay William-Ross/LAist) As part of its ongoing mission to give their bucks to green projects, internet search giant Google has announced they will finance a portion of the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC) in the Mojave Desert. Google posted details about their investment on their blog, explaining that the will be putting their money towards what's known as the 102 MW Alta IV project; portions of the...

Photo by Al Pavangkanan via Flickr A reminder for pothole haters, it's time to get ready to get yours filled: Operation Pothole is returning next month to the oh-so-mean streets of Los Angeles. Operation Pothole was first launched in January by City Council President Eric Garcetti, who set the lofty goal of getting 10-15,000 potholes filled over the course of a couple of days. This time, as Streetsblog notes, the goal is double: 20,000...

The beach at Santa Monica (Photo by chickpokipsie via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) As summertime draws near, once again Heal the Bay has prepared and released their annual Beach Report Card. For the 21st year, the nonprofit's report "grades approximately 600 locations along the West Coast for summer dry weather and more than 324 locations year-round on an A-to-F scale based on the risk of adverse health effects to beachgoers." Those...

This artist sketch provided by the LAPD shows the two suspects wanted in the attack on the Giants fan at Dodger Stadium. The LAPD have requested the media not run photos of suspect Ramirez (AP Photo/LAPD) Charges are usually filed against suspects within 48 hours of their arrest. However, in the high-profile Dodger Stadium Bryan Stow beating case, Giovanni Ramirez, the suspect arrested Sunday morning has yet to be charged for his role in...

Photo by aresauburn™ via Flickr There's a new position opening up at City Hall for someone who doesn't mind getting tough about bills getting paid. It's what's being called the "Collections Czar," and the role was approved by a 9-1 vote this morning during today's regular City Council Meeting. The motion to create the position was introduced by Council President Eric Garcetti in late 2009. The job, technically called the Executive Director for Revenue...

Some figures released by California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today indicate that the homicide rate has gone down 9.6% statewide, and is at its lowest since 1966. Further, California saw a 6.4% overall decline in violent crimes. The figures represent data gathered by the Department of Justice from the state's largest jurisdictions for 2010. Harris attributes the work of law enforcement for the drop in the statistics: "The decline in homicides and other...

Will Norton (via Facebook) 18-year-old Will Norton was on his way home after his high school graduation when the tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, and now the young man, poised to attend the OC's Chapman University in the fall is missing. Norton, according to a CNN iReport, was yanked out of his vehicle through the sunroof, by the force of the storm. The iReport explains: Will's father attempted to grab onto Will as the windshield...

We might live in Dodgers Nation, but we still live in a litigious nation: Today the family of beaten Giants fan Bryan Stow is filing suit against the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to CBS2.