Zach Behrens

$46 million spent on turnstiles for Metro stations and they still are not operational. That's what the Daily News exposed last month in a story, which was followed by a LA Times editorial slamming the program. Add today when Fox News took it on with Kymberleigh Richards of Southern California Transit Advocates laying out the issue.

It's an international annual event that draws some 14,000 people in Los Angeles County who altogether pickup around 300,000 pounds of trash from the beaches and inland waterways. Coastal Cleanup Day is September 26th and local organizer Heal the Bay is calling for action, asking people to a few hours that Saturday morning.

On-campus and on-street car sharing around USC Imagine this. You live in the Valley, work in Hollywood and you faithfully take the Metro Red Line subway every day to work. Why even bother with traffic? Or maybe, why even own car? Sometimes, however, you just need one in the middle of the day, say for a dentist's appointment across town. Thankfully, there is a car sharing program in Hollywood, so you go online, reserve...

Air Force One landing in Los Angeles in August | Photo by tara_photos via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Remember when President Barack Obama last month came to town for a fundraiser, prompting the ultimate rush hour traffic hell? Traffic is bad in Los Angeles -- we all know that -- but that was just ridiculous. A couple days afterwards, westside L.A. City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl said he wanted a report on how the...

An unhitched advertising trailer sits on Woodman Ave. in Sherman Oaks outside Notre Dame High School | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist A bill that would allow cities and counties to regulate mobile billboard advertising displays was approved by the state legislature last week, sending it to the Governor's desk for approval. Unhitched advertising trailers dot the San Fernando Valley and are seen as blight to community members, a safety hazard to some officials and...

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist When it comes to collision frequency, the Southland isn't doing all that great. Well, that's according to Allstate Insurance's 6th annual "Best Drivers Report" that is based on company claim data. Of the 193 largest U.S. cities, Glendale came in at 191, which chances of getting into a collision in the city 70.8% more than the national average. Los Angeles ranked 183 (44.7%), just two of cities ahead of San...

Photo by denisetaylor☼ via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Last year, a 911 call prompted, on average, a 4.9 minute response time from L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies. Right after the department suffered a $128 million budget cut six months ago, it rose to 5.5 minutes. And last month, response times hit nearly six minutes, according to the LA Times. The news comes in a report delivered to the L.A, County Board of Supervisors by...

Photo by Lucyrk in LA via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It's a national holiday and in Los Angeles city limits, that means relaxed parking rules. Obvious things like parking in red zone, handicap areas and on sidewalks will still be enforced, but most meters and preferential parking districts will not. The following is via LADOT's website:...

Photo by bbones1 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A police officer with just a high school degree is more likely to use force -- verbal threats, grabbing, handcuffing, throwing to the ground, shooting, etc. -- on a suspect than an officer with some college education, a study in Police Quarterly has found. But results also concluded there's no difference when it came to arrests or searches. “There’s so much more discretion with the...

Photo by Dan Wuh via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr NPR's Weekend Edition on Sunday broadcasted a story on how Dangerous Drivers' Worst Habits Might Be Yours. Cell phones? Yes. Hands-free devices? Yup. Then the interview with Don Redelmeier of University of Toronto took a turn when the topic of weaving came up. "Does changing lanes make any difference in whether or not you actually get to where you're going faster?" asked Liane Hansen....