Lindsay William-Ross

Photo by mares8 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The L.A. City Council is considering putting a special tax on medical marijuana collectives, however the voters will have the final say. Today the Council is expected to be presented with the City Attorney's recently issued report on the tax measure, and they are being recommended to adopt the resolution and have the proposition put on the March 8th, 2011 ballot. The purpose...

Photo by katerha via Flickr Calling plastic bags "urban tumbleweed," L.A. County Sup. Zev Yaroslavsky was among the voters on the Board who helped put a sweeping ban on the items today, according to LA Now. Joining Yaroslavsky were Sups. Gloria Molina and Mark Ridley-Thomas, with Sup. Michael D. Antonovich opposing, and Sup. Don Knabe absent. The ban will affect unincorporated L.A. County, and will mean single use bags will not be available at...

Ronni Chasen (Deadline Hollywood Daily) Authorities have identified the woman who was found shot to death inside a crashed vehicle in Beverly Hills overnight. The victim is 64-year-old Ronni Chasen, a "longtime Hollywood publicist" who "has represented such entertainment luminaries as the late actress Natalie Wood, composer Hans Zimmer, and move producers Dick Zanuck and Irwin Winkler," according to LA Now. Chasen was reportedly well-respected in the entertainment industry. Prior to launching her own...

Wilshire Blvd. cuts through the landscape, as seen from above (Photo by Atwater Village Newbie via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) One of the most storied streets in Los Angeles meets one one of the coolest public events this weekend, as the fifth annual Great Los Angeles Walk takes on Wilshire Boulevard for a second time. This all-day urban hike organized by Franklin Avenue goes from Wilshire's start in Downtown all the...

Photo by antith3tic via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr 20 candidates have filed to run in the primary election in 2011 for the 4 opening LAUSD Board seats. Gas prices in SoCal are on the rise Former President Bill Clinton is making a cameo appearance in "The Hangover 2." He filmed his scenes this weekend in Thailand. Could be gory and delicious? How about a "Blood & Dumplings Crime Bus Tour." One...

People who have spent time today in the Lomita area today might have wondered what the heck that awful smell was. As a matter of fact, Lomita stinks. Reports have been flooding into the 911 center today in Torrance about a "sulfur" or "rotten egg" smell; even the cops could smell it at their Department, according to South Bay Crimes & Courts. Using their noses, along with their noggins, the source of the stench...

11 candidates are gearing up to duke it out to win the election to be the Council person in District 12, to succeed retiring Councilman Greig Smith, according to Chatsworth Patch. Saturday was the filing deadline for the 2011 Primary Election, which will take place on March 8. Next year, the seven "even-numbered City Council district seats are up for election." Among those on the primary are two businesswomen, three Neighborhood Council members, a...

Hall and Quinones (LACFD) A section of the Angeles Forest Highway will be formally dedicated this morning in honor of the two Los Angeles County firefighters who lost their lives on duty battling the Station Fire. Captain Ted Hall and Engineer Arnie Quinones died on August 30th, 2009 when their truck plunged 800 feet off the side of a road near Mount Gleason. Less than a month later, Quinones' widow, Lori, gave birth to...

An octogenarian woman died last night after being deliberately pushed off a Gold Line platform an onto the tracks earlier in the day, reports KTLA. Betty Sugiyama, 84, was pushed off the Little Tokyo Metro station platform Sunday morning. Shortly after Sugiyama fell, another woman, Jackkqueline Pogue, 44, was taken into custody. Pogue will be charged with murder, says the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, though right now a motive for the crime is...

This morning, the "California Supreme Court unanimously upheld a state law which allows certain nonresidents, including some undocumented students, who attend and graduate from a California high school to pay in-state tuition at the state's public colleges and universities," reports the UC newsroom. "The law applies to students who attend high school in California for at least three years and graduate. It has benefited both undocumented students and U.S. citizens. In 2008-09, for example,...

Photo by velkr0 via Flickr Today the state Supreme Court is expected to reach a decision "whether undocumented immigrants may continue to receive in-state tuition rates at the state's colleges and universities or be required to pay the higher rates charged to students from other states," according to LA Now. Tuition rates in California are based on in-state residency; here tuition is lower for those who have attended a California high school for at...

Photo by Sundogg via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Today is America Recycles Day, an observation that has been in place on November 15th since 1997. Schools, communities, retailers, and groups mark the day by holding events that focus on recycling, and provide people with a chance to learn and participate. One local coalition, Don't Waste LA, is launching their campaign today to get Angelenos to recycle more, and to see to...