Zach Behrens

The answer is to do the work first, then ask for permission later. Or at least that's the example Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's appointed heads of Public Works are showing us. In a Curbed LA investigation, an East Hollywood resident hired a crew to make a second driveway for her home on the 1100 block N. Westmoreland Avenue. There's two problems here: 1) She had no permit; 2) The street is apparently crowded with few parking spaces available to others in the neighborhood.

We've seen it roll out in New York and Chicago; now Los Angeles has one too. Yesterday, the Huffington Post launched its local Los Angeles website, featuring the day's hot stories plus commentary about the city. "In many ways, it's a homecoming," explained Arianna Huffington in her intro post. "The initial idea for HuffPost was hatched in LA, five years ago this month. And LA has been my home base since 1997 (our founding...

Photo by Lord Jim via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Billboard, no doubht, are a controversial issue in Los Angeles. Lawsuits against the city are piled up in the courts, ordinances are being passed and new digital billboards and supergraphics envelope the city. So it's only appropriate that the MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House are taking 23 billboards and 23 artists for a large-scale art project up and down...

Lots of transporation news is coming out these days, from the new Silver Line and 902 Line, a car-free art show and now this new motion, via Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl's office: "The City is working to improve the quality of bicycling in the City and encourage more people to travel by bicycle. Unfortunately, as more people use bicycles, there has been an increase in the number of clashes between cyclists and automobiles. Bicyclists report that they have been bumped off the road, screamed at by drivers and had objects thrown at them..."

Reader submitted photo Although they even fooled one LADOT representative, further research has shown that Tow Zone signs put up yesterday on the 5700 block of Wilshire Boulevard were not placed by city workers. "Our temporary sign posting folks reported those are definitely not our signs," explained spokesman Bruce Gillman. "We log all postings by LADOT personnel." Gillman said they would be picked up and office workers tell LAist were already gone this morning....

A woman was arrested after reportedly striking and dragging another woman several blocks with a vehicle in downtown Los Angeles this morning. The incident happened at 1 a.m. around Los Angeles and 5th streets and "may have involved a drug deal gone bad," reported L.A. News Group affiliates. The unidentified woman died shortly after police stopped the suspect....

A 1.6 microquake struck near Newhall in the Santa Clarita Valley this morning. The 7:33 a.m. shaker was located in the San Gabriel Mountains, equidistant from Newhall in the Santa Clarita Valley and the city of San Fernando. Four minutes later, a 1.8 magnitude microquake struck near Devore in San Bernadino County. Then at 7:59 a.m., another 1.8 hit the Claremont Colleges/Rancho Cucamonga area....

Beginning January, installation of a new water line will occur on West Silver Lake Drive between Rowena Ave. and Angus St. Although only affecting a short stretch of road, the temporary closure will go on for an "extended period of time," according to The Eastsider LA. "Silver Lake Drive will remain open to local traffic but it not clear yet how local residents will be identified."...

Photo by balmes via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Every six months, Metro makes changes--what they call "service enhancements"--to their schedule and routes. Sometimes, schedule changes are hardly noticeable, sometimes whole lines are cut or added. Beginning Sunday, December 13th, the latest "enhancements" will hit the streets. Of note is the new 902 Line in the Valley, which will run between Pacoima and the North Hollywood Station via Burbank and Van Nuys boulevards with...

A 20-food-wide sinkhole developed in Historic Filipinotown this morning after a water main broke, reports the LA Times. At 12:48 a.m., an eight-inch cast iron pipe broke, cutting off service to about 30 homes, near Council and North Park View streets in HiFi. Water was shut off at 2 a.m. There are no reports of damage and crews hope to have everything fixed soon....

Uhhh, that stop sign is facing the wrong direction. "I don't know if this was the work of pranksters or the fine folks of the street department," writes LAist reader Drew McKinley in an e-mail. If not corrected, you can find this at Serrano and Russell in the East Hollywood area. Yesterday: Medical Marijuana found Ditched in the Curb...

The Great Balloon faded and decked out in Halloween garb this year | Photo by Kelson via Flickr Lately, Orange County Great Park's balloon has been looking a bit sad, faded and, well, not so great. This is not the condition you want your symbol and main attraction to be in. But not to fear, a new envelope--this one with UV protected pigment--will be installed over the next few days by a crew of...