Zach Behrens

Photo by jimmay bones via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr 1 in 7 people are living in poverty, concludes the latest census report. And flu season has arrived. The stage vacated by "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien" will soon be home to KNBC Channel 4's news operation and the Los Angeles bureau for NBC News. A visit to the set of internet show "Young Hollywood," which has 3 million unique viewers a month,...

It's worked in other cities, so why not Los Angeles? 200 feet of a street off Hollywood Boulevard this weekend will be turned into a temporary pedestrian plaza and community space. It's one of the many events taking place Friday in conjunction of Park[ing] Day, which will transform a number of metered parking spaces across the city into mini parks. The idea is inspired by other big cities taking major streets and permanently turning them...

Photo by victoriabernal via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Last week a trade association for California beer distributors donated $10,000 to oppose Prop 19, the November ballot initiative that would legalize and tax marijuana. The move certainly has a lot of people talking. “Unless the beer distributors in California have suddenly developed a philosophical opposition to the use of intoxicating substances, the motivation behind this contribution is clear,” said Steve Fox of the Marijuana...

Did you know USC has an art museum open to the public? First established in 1939 as the Fisher Gallery, the Fisher Museum of Art over the years has made sure to keep up practices and policies in tip-top shape to ensure accreditation with the American Association of Museums. This week it was re-accredited. "There are so many advantages to being an accredited institution, especially in a university setting --where accreditation is such an important...

As evident by a recent bike lane controversy in Northridge, sometimes the most civically active cyclist doesn't even know what plans the city has for bicycle infrastructure. Now the L.A. Department of Transportation has launched a Google map showing all bicycle projects, whether completed, in progress or planned, for the current fiscal year.

Photo by GenBug via Flickr More jobs are expected to be created but City Controller Wendy Greuel is disappointed that two departments given $111 million in federal stimulus monney are slow to create and retain jobs. The Department of Public Works has received $70.65 million, resulting in the creation or retention of 45.46 jobs so far. Overall, there should be 238 jobs. The Department of Transportation was awarded $40.8 million and has created or...

Photo by bobster855 via Flickr With 2009 national crime statistics released by the FBI on Tuesday, marijuana advocates are once again pointing out that enforcement on the drug continues to drain resources. In 2009, marijuana-related arrests increased by 8%. Of those 858,408 arrests, 88% were for possession, not sale or manufacture, the D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project points out. The numbers are equivalent to an arrest made every 37 seconds in the United States. “It’s...

Photo by fotonomous via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr As Los Angeles law stands today, you can only own and register up to three cats and/or dogs. More than that would require a resident to qualify for a kennel permit. Now a motion to increase that number to five is gaining traction on both sides of the issue, finds the Daily News. Supporters of the issue, including two councilmembers and the head of the...

California is facing a $19 billion deficit and if tomorrow, 78 days after the budget should have been passed, comes without the state legislature passing a budget, records will be broken. Unlike last year, the drama hasn't played out in the public yet. Perhaps that's because the effects of having no budget really hasn't hit home yet. "State finance officials are able to keep paying most of the bills, and many businesses that rely...

Photo by Lucyrk in LA via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Since California's no texting while driving law went into effect 19 months ago, texting and use of smart phones has just about doubled, finds a study conducted by The Auto Club. The membership organization found that 2.7% of drivers at anytime are breaking the law. The same study conducted earlier this year found that 1.1% of drivers were texting. Young women were the...