Zach Behrens

A 1.4 magnitude earthquake struck 9 miles south of downtown Los Angeles in the Willowbrook area at 7:44 a.m. this morning. That low magnitude of a quake is probably equivalent to feeling like someone shut the door with force in the house next door. Nothing to worry about hear, just a constant reminder about being prepared. Yesterday, a 2.4 struck the Hawthorne-Lennox area....

Photo by biskuit via Flickr Should this be one of those "that's so L.A." moments or a "why wasn't this done years ago" moments? For those of you who always carry plastic and never cash, this should be convenient, at least when you visit Nancy Silverton, Mario Batalli & Joe Bastlanich's Osteria and Pizzeria Mozza restaurants. "Some guests don't carry cash, so it made sense to establish this hassle-free way to pay the valet...

The future of the planet vs. shiny looking panels on roofs? "Homeowners boards insist that they are protecting property values by enforcing rules that govern everything from paint color to how early trash bins can be set out for collection," reports the LA Times. "But residents say their right to invest in alternative energy trumps the sensibilities of neighbors who don't like how the panels look." Any good news? Yes. "Homeowners' main defense is...

Yes, New York City has amazing theatre. And lots of it, too. But what about the West Coast? We heard this one years ago: Seattle has more theatre than Los Angeles. And it's that little rumored morsel of "fact" that reared its ugly head again, which peeved LA Times' theatre critic Charles McNulty a bit. In a New York Times article, a former Pasadena Playhouse employee opines that Seattle "probably" has as much theatre as Los Angeles, despite being one-sixth the size.

Photo by Julie Wolfson/LAist Also file this under "Only in L.A," where medical marijuana is in abundance--around 1,000 dispensaries by unofficial count. This canister, still with some weed left in it, was spotted by a kid--what's "kush?" she asked her mother--at Beverly and La Brea over the weekend. The area is rife with dispensaries....

For those who like to travel--and come on, don't we all?--today is the day to pick a city and go, go, go! United, Jet Blue and Virgin are all offering some nice deals to get out of Los Angeles. $39 will get you to San Francisco or Seattle on United and with $30 more, Virgin will do the same to Seattle. Plenty of more deals, thanks to the info at Cheap Flights....

Uber music-technology-film festival, SXSW, is coming in March, but the list of 230 bands has been released. Here are the bands and artists that list themselves as from the Los Angeles area: B-Real of Cypress Hill, The Crystal Method, The Daylights, DJ Revolution, The 88, Princeton, Robert Francis, The Funeral Pyre, Audra Mae, Mariachi El Bronx, Mumiy Troll, of Verona (Mandi Perkins) and Warpaint....

Word on the street via a neighborhood watch in the Valley is that at least one house received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The man on the phone said the customer's bill was not paid--the customer said it was. Upon calling the LADWP themselves, a representative said there was no record of an outbound phone call and that, in general, accounts past...

Photo by Katie@! via Flickr Los Angeles may have lost its bid to Chicago for the 2016 Olympics (not that they won, anyway), but two City Councilmembers would like to see the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup come here, should the U.S. be selected as the host country. 27 U.S. cities are considered potential host venues--the Rose Bowl in Pasadena was a venue in 1994--but that doesn't mean Los Angeles is a shoe-in....

You probably didn't feel it, but if you did, you weren't dreaming it. A magnitude 2.4 microearthquake struck 11 miles southwest of downtown in the Hawthorne-Lennox area at 2:41 a.m. There have been no reports of damage or injuries, just a bunch of people on Twitter freaking out. These little shakers happen everyday and are nothing to worry about. However, they are a good reminder to get prepared....

A minor 3.1 earthquake struck near Loma Linda shortly before 11 p.m. While the immediate Los Angeles area has been relatively quiet--just a with few microquakes here and there--San Bernardino County has been active with 3.0-range shakers this month. Other active areas in Southern California have been around San Clemente Island and the US-Mexico border near Mexicali....

Scores of people left Disneyland disappointed tonight because the fireworks show was canceled. There was good reason for that--a brushfire has broken out in the Anaheim Hills. The wind-driven 5-acre blaze has shut down the 241 Tollroad between the 91 Freeway and Santiago Canyon Road. The fire, which is currently located on the east side of the 241, may have started on the center median. No evacuations have been ordered. A red flag warning...