Zach Behrens

Streetsblogger Damien Newton and other public transit advocates took an unofficial (bike) ride today, examining safety issues surrounding the soon-to-open Gold Line Eastside Extension. In their opinion, they found various issues, including problems at the Little Tokyo and Indiana stations, pedestrian signal timing that worsened the further East the line went and the most interesting fact of all, how $4.5 million allocated for safety won't be spent until next year. To that, Newton asks...

Overlooking the city from Runyun Canyon | Photo by Alex de Cordoba via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Dailiy News gives Townhouse Kitchen + Bar, a new restaurant in the Sherman Oaks Galleria, three stars.Police are looking for a man that has robbed at least seven stores in the Long Beach and Lakewood. Can you identify him? Phew! "Metrolink Riders Safe From Price Increase -- For Now." Sketchy! The sidewalk along Broadway in downtown...

Photo by Yogma via Flickr As with every weekend (and weekday), police are out to catch drunk drivers. Tonight, we know of two sobriety check points: one in Del Rey and another in Pasadena. From 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., the LAPD will hold a Sobriety & Drivers License Checkpoint at Lincoln Blvd and Maxella Ave at the border of the L.A. city neighborhood Del Rey and unincorporated Marina Del Rey. The LAPD's Pacific...

Photo by wirralwater (all good) via Flickr Two to three hundred truckers are currently making their way up the 710 Freeway towards city hall in protest of "new environmental fees at the ports that they say threaten their livelihoods," according to the LA Times [Update: they have arrived to downtown]. Specially, they are protesting container fees for the Clean Truck Program, which has been law for over a year. The fees are supposed to...

Photo by curdiogenes via LAist Featured Photos on flickr Good news for UCLA students: Westwood will soon be seeing a Barney's Beanery in the neighborhood. A car free future? A study funded by the city of Los Angeles looks into the "last mile" problem, which is "is a term created to describe the barrier many car commuters feel to taking transit or other options to single-passenger vehicle commuting." Continuing on that theme, Green LA...

As of 3 p.m., Jeremy Swan's attempt to break the world record for "most tattoos done in 24 hours" was around half way there with about 400 tats completed. He needs to complete over 802 tattoos total. Although hundreds poured in to his Silver Lake-based Broken Art Tattoo at midnight, the rate of people coming in during this morning slowed significantly. However, this afternoon, progress picked up and is expected to continue as night...

Shots rang out early this morning in Sherman Oaks outside Smiles Nightclub on Ventura near Woodman Avenue. Minutes before 2 a.m., a man standing outside was confronted by two other men and a fight broke out. The victim was shot in the head and is in critical condition. Using a surveillance photo, police believe the man pictured here might be the suspect, who was last seen entering the passenger side of a getaway car described as a late- model, light-color Honda or Toyota that headed west on Ventura.

LAist gained a new Twitter follower today and it was blast from the past. It was the mysterious and clandestine LA City Nerd, who some think is a current City Councilmember and others think is just a nerdy couch-historian, shut down his/her popular blog sometime ago. Hopefully this means more fun nerdy facts about the city are to come. LAist has interviewed the Nerd a few times here, here and here....

The Gold Line's Eastside Extension is opening this Sunday, allowing for car-free travel between East L.A. and Union Station. Here's a look at the timetable (.pdf). Although the Gold Line will begin weekday northbound service, which is considered from East L.A. to Pasadena, at 3:40 a.m., it will only be from Union Station to Pasadena. The first train to leave the Atlantic Station will happen at 4:21 a.m., arriving at Union Station 24 minutes...

Photo by wirralwater (all good) via Flickr Two to three hundred truckers are currently making their way up the 710 Freeway towards city hall in protest of "new environmental fees at the ports that they say threaten their livelihoods," according to the LA Times [Update: they have arrived to downtown]. Specially, they are protesting container fees for the Clean Truck Program, which has been law for over a year. The fees are supposed to...

Photo: Roli Shalem The group Santa Monicans for Non-Smoking Renters Rights want their City Council to take a current no smoking law one step further. Earlier this year, the group successfully proposed that smoking be banned from common areas in apartment and condo complexes, according to the Lookout News, via LA Now. Now they want the ban to include some apartment and condo unit patios and balconies since "the smoke is pulled into neighboring...

The Gold Line's Eastside Extension is opening this Sunday, allowing for car-free travel between East L.A. and Union Station. Here's a look at the timetable (.pdf). Although the Gold Line will begin weekday northbound service, which is considered from East L.A. to Pasadena, at 3:40 a.m., it will only be from Union Station to Pasadena. The first train to leave the Atlantic Station will happen at 4:21 a.m., arriving at Union Station 24 minutes...