Zach Behrens

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...

Via a tipster, looks like the restaurants are winning in the battle against the food trucks parking in front of their businesses: "Just wanted to let you guys know, as of today the city put up tow zone signs on the entire 5700 block of wilshire, essentially forcing the food trucks to scatter around the area. The tow zone times are 9am to 3pm, suspiciously ending right after the lunch rush." Frustrated with the...

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....

The Batcave | Photo by Caveman 92223 via Flickr Stranded hikers in Griffith Park's Bronson Canyon--famous in TV history for being Batman's batcave--are common enough that the Los Angeles Fire Department has a well-rehearsed rescue plan. "We've done at least a dozen identical rescues," explained Brian Humphrey, a veteran public information officer with the department. Today, that three-tiered plan went into effect--an aerial ladder was extended to to rescue the hiker, some 50 feet...

More little quakes to get you thinking about being prepared. A minor 3.1 magnitude earthquake struck near Trona, some 30 miles from Ridgecrest, in San Bernardino County at 4:59 p.m. Thus far, there have been no reports of damge or injuries and one reported aftershock, a 1.4 shaker, less than 10 minutes later. Earlier at 2:14 p.m., a 2.6 magnitude microquake struck off the coast of Orange County, near Laguna Beach and Dana Point....

Photo by Eheartsart/LAist Featured Photos on Flickr As the federal court case about Prop 8, which banned gay marriage last year, nears, lawyers representing two gay couples are seeking internal communications from campaign proponents in order to prove the law was proposed and established with "discriminatory intent." A San Francisco-based federal judge approved such a discovery for the case, which begins on January 11th, but Prop 8 proponents appealed, citing a violation of their...

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...

Oops. After a Pasadena code enforcement officer visited a store with a large city-funded mural on one of its walls, apparent miscommunication led to the new mural to be pained over by the owners. Artist Christian Alderete said it felt like a kick in the face, but suspects the action wasn't with malcontent and would paint it again. Code enforcement has asked the business for various fixes, including repainting a wall....

Since the Chatsworth Metrolink crash that left 25 dead and 135 injured last year, train engineers have run red lights three times with a possible fourth incident occurring last week, reports the LA Times. This comes despite new safety measures prompted by last year's deadly crash. Last Tuesday a train with passengers inside headed east from downtown when it may have ran a red light. Luckily it stopped a few hundred feet from an...

We've heard about the LAPD doing this before--one LAist writer witnessed something like this last year in Hollywood--and here it is again from last Friday night, via Damien Newton at Streetsblog: ... things got ugly when Los Angeles Critical Mass breezed onto Los Angeles Street and ran into an LAPD Squad Car facing against traffic with its lights flashing. According to eye witnesses, the two officers tackled cyclists...

Crispy Bacon | Photo by rick via Flickr The ever-so progressive and eco-friendly city of Santa Monica is at it again, this time with sewer clogging fats, oil and grease (FOG), which now can be collected for a new future as biofuel. In parking structures 2 through 6, restaurants can jettison their FOG for free, the city announced today. Similarly, residents can recycle their FOG at the city's Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 2500...

Come December 15th, a new burger truck is expected to hit L.A.'s streets. Grill Em' All pays homage to Metallica and other rock n' roll bands through their rotating menu. For example, the Molly Hatchet, described by Grub Street Los Angeles as "seared fennel sausage gravy, bacon, and maple syrup" or the...