Zach Behrens

Although two City Council committees voted down a draft ordinance on regulating medical marijuana, the full board is expected to discuss the matter during today's 10 a.m. meeting. District and City Attorneys Steve Cooley and Carmen Trutanich interpret pot sales to be illegal under state law, but the council, along with everyone else, seem to be leaning towards passing a law that allows for sales, as long as you have a legal license to...

As seen on Sunset Blvd. | Photo by Julie Wilson World via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The 245-acre wildfire in San Juan Capistrano is nearly contained. What will become of downtown's Harlem Alley? Give your input on Thursday. What's the latest in Measure R funds for bicycle and pedestrian projects? The large park proposed within the Grand Avenue development is funded and could see a ground breaking next June. New--as of today--LAPD Chief...

A partial view of a chart showing blowouts (orange) and leaks (yellow) | Image via LADWP So why have so many water main breaks and leaks in the past few months? If you look at the above chart, it appears that there is nothing unusual other than the attention given to them. Nevertheless, the public pressure is on and rightfully so. The LADWP today released a preliminary investigation report (.pdf), which indicates that recent...

For $1,000, two artists, with the help of 50 volunteers, were able to install this mosaic public art piece in Redondo Beach. Found by the pier, the staircase links condominiums to a bikeway above the International Boardwalk, says the Daily Breeze. The artists are Patti Linnett and Debbie Collette, both based in Redondo. It's a great touch to the community and a nice creative way to beautify an area. Reminds us of the pubilc...

Five minor earthquakes rattled the southern end of the Salton Sea this afternoon; this, after a series of quakes in the last few days. The mini quake swarm, of sorts, began 2:25 p.m. and continued through 3:07 p.m. near Obsidian Butte. Three of them were over 3.0 magnitude. Nothing to freak out about, but always a good reminder to be prepared. Also: A 2.1 microquake was felt off the coast of Santa Barbara and...

Although the big news is the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the coast of British Columbia at 7:30 a.m., the Inland Empire received another minor quake as well. Likely an aftershock, a minor 3.0 shaker struck at 5:21 a.m. in the same spot as yesterday's light 4.6 quake. It was located in Searles Valley, some 23 miles southeast of Ridgecrest. It is the fifth earthquake 3.0 or stronger in the last few days....

Shortly after confirming Charlie Beck as the new Chief of Police, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to ban cat declawing within city limits, joining a group of other cities such as West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. A state law that will go into effect in 2010 will ban cities from banning declawing, hence why so many cities are seeing these new laws. "Given all the problems in California and the state taking money and property taxes from us...

A slew of city and county agencies are coming together tonight to meet with residents of neighborhoods near the four major wildfires of the past two years (Sayre, Sessnon, Marek, and Station fires). Tonight is the first in a series of town halls about having a readiness and evacuation. When it rained briefly last week, there were mudslides. So it's safe to say, they are likely not to be the last. Maps will be...

A symposium held at Sci-Arc this last weekend featured winners of a recent locally-focused transit design competition. Adam Christian at his blog, Urban Insights takes note of the 2nd place winners, the Fletcher Studio, who "proposed urban agricultural villages that would convert freeway embankments into terraced hillsides. Affiliated bungalow housing would be built alongside. These developments would be a new source of 'green' jobs, employing farmers on a rotating, seasonal basis." With some 527...

A crime scene in West L.A. | Photo by atomicshakespeares via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The Los Angeles City Council right now is in the process of confirming LAPD Chief-designate Charlie Beck (you can tune in on Channel 35). Councilmembers are asking him questions before officially confirming him as Chief. Of the many things Beck replied, he did say this interesting fact, as noted by NBC's Robert Kovacik on Twitter: "We may have...

With a unanimous vote by the Los Angeles City Council and after over an hour of questioning, Chief-designate Charlie Beck was confirmed as the 55th Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department at 10:08 a.m. Mayor Villaraigosa then swore him into office. Congrats and it's time to get to work!...

On the 405 Freeway... | Photo by atomicshakespeares via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A little dispute is happening in Orange County near the L.A. County border. Residents are starting to get sick of the over-and-over-again mentality of once again widening a freeway (two lanes this year, another two in ten years). The problem is along the 405 Freeway between Irvine and the L.A. County border where 300,000 people commute daily. In examining the...