Zach Behrens

Paddleboarding at Topanga Beach | Photo by morgan.arnold via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr With new financial disclosure rules in effect, the LAPD is having trouble filling openings in its much-needed gang unit. Welcome George Ivan Morrison III, aka "Little Van," to the world. He's Van Morrison's son and was born today! Fewer police officers died in California this year. Attention city nerds: here's a good primer to following the Los Angeles City Council....

Photo by Atwater Village Newbie via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr From Christmas Eve through the end of Sunday, the California Highway Patrol arrested 1104 people on suspicion of a DUI, according to a state report released today. 251 people, accounting for nearly 23% of those arrests statewide, were in Los Angeles County. Most of the arrests occurred on Saturday and Sunday. Between Christmas Eve and 6 a.m. Saturday morning, only 303 people had...

L.A.'s most awful restaurant chain, Koo Koo Roo, suffered a blow when it closed its prime Studio City location earlier this month. In its place will be a much more popular chain, Chipotle. Ventura Boulevard in the Southeast Valley is starting to get comfortable with Mexican fast-casual joints--Poquito Mas last year opened nearby in Sherman Oaks and Baja Fresh already has two locations. Also: Loteria Grill will soon move to Laurel Canyon/Ventura, adding another...

And so the process begins. Today, nomination ballots for the 82nd Academy Awards were mailed to the 5,777 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 23 as nominations will be announced on February 2nd. The big day is Sunday, March 7, 2010. Anyone have predictions of what will be nominated? Precious? Crazy Heart? What, what?...

Nighttime commuters, take note. Beginning in January and lasting for two months, work in the Sepulveda Pass will affect traffic patterns, sometimes shutting down all lanes. The $1 billion collaborative Metro-Caltrans project, which broke ground in May, will add 10 miles of northbound car pool lanes between the 10 and 101 freeways--it's the last chunk of car pool-less 405 there is--and also remove and replace three bridges over the freeway, widen 13 overpasses and structures, realign 27 on- and off-ramps and bring 18 miles of retaining and sound walls.

Photo by Chris_Lott via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr With a $98-million deficit still on the books for this fiscal year--a $408 million shortfall is predicted next year--Los Angeles city officials are likely going to be looking at more ways to balance the budget. In the past, we've all experienced these cuts with higher parking meter rates, more expensive parking tickets and the continuing loss of city services as 2,400 employees retire early with...

Photo by Mykl Roventine via Flickr New York City, Boston, Philadelphia have all done it, but California this week will become the first state to ban trans fat from restaurants. Assembly Bill 97, which worked its way through the state legislatures and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 finally becomes law New Year's Day, reports the Sacramento Bee. Some call this a "nanny state" move, others say it's an important step. "This was...

Photo by alistairmcmillan via Flickr Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is moving one of his deputy mayors to Los Angeles World Airports, the department that runs LAX, Ontario and Palmdale airports. One big goal? Bring rail to LAX and Ontario Airport, according to the Daily Breeze. Diego Alvarez, who will begin his new job on January 4th, will be LAWA's transportation coordinator, charged in part with the LAX problem, but also connecting Ontario airport with the...

An early morning fire in South L.A. led to the discovery of a dead body. At 4:47 a.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department was alerted to smoke coming out of a single story home in the Cantebury Knolls neighborhood. The fire, located on the 1110 block of 76th Street, was extinguished in 12 minutes. LAFD Spokesman Brian Humphrey said that although the cause remains under investigation, all signs "point to" an "improper heating device."...

Found last Christmas on the Venice Canals | Photo by lmiyake via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A small private funeral was held for Brittany Murphy today at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. A larger service may be held in 2010. Chili Addiction on La Cienega is hoping to open on January 4th. The language of the movie Avatar was created by a professor at USC. Can a pricey Venice loft be the "It's the...

Christmas in the Valley | Photo by Lydia Marcus (fotonomous) via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Keeping with a new Gothamist tradition, we're asking what your December 25th looks like. Submit your photos tomorrow, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. From surfing to hiking up Runyon, ripping open presents to cooking dinner, going out to eat to wandering Los Angeles area streets. Show us how you spend the day off. Send us your photos...

In 1992, the year of the riots, there were around 1,500 murders | Photo bya bcmacsac1 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr As the year-end approaches, statistics on crime are coming out. Los Angeles' murder rate topped 300 over the weekend, according to the Daily News, but that was still over 60 murders less than last year. Overall, L.A. County has seen a drop in crime throughout. Areas patrolled by Sheriff's Deputies saw the...