Zach Behrens

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Santa Monica was home to the first food truck lot, but, despite its success, it lasted one whole day. The city shut it down over zoning issues and put the concept to study. That was January. Then last month the city's planning department concluded it would give out three-month temporary use permits for food truck lots on private property. The deal was that the city would monitor the effects of...

Musician Lady Gaga spoke at a rally in support of repealing the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" law, in Portland, Maine, on Monday. She wanted Maine's Republican senators to cast votes this week to help repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach) The military's infamous 17-year-old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy about serving while openly gay will continue after it failed to see the day...

A couple weeks ago, a group of Redondo Beach residents gathered at a corner on the Pacific Coast Highway during evening rush hour to protest a beachside powerplant they would rather see go away. In its place, they want to see a park. “Why do we need to see (the plant)? I’ve been looking at that for 20 years. I’ve been a resident for 21 years and I’m sick of looking at it,” Dawn Essex...

Just like last week, the Vandenberg Air Force Base is planning a launch tonight. This time it is anticipated to be the AtlasV rocket, which will be sent into the sky a little after 9 p.m. tonight (listen to live updates here from). There should be no noise, but the Los Angeles Fire Department said it will "likely be quite visible." They say there is no need to call 911....

Mount Washington in Northeast L.A. | Photo by Jennifer Gaillard via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Some are starting to apply the Manhattan phrase "bridge and tunnel" to suburbanites who visit downtown Los Angeles. Oh, really? The recession supposedly ended in 2009. Want the home once owned by William Randolph Hearst? No, not his castle up the coast, the one in Beverly Hills. It's up for sale right now and it's all yours for...

Comedy, politics, exploring the city, food and even religion. This is life, day by day. But this week, they are all also topics being covered by some 70 panels of social media mavens throughout this week for Social Media Week L.A. "There's such a hunger to have conversations about the impact of social media in society," said Ben Scheim, director of the event, which is not just in Los Angeles this week, but also...

Usually when LAX is placed on a rankings list, it's about being one of the worst airports. Today, however, officials are tooting a different horn. "Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is ranked No. 7 among airports worldwide with the number of followers on the social media site Twitter," officials announced in a press release this afternoon.

Photo by mrJasonWeaver via Flickr For the second year in a row, national statistics show that distracted driving had led to 5,474 deaths and 448,000 injuries on U.S. roads in 2009. That represents 16% of traffic fatalities across the country, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced today (.pdf). “These numbers show that distracted driving remains an epidemic in America, and they are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Tomorrow,...

The always innovative LACMA understands that everyday objects are so much more than that. In celebration of that notion and, well, the soon-to-open Resnick Pavilion, the museum invited percussionist and internet musical filmmaker Ben Meyers to check the new grounds out and make some of music of it with yarn mallets and drumsticks. Here's his creation.

Summer is about to end and that signals a new academic year at UCLA. Nearly 40,000 students, mostly undergrads, are attending the university this year, according the school. That means more traffic, but also a more lively Westwood Village. 9,500 students moved on campus over the weekend. Other stats include 4,700 freshman, 3,400 new transfers and 3,000 international students. 57,651 had applied for Fall 2010 admission. Classes begin Thursday....