Zach Behrens

Photo by elsief1 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Los Angeles' Planning Commissioners yesterday rejected the city's long-term vision for bicycles, delaying approval of the city's bike plan until improvements are made. The vote came at the end of an eight hour meeting, in which half of it focused on the document, where cyclists across a wide community of opinion united against its approval. "Members of the Planning Commission listened to bicyclists’ concerns, and...

Aaron Shannon Jr. The two suspects sought in a South L.A. shooting that left a toddler dead and two of his relatives injured have been arrested, police announced today, according to the LA Times. It was around 2 p.m. on Halloween when two young men walking down an alley opened fire into a backyard where 5-year-old Aaron Shannon Jr. was showing off his Spiderman costume to his grandfather and uncle. All three were hit,...

The bomb squad has been deployed to check out a "suspicious container" tied to a tree in Sherman Oaks, police said today. A coffee can-sized container tied to a palm tree with wires and batteries protruding on the southeast corner of Ventura and Sepulveda (map) -- that's catty corner to the Sherman Oaks Galleria -- was reported to the LAPD around 1:45 p.m. Police activity is affecting traffic at the intersection, which is one...

The man accused of killing a married Hawthorne couple in a home-invasion robbery has been connected to two more murders, sheriff's deputies said today. John Wesley Ewell is now suspected to be behind the murder of an 80-year-old Hawthorne man and a 53-year-old Los Angeles woman who was his neighbor, according to KPCC. All victims were found in their homes bound and strangled. When searching Ewell's car, detectives found a newspaper article announcing the arrest...

Photo by sfxeric via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The prison private sector is big business. So big, in fact, California will spend $60 million a year for three years to send 2,600 prisoners to GEO Group Inc.'s facility in Michigan, according to Neon Tommy's Paresh Dave. Millions more are likely to be spent by sending thousands of more prisoners to facilities owned by Corrections Corp. of America, which was a major player behind...

Photo by McBLG97 via Flickr The LAPD is once again sending a message to drivers across the city to not drink and drive. There will be at least one DUI checkpoint tonight, located in the San Fernando Valley on the border of North Hills and Van Nuys along Roscoe Blvd. between Woodley and Haskell. The LAPD does not have to announce all checkpoints, so there could be more out there. Traffic deaths statewide have...

Photo by Lucyrk in LA via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr High temperatures were broken on Wednesday and they followed suit on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. This time, however, it was not as extreme and only a handful of records were broken: LAX: 96 tied 1976's record Downtown L.A: A new record of 96 tied a record set in 1976 Long Beach: A new record of 96 beat a 1976 record...

A minor 3.8 magnitude earthquake struck Long Beach Friday at 9:06 a.m., according to the USGS. People reported feeling it as far as Riverside, Orange County and the Antelope Valley. Per the Long Beach Post on Twitter, the quake was centered around the traffic circle in city's Park Estates area. As always, every little earthquake should be a reminder to get prepared for when a large strikes....

This morning's sunrise | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist (thanks for all your work over the years, Tom!) Prop 23 was defeated in Tuesday's election, but Prop 26 won. NBC says that means polluters still win. Jessica's Law, which restricts where sex offenders can live in relation to parks and schools has been struck down by a L.A. County Superior Court judge, but the state plans to fight the ruling. L.A. County Sheriff's will get...

Federal officials today told California that it wants the $4.3 billion it has given to the state for high speed rail to be spent in one of two Central Valley segments -- either the Merced-to-Fresno or the Fresno-to-Bakersfield portion of the $43 billion project.