Zach Behrens

As of 12:25 a.m., with 56% of precincts reporting, analysts and news sources had called the results for all of California's nine propositions. Four won, five lost. Not many surprises here: Prop 19, Legalize and tax marijuana: Lost Prop 20, Congressional redistricting: Won Prop 21, Fund state parks via $18 vehicle license fee: Lost Prop 22, Bans state borrowing from local governments: Won Prop 23, Suspend California climate laws: Lost Prop 24, Repeals corporate...

Several news sources are predicting that Republicans will take control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Although not all races are called, the party is holding a lead in enough for a takeover. Says the The New York Times' FiveThirtyEight blog: "Frankly, this night is looking slightly anticlimactic, with both the House and the Senate having moved in relatively clear directions so far." They predict a 1% chance Republicans will take the Senate....

Photo by rchiba via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It isn't often you have most all facets of L.A.'s cycling community in agreement, but today they are coming together to protest the City of Los Angeles' bike plan, which goes up for a vote at Thursday's Planning Commission meeting. Much of the disagreement with the plan comes down to three points: a commitment to bike lanes, defining bicycle friendly streets, and updating the Technical...

As exit polls indicated, it didn't pass, but it definitely fueled a conversation Americans will continue to have for a long, long time. Prop 19, which sought to legalize and tax marijuana, has lost, according to numerous sources, including KPCC and the Sacramento Bee. As of 10:04 p.m., with 20.3% precincts reporting, it was losing 56.1% to 43.9%....

Malibu | Photo by CindiK. via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Candidates have made South L.A. a campaign stop on Sundays. UCS' Kaitlin Parker takes a look for The South Los Angeles Report. Meanwhile, gubernatorial hopefuls today took time to visit with L.A. voters: Jerry Brown in downtown and Meg Whitman in Woodland Hills. But getting out the vote isn't an easy job: one writer is joining the non-voting majority tomorrow -- by choice....

Aaron Shannon Jr. Excited to show off his Spiderman costume to his grandpa and uncle, toddler Aaron Shannon Jr. ran into his backyard Sunday afternoon before heading out to trick-or-treat. At the same time, police said one of two young men in their 20s walking in the alley opened fire on the group, hitting Shannon in the head, his 56-year-old grandpa in wrist and his 27-year-old uncle in the leg. Shannon, 5, was left...

Back in 2008, former LAPD Chief and current City Councilmember Bernard Park submitted a motion that never picked up any steam. "We need to implement legislation to regulate cigarette smoking by limiting it to specific places where there...

It may be election day, but the Los Angeles City Council has their work cut out for them as this week is the last to approve items for the March 8th, 2011 ballot. That's the municipal election where half of the City Council is up for grabs along with a number of measures. A couple ballot items are already approved -- like pension reform -- but at this morning's meeting, several more will be...

At library funding protest in May, 2010 (more photos here) | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist When library hours were shortened by two days this summer, thanks to budget cuts, there was a movement to save them via the ballot. The prospect of that is nearing reality. Today the L.A. City Council voted to have language drawn up to put such a measure before voters on March 8th, 2011. If approved -- both by the...

Tuesday is a pivotal election day and before you hit the polls, the L.A. County Record-Registrar/County Clerk today is urging people to perform a quick pre-election "to do" list before heading out. Thankfully, it's easy to find a lot information about yourself at their website. First, check to make sure you're registered, download your ballot and locate your polling place. Also, remember that if you vote by mail, the ballot must be received at...