Zach Behrens

Prior to a 3 p.m. press conference about the outages and energy conservation, the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water is reporting that power has been restored to about 3,000 customers. What neighborhoods are still in the dark? Hollywood (965 customers), Mar Vista (925), Los Feliz (879), Cypress Park (535), Brentwood (393), Bel Air (372), Mount Olympus (356), Echo Park (349), Cheviot Hills (317) and Pacific Palisades (301). "Our crews won’t stop til...

Photo by arne meyer via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Hundreds of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews are out in the field this morning trying to restore power across the Los Angeles. Citywide, an estimated 11,775 customers are currently without power, the department says. Blacked out areas include 2,411 in Westchester, 1,679 in Hollywood, 993 in Silver Lake, 925 in Mar Vista, 879 in Los Feliz and 843 in Southeast Hollywood....

It's round two for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. He's in Washington D.C. today rallying for rail in a Senate committee meeting, says KPCC. Last week he did the same in the House of Representatives. It's all about his 30/10 vision, which would take 12 projects -- the Westside Subway for example -- planned for completion within 30 years and finish them within 10 years with a $30 billion bridge loan from the federal government.

When it comes to in-state gubernatorial campaign donations, where's the money coming from? USC's Neon Tommy looked into that and found that for the first half of 2010, Attorney General Jerry Brown saw a majority -- 45% -- of donations come from individuals, businesses and groups located in Oakland, where he served as mayor from 1999 to 2007.

More than 75 firefighters are fighting a 2 or so-acre blaze in Thousand Oaks this hot, hot, hot afternoon. First reported around 2:12 p.m., the fire is burning light to medium brush on a hillside across the 101 Freeway from the Performing Arts Center and city hall, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. Two helicopters and dozers have been deployed. Updated: Acreage has been upped to fifteen acres....

End of the day links: Lindsay Lohan, state executions, the Ray Charles Memorial Library, food trucks in Santa Monica, homelessness in Venice, hot dogs in downtown, a grilled cheese restaurant and more.

End of the Day Links: powering California with renewable sources, going HD at the Staples Center, more in the city of Bell, reward in Venice post-prom fatal shooting, local blog get a national sister blog, geo-location on the rise and a skateboarding city councilmember.

After their gubernatorial poll yesterday, Field Poll today released the results of their latest survey (.pdf) regarding California's U.S. Senate seat. Consistent with past Field Polls, Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer is leading former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, this time by six points -- with a 4.1% margin of error -- based on responses by registered voters, most of who are likely voters. Voters in L.A. County are more likely to vote for Boxer, while...

Photo by Ernesto D. Arias via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr All good things come to an end and today comes news that one of the city's most popular events is going on hiatus for the rest of 2010. When the Downtown Art Walk comes back in January 2011 expect a quarterly weekend-long daytime event, according to Eric Richardson's blogdowntown. Over the years, the monthly event has been too successful for its own good,...

Boing Boing founder Mark Frauenfelder is trying to get out of town this warm Friday afternoon, but so far, it's not working. Here's why, via his Twitter: "An idiot flushed a diaper down the toilet on the plane and now 200 of us are stuck at Burbank for 4 hours. #thediaperflushershavewon." Oy vey. At least, for a small sized airport like Burbank, it's a decent place to be stuck....

The recession arrived and like with many other government agencies, budgets dwindled. For Metro, which is currently facing a $250-million budget shortfall for bus and rail operations, its board yesterday voted to make a nearly 4% cut in bus service, according to the LA Times. That move to cancel a dozen or lines and (.pdf) modify another others -- changes will occur in December -- will save the agency an estimated $30 million every...

The Expo Line currently under construction right now could be fully operational by early 2015, Metro officials announced at a meeting last night. Transit supporter Gökhan Esirgen announced the news in an e-mail last night. It has been reported that the first phase between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City is expected to open next year, possibly in sections. The second phase from Culver City to 4th and Colorado in Santa Monica would not...