Zach Behrens

As part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposal, which includes offshore oil drilling to fund state parks, he included an idea that would enable cameras at intersections not just catch red light violators, but speeders, too. If passed, cities and counties would be able to install a speed sensor, says the LA Times. "Those whizzing by the detectors up to 15 mph above the limit would have to fork over $225 per violation," the...

Justice is served. "Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Scott T. Millington called the case a 'wake-up call' to motorists and cyclists and urged local government to provide riders with more bike lanes," the LA Times reported. "He said he believed that [Dr. Christopher] Thompson had shown a lack of remorse during the case and that the victims were particularly vulnerable while riding their bicycles." Thompson purposely slammed on his brakes while driving on...

Photo by [Kwasi B.] via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Next week, Metro will begin doing seismic tests in some Westside neighborhoods as they prepare to build the "Subway to the Sea" project, reports the agency's blog. Work will begin Monday and last for four nights. "Data gathered from these investigations is part of the necessary environmental work to identify the best locations of subway tunnels and stations in the area," explained Metro CEO...

Century City, Westwood, and Santa Monica beyond | Photo by Chris Camargo via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Getty director Michael Brand announced his plans to resign today. In two separate incidents, in which four were arrested, explosive devices were safely detonated in Long Beach and the Northeast Valley. The Daily News suggests trying out veganism for 21 days. Governor Schwarzenegger's budget proposal will be released tomorrow but transit advocates are already slamming the...

Unchanged from November, last month's unemployment numbers kept at 10 percent as the nation lost 85,000 jobs. Also, underemployment grew from 17.2 to 17.3 percent. "To put this number in perspective, employment declined 139,000 in September and 127,000 in October," explained Christina Romer, the White House Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors. "So, in a broad sense the trend toward moderating job loss is continuing. This trend is particularly obvious in the quarterly...

It didn't take long for the recently elected 2nd District Councilmember Paul Krekorian to start work the moment he was confirmed last Tuesday. He quickly introduced a motion "that would call for tougher development restrictions and seek to limit the scope of SB 1818," the state law that strips local municipal zoning codes and allows higher density with less restrictions (watch this great video example), on a project within his district, according to OurLA....

Photo by fredcamino via Flickr A today's Metrolink Board of Directors meeting, a handful of train lines to Orange County and the Inland Empire were cut, according to transit advocate Ken Ruben, who attended the meeting. Four Saturday and two Sunday trains were cut from the Inland Empire-Orange County Line, leaving one round trip train on each weekend day.The Orange County line lost half of its trains, leave four on each weekend day. The...

Photo by tom.arthur via Flickr The ever-expanding neighborhood market that is Fresh & Easy appears to be preparing to open a store in Encino. California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control records released today indicate the market's application for a beer & wine license. When all is said and done, the new market can be found at 17150 Ventura Blvd. For those who don't catalog addresses in their heads, that's the Encino Town Center. More...

Sepulveda Boulevard as seen this morning | Photo by Michelle Vargas/City of LA The two-plus year, $8.9-million project along Sepulveda Boulevard in Westchester has finally been completed, officials announced today. As one of the main access routes to LAX, Sepulveda in Westchester was (and sometimes still can be) a headache for commuters, travelers and locals. The project between Lincoln and Howard Hughes Parkway brought improved sidewalks, landscaped medians, upgraded streetlights, new shrubbery, 193 new...

Assemblyman John Perez, D-Los Angeles, right, receives congratulations from Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) When Speaker-Elect John Perez is officially confirmed as the Assembly's Speaker in coming month, he will be the first openly gay man to take the role. The freshman Assemblymember represents a portion of Los Angeles and is Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's cousin. Interestingly enough, the last time the speakership had contested in a floor vote was...

Yellow identifies where the park could go | Image via the Hollywood Freeway Central Park Project When you're a park poor city with little room to designate more park space, where do you go? You build one on top of a freeway. Well, that's the vision of community and politicians a like and tonight is the Friends of the Hollywood Central Park's annual gala. "The idea for a park over the 101 freeway between...

Last week it was announced that beginning January 12th and lasting three years, Caltrans and Metro would be embarking on the final phases of putting in a carpool lane, among other freeway fixes, between the 10 and 101. Caltrans this week announced specifics about what to expect next week and it is a full nighttime closure. All northbound lanes of the 405 between National and Wilshire will be shut down between midnight and 5...