Zach Behrens

Photo by TheTruthAbout... via Flickr The people of Los Angeles and L.A. County have elected themselves a hot mess. District Attorney Steve Cooley and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich--both elected by the public--believe most all medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal. That's because their interpretation of state law is that marijuana cannot be just sold to those with licenses, but distributed to members of a nonprofit collective of people who carry licenses. That's despite L.A. County...

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...

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...

He did it. Jeremy Swan inked 874 tattoos in 24 hours last Friday, breaking the record of 801. The results are not official yet, though, as he has to send a time-lapse video, among other documents like photos of each tattoo, to Guinness for approval. See photos from the first hour of the night here....

A proposed medical marijuana ordinance for Los Angeles has failed to garner a majority of votes. Today, two committees rejected the fifth proposal submitted in a year and a half time, this one drafted by the recently-elected City Attorney Carmen Trutanich. Proponents of medical marijuana threatened to sue if this draft went through and the majority of councilmembers agreed that it was too prohibitive. The full council could still take up the issue as...

We may have not been feeling them directly here in Los Angeles, but the ground is shaking somewhat east of us. Since Saturday evening, three earthquakes have rattled the Inland Empire, first in Riverside County (3.3), again this morning east of Temecula (3.6) and then this afternoon more northward in San Bernardino County (4.6). Yesterday, there was a 4.3 magnitude quake near San Nicolas Island, which is one of two Channel Islands controlled by...

A small fire that erupted near the Skirball Center was knockedown by Los Angeles Firefigthers this morning. The one-half acre fire was located near the northbound 405 Freeway exit at Skirball Center Drive. 50 firefighters in the air and ground responded to the fire, first reported after 10 a.m....

As reported a couple weeks ago, Silver Lake is getting a library and that day is today. It will mark the 72nd branch for the city and was built to Gold LEED standards. Throughout the building, quotes from notable Silver Lake residents don the walls in a site-speciic public art project. A grand opening ceremony is set for 10 a.m....

A fire that broke out shortly before 11:30 a.m. has burned about 10 acres off Ortega Highway in San Juan Capistrano area. It's expected to grow, say fire officials, because of various downed power lines due to the tractor crash and the fires direction, which is uphill. No structures appear to be threatened, reports the OC Register....

Lines at Union Station during Metro Gold Line's opening day festivities | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Considering the lines at Union Station yesterday, you would think there was a new death-defying adrenaline-inducing roller coster. That's not even close, but the excitement was just as intense, if not a lot more. Tens of thousands of people made 75,000 boardings on the new Eastside extension of the Gold Line between Union Station and East L.A. Lines...

If the weather cooperates, it's going to be a good night for looking into the skies. "The annual Leonid Meteor Shower reaches its traditional peak between midnight at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17 as seen from the west coast," explained Anthony Cook at the Griffith Observatory's weekly Sky Report. "About one Leonid every two or three minutes is expected. The earth may pass through enhanced streams of particles during the following afternoon, possibly...

Yes, you're not crazy, there was an earthquake, albeit minor, in Riverside County. The 3.3 magnitude quake struck at 11:54 p.m., 5 miles west of Beaumont, according to the United States Geological Survey. About the above map: Withs some funding from the federal stimulus package, the USGS is exploring the world's fastest (and unofficial) newswire, Twitter.