Lindsay William-Ross

Photo via Facebook Los Angeles County dedicated its first "green" library today in Whittier. The new Sorensen Library is a state-of-the-art facility that was built using recycled materials and includes sustainable features. This 10,655 square foot library replaces the original 1,048 square foot Sorensen Library opened in 1956, once the smallest in the County's public library system. The Sorensen Library's new "building structure is entirely made of steel, and approximately 40 percent is recycled,"...

The Echo Park Curiosity Shop and Art Gallery announced today via their blog that they will be closing down for good. The eclectic space, currently housing events and art exhibits, had run into some challenges last month as they put music performances on hold and pursued their cafe entertainment license with the city. Though the next incarnation won't be identical, rest assured "some form of this will return." Stay tuned!...

Photo by Alex de Cordoba via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Bicyclists in Los Angeles could soon be the beneficiaries of increased protection in the form of a new ordinance. The City Council is expected to take up a recommendation today from the Transportation and Public Safety Committee requesting "the City Attorney to prepare and present an ordinance making it a civil violation of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, including a fine...

Raw food lovers and vegans were excited back in May for Stephen Hauptfuhr to open Mooi, his restaurant in Echo Park. Now the outlook is shaky for the eatery, and Hauptfuhr has had to cut back hours and service, according to the Daily Dish. While the kitchen is open for Hauptfuhr's catering, " the restaurant is open only once a week to serve prix-fixe meals." With investors only supporting Mooi through this month, "Hauptfuhr...

Detectives are investigating the fifth homicide in Downtown L.A. this year, after officers were led to what the LAPD is calling a "bloody crime scene" inside the Renato Apartments on Skid Row. Last night a woman told passing officers there were two men fighting in one of the single-occupancy residence (SRO) units; in room 415 they found a "bloody mess" and one dead man, and one man who is now expected to survive, and...

It's bigger...and badder...than we thought. No, it's not another Transformers movie. "The Legislative Analyst's Office projects that the state's looming deficit is $25.4 billion, much larger than legislative leaders had anticipated," reports the Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert. At noon today, the LAO is expected to post their full report, which "will shed light on how bad next year's budget hole will be [...] and whether the economic forecast is likely to provide relief for...

The path of US Airways flight 808 (via FlightAware) After plenty of interesting and amusing speculation, it could be time to file this fleeting mystery as solved: A new, straightforward theory might explain what that "missile" was that was spotted over Los Angeles Monday night. Could it be that what the CBS chopper's camera caught was actually just the contrail from a US Airways flight from Honolulu to Phoenix? So goes the detective work...

Despite protests, the California State University Board of Trustees has approved a two-year fee hike plan, according to CBS2. Tuition at the system's campuses will go up for undergraduate, graduate and credential program students, and "will rise by 5 percent in the winter and spring terms and another 10 percent next fall, when California resident undergraduates will pay $4,884 annually." The trustees blamethe crippled state budget, since they are not receiving enough funding, and...

Law enforcement uses this taser model, X26 (Taser) Did you forget that we were boycotting businesses in Arizona? The Los Angeles City Council, who implemented the ban on doing business with the neighboring state because of their controversial immigration law, SB 1070, hasn't forgotten, though they have made yet another exemption in a series in order to keep certain services and goods in L.A. Yesterday, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the third...

SKD's LA Street Scenes The inaugural CicLAvia event last month was a tremendous success, and now planners are looking to get going on a repeat event for 2011. "The CicLAvia board is looking to host the next CicLAvia event in more-or-less the same 7-mile route as we did on 10-10-10 (more on some possible tweaks - soon!) extending from East Hollywood to Boyle Heights," blogs CicLAvia. They're planning on a Sunday in April 2011,...

Conor Lynch in a family photo (via KTLA) The 18-year-old driver who struck and killed a Sherman Oaks high school athlete as he ran with his Cross Country teammates will not face a felony charge for his role in the accident, reports KTLA. Moran Biton, also of Sherman Oaks, struck 16-year-old Conor Lynch, a student at Notre Dame High, as he was running "to catch up with his fellow runners who had crossed the...

An 18-year-old woman who gave birth on Friday allegedly abandoned her newborn son in a North Hollywood trash can, according to KTLA. Authorities initiated an investigation after the woman, whose name has not been released, "received treatment at a local hospital without a baby." Meanwhile, her baby boy was left "inside a wastebasket at a home in the 4500 block of Simpson Avenue." While an autopsy has been ordered for the baby, found yesterday...