Zach Behrens

Photo by TheTruthAbout... via Flickr Texting, a cellphone to your ear, expired registration, not wearing a seat belt, failing to yield to a pedestrian. These are all violations officers notice when enforcing red light violations at intersections with enforcement cameras. In last week's audit of them, the LA Times noticed some language buried in the document indicating that there was opportunity to possibly increase revenues by citing for these other violations. Per state law,...

After 175 groups performed in 30 different venues, filling up a combined 17,000 seats, this summer, the people behind the first Hollywood Fringe Festival announced today that they'll be back next year. The news also means performers and troupes can sign up for the uncurated festival, provided they can find a venue -- traditional or found spaces -- within their Hollywood boundaries. The event, which LAist approves up whole-heartedly, will take place over ten...

High-profile Attorney Gloria Allred held her third press conference about the recent Meg Whitman controversy from her Los Angeles office this week. This time it was to let Nicky Diaz Santillan, the ex-housekeeper for Republican gubernatorial candidate and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, speak out and let the world know that she's not a puppet. “Meg Whitman was wrong when she said somebody put a gun to my head. Nobody did. I spoke out...

Phase I would extend the Green Line to Torrance. A later phase, if ever funded, would continue the line as far as Long Beach | Map via Metro The Westside Subway may be the popular kid on the block, but let's not forget about possible plans to extend the Green Line deeper into the South Bay. Specifically, Metro is looking to extend the Green Line 4.6 miles from its terminating Redondo Beach station to...

Photo by hall.chris25 via LAist Featured Photos on Flikcr The city of Bell scandal, in which employees and elected officials were earning astronomical salaries, prompted local governments across California to try to be a little more open with how much they pay workers. Los Angeles became one of those municipalities when City Controller (and likely Mayoral hopeful) Wendy Greuel quickly jumped in and released a massive database -- actually, it's a one long PDF...

Well, if the rain has you down, maybe this video will make you laugh. The Fox News Channel show "Fox & Friends" yesterday reported that "the city of Los Angeles already ordered 10,000 jet packs for its police, paramedics and fire department." At $100,000 each, that's one billion (what budget crisis!?)

The Department of Motor Vehicles announced big changes today, but it's not about making your visit to their offices any smoother. The news should, however, make licenses harder to counterfeit and forge, thus more secure, and help businesses easily I.D. those who cannot drink alcohol. The new licenses and state IDs debuted earlier this week with changes that include a vertical layout for people under 21 years old, images that can only be seen...

Not a good idea: rubbernecking, taking a photo and eating a granola bar -- all while driving | Photo by killbox via Flickr It's the day after the first county-wide zero tolerance distracted driving enforcement campaign and various TV media reports yesterday showed viewers that it was not only about texting and having a cell phone to your ear, but also eating, drinking coffee, reading, doing your makeup and other random things people do...

Photo by sergeant killjoy via Flickr They warned you on Twitter and it starts today. The California Highway Patrol, along with other agencies across Los Angeles County, today are taking a zero-tolerance approach to the state's hands-free mobile laws. You cannot text while driving (basically) or hold a phone to your ear. “These two days of targeted enforcement are intended to educate through visual presence and enforcement of the laws,” said CHP Chief Steve...

Photo by girl42 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It gets hot -- like last week -- and the power goes out. It gets stormy -- like today -- and the power goes out. As of 9 p.m., some 32,000 LADWP customers across Los Angeles were without power, according to utility. 10,000 customers were affected in South L.A., 9,000 in Hyde Park, 3,700 on the Eastside, 2,000 in Koreatown and another 2,000 in Southeast...