Lisa Brenner

Photo by polaroid-girl via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Drivers planning to duck police over expired registration tags this summer can dial down the paranoia as officers throughout California have been "told to turn a blind eye to expired license plates for the next couple of months as lawmakers decide whether to lower fees on the violation," according to CBS Local. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has been instructed to hold off...

Photo by kenteegardin via Flickr Costa Mesa City Council approved layoffs for 200 city workers, eight police officers and one animal control officer despite an independent audit that found approximately $23 million in the city's general fund for the upcoming year, according to CBS Local. The controversial cuts were approved around 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday in a move Costa Mesa Police Department interim Chief Steve Staveley called “unethical and immoral.” Staveley resigned abruptly on...

See anything you like in Newport Beach? (Photo by mack911 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) Newport Beach may be revising their stance on what is allowed and what requires permission at the area's parks and beaches. Personal trainers and others would have to get permission from the city if they want to hold classes, should the new rule take effect. If the Parks & Recreation Commission approves the measure on Wednesday,...

Photo by geocam20000 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Big Bear's high school yearbook has cause more than the standard-issue humiliation when an image of 17-year-old boy seen in the background of a winter formal photo with his hands up a skirt of 15-year-old girl triggered a sex crime investigation and prompted a recall of yearbooks for possible possession of child pornography. Officials said based on the placement of the teen's hand,...

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg) City Council is considering an outright ban on marijuana dispensaries in Glendale after spending "nearly two years vetting their legal standing to do so," according to the Glendale News-Press. Medical marijuana dispensaries are prohibited under the city's zoning codes, but the City Council in 2009 adopted a moratorium to completely close Glendale's borders to the shops so city attorneys could review the legal issues associated with an all-out ban. But that...

You could soon have 2x as many chances to get a red light camera ticket / Read the post here A final decision on the city's controversial red-light camera program is delayed again after LA City Council failed to bank enough votes "to resurrect" the program on Tuesday, according to LA Now. Faced with a lack of support from his colleagues, Councilman Tony Cardenas did not seek a vote on his proposal asking the...

Photo by rachel carr / countessian.com via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Many seasonal swimming pools around Los Angeles will be celebrating opening day this weekend on Saturday, June 25 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Pools that are open year round will also begin their summer schedule. In the San Fernando Valley alone, "Eleven city pools and one county facility will open Saturday...And year-round pools, which were closed on Mondays because of budget...

Photo by Punk Jazz via Flickr Much to the displeasure of his neighbors, 65-year-old Newport Beach-resident Dennis Holland has been restoring a 72-foot yacht in his backyard since he rescued the Shawnee, a 1916-built ketch, from a scrap yard in 2006. Despite granting him two consecutive six-month permits, Holland has not completed the Shawnee's restoration and the city now plans to take the "local shipwright to court in hopes of forcing him to remove...

AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels The budget package passed Wednesday by Democratic legislators has been vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, sources say, according to the L.A. Times. The plan contains higher taxes, billions of dollars in delayed payments to schools, and various accounting maneuvers to balance the books. Brown had previously warned that he would not sign a budget containing such accounting gimmicks. Legislators could stop being paid if they fail to send a budget...

(AP Photo/Jason Redmond) Conrad Murray's attorney's are asking Sony Pictures to release 100 hours of raw footage used for the Michael Jackson film "This Is It," but Sony is fighting the request, according to ABC Local. The prosecution reportedly intends to show excerpts of the rehearsal film to demonstrate that Jackson was in good health. The defense believes, presumably, there is evidence in the raw footage to dispute those claims since Sony was contractually...

Perhaps in an effort to bring music back to Music Television, Nic Harcourt, the tastemaking ten-year DJ and former Music Director of the famed and fabulous KCRW radio station, has packed his bags for the land of cable, and according to a news release. Former KCRW Music Director Nic Harcourt has decided to leave the Los Angeles public radio station to focus his energy on a full time position as music supervisor in residence...

Photo by mjmonty via Flickr A woman suspected of drunk driving was arrested after plowing a group of Midnight Ridazz early Thursday morning in Baldwin Villiage injuring nearly a dozen of the 100 on a ride that began in Koreatown, according to ABC Local "Authorities said the female driver, 27-year-old Christine Dahab, told police she was looking down at her phone when she crashed into the bike riders on the 5900 block of West...