Zach Behrens

As far as we know, they don't Twitter, but this is a savvy old-school complement to the growing stock of food trucks out there. The Miracle Bookmobile, which travels around the state accepting donations and giving away and books for free is currently in Los Angeles and will be making a scheduled appearance at Barnsdall Arts Park, according to Lucinda Michele at Metblogs. "Anyone can take, read, and pass along a book-you never have...

He lost the bid to become the top LAPD cop, but he won out in L.A. County's second largest city. LAPD Deputy Chief Jim McDonnell will become Chief of Police for Long Beach, it was announced today. McDonnell, 50, is a 29-year veteran of the LAPD and served as the second-in-command under former Chief William Bratton. “I’m honored to be chosen for this position, and I will do everything in my power to make...

One way to save some or all of the 1,000 employees threatened to lose their job under a current proposal to help save Los Angeles' current $208-million budget shortfall is to transfer them to open jobs in proprietary revenue-generating departments like the Airport, Port and LADWP. Speaking to that, Councilmember Janice Hahn suggested taking that move seriously, calling for a "major Match.com" service to quickly transfer employees. Over 300 vacant positions have been identified,...

Photo by highervision via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr That's the question Alex Thompson at Westside Bikeside is asking. A proposal by two Los Angeles councilmembers seeks $30 million in federal money to extend the Marvin Braude Bike Path--the 19 mile beach bicycle path between the South Bay and near the Santa Monica-L.A. border--by two more miles to the north. For Thompson, this is a questionable priority. "Bike lanes cost $28,000 per mile, according...

The controversial budget-saving move to cut $500,000 from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs grant program was saved this morning after a proposal to cut the Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel guests pay that), which funds the grants, was killed this morning during a City Council meeting. However, the department stands to lose nearly 50% of its staffing, currently at 63. 11 will leave due to the Early Retirement Incentive Program and another 16...

As the City Council prepares to vote on laying off 1,000 employees in order to help save teh $208-million budget shortfall, Westside Councilmember Bill Rosendahl is unwilling to bend on one issue in particular: calligraphy, which is a $1 million affair at city hall. During Monday's budget hearing, he said "whatever we need to do to preserve it, I want to do." That's quite a shift from 2009 when he told the LA Weekly...

A Chinese bank is has agreed to loan $7 billion to help build a high speed train between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, according to the Las Vegas Sun, via Curbed LA. That's great, but there are hurdles, including the fact that the line was not funded in the latest round of stimulus money, in which California received $2.25 billion. However, if it does become a reality, Las Vegas will truly become L.A.'s far...

Photo by CarbonNYC via Flickr "Drama in Sunset Junction. Police line up and lots of cop cars racing in circles up and down the streets," twittered Jeff Nicholas about his Silver Lake neighborhood last night. That's because around 7 p.m., a man's body was found in the middle of the 1100 block of Manzanita Street with a gun laying 15 feet away from him. It was first reported that he was possibly shot in...

Dancing at Union Station | Photo by Michael J Lynch via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr What if community colleges gave out bachelor's degrees? It's being discussed up in Sacramento. If Michael Jackson's doctor is charged in the death of the pop star, he is prepared to surrender himself. Huell Howser appeared on The Simpsons last month and now the Staples center gets some cartoon love. Backwards in Glendale: Some residents are angry over...

When the Obama Administration yesterday released the list of transit projects set for federal funding, Los Angeles was missing. Hartford Connecticut and Oakland received funds for bus rapid transit. San Francisco got some dough for a subway. Other rail funding went to Hawaii, Minnesota and Colorado. Even San Bernardino and Riverside were funded for projects (see the full list here).

Bad news for traveling into the Angeles National Forest via the Angeles Crest Highway. After a week of rain in January, the artery between La Canada-Flintridge to Islip Saddle (at Highway 39) remains closed due to mud slides and washed away roads, according to the LA Times. It's expected to reopen up by late March....

That amount of savings is more than laying off 1,000 non-police city hall jobs, which would save the city $65 million. The proposed cuts to police translates to "canceling plans for hiring 103 officers and laying off 616 probationary officers in the academy and the department," according to the LA Times. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council last year vowed to keep policing levels current at 9,963, but a budget crisis--now $218 million--is making...