Zach Behrens

The effort to ban single-use plastic and paper bags from grocery stores failed to win support in the State Senate last night, effectively killing the bill. Now there's talk of next steps, which a coalition of local leaders had previously warned of. "We are now going to turn our attention to all the pending local regulations," explained Matt King, a spokesperson for Heal the Bay, which sponsored Assembly Bill 1998. "We and retailers had...

Photo by elleinad. via Flickr Registered sex offenders in one Riverside County city might have to leave if they want to celebrate Halloween. A motion (.pdf) before the Perris city council tonight (.pdf) could offenders from decorating their home. It would also instruct them to keep outside lights off not answer the door to trick or treaters. The idea follows in the footsteps of the city of Orange, but it originally was modeled after...

Warpaint at the L.A. Street Food Fest in the Rose Bowl (more photos here) | Photo by Koga/LAist Okay, so UK-based music news magazine NME last month released their list of best new bands of 2010. It, of course, named a handful of local bands. Now today comes music blog Stereogum's 40 best new bands of 2010. Once again, local heroes are named. No surprises with Best Coast and Warpaint making the list. The...

Although some reports are indicating that a bill to ban plastic and other single-use bags in California has failed in the State Senate, ultimately killing the bill, that was not the case as of 11 p.m. Tuesday night. An e-mailed update from the office of the bill's author, Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D - Santa Monica), explained the technical details...

A handful of Hollywood buildings will be bathed in blue light starting tonight and it's not for the Dodgers. Today actually marks the beginning of National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. The disease, identified as blue on awareness ribbons, is the most common cancer in males the U.S. Approximately, there are 180,000 diagnoses each year and it kills some 40,000 annually. The Capitol Records Building, Paramount Studio’s Melrose Gate and Water Tower, the historic Roosevelt...

Neighbors gather around a memorial set up in front of the Kings Road Arms Apartment in West Hollywood on Saturday afternoon | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Detectives investigating the Thursday night slaying of three men inside a West Hollywood apartment are calling it "a drug deal that didn’t go well." That's Homicide Lt. Pat Nelson speaking to the LA Times about motive in the murder case. “He came for the drugs and decided he...

>Single-use bags like this plastic one would be banned from a majority of stores in California under Assembly Bill 1998 | Photo by cuttlefish via Flickr A state bill that sought to ban plastic and other single-use bags from supermarkets and other retailers in California failed to garner approval in a late-night Senate vote Tuesday evening. Bill author Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D - Santa Monica) and sponsor Heal the Bay's goal with Assembly Bill...

Two prominent California names will co-chair the campaign against Prop 19, the ballot measure that would legalize marijuana in the Golden State, the prop's opposition announced today. And it didn't take long for the two, both Senator Dianne Feinstein and L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, to get to work on the issue. "California will not see a single positive result if Proposition 19 passes," said Feinstein in a statement. "It is a poorly constructed...

Downtown L.A. | Photo by dreamyshade via LAist Featured Photos "It is time to turn the page," said President Barack Obama in a speech tonight announcing the end of the combat effort in Iraq. Nonetheless, we're still at war. Your dinner, made with ingredients from within 100 miles: Grist takes a look at urban farmers and locavores in various cities, including Forage in Silver Lake. County Supervisors are demanding answers about underreporting of children...

via CicLAvia In July, we brought you a map of the proposed map of CicLAvia event, which back then was scheduled for this month. It's now on for October 10th, the same day Santa Monica is looking to do it, and a new map has been released. If you're not familiar with the Ciclovia concept, which began in Bogota, Columbia, it's a reoccurring event where city officials close down major streets to vehicles and...