Zach Behrens

GarySe7en Speaking of Lindsay Lohan, her punishment today by Judge Elden Fox is coming under criticism by cyclists. Plainly put, a drunk hit-and-run driver who disabled a bicyclist was sentenced by Fox in July to 90 days of community service. On the other hand, Lohan is getting harsher punishment for harming herself. Legally speaking, the cases are very different -- Lohan violated probation -- but it's just another sign that priorities should maybe be...

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma The news isn't so surprising for a state that saw a housing boom like no other, only to see it crumble with the recession. And with the national foreclosure rate up 25% since August 2009, some are saying the worst has yet to come, according to ABC News, which today released a list of the top 10 foreclosure cities. Six of those are in California, including the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area where...

Photo by Jeremy Burgin via Flickr So much for community policing and broken windows theory in a neighborhood that really needs it. The Daily News today reported that, despite apparent attempts to notify the city of abandoned vehicles -- 72 hours on a city street without moving is considered abandoned -- vehicles are sitting on Pacoima neighborhood streets for months, sometimes even years. "The streets behind [Morris] Pichon's home are littered with dilapidated vehicles,...

Word on the street is that Rita Robinson, who heads up the L.A. Department of Transportation -- traffic, parking enforcement, etc -- will soon step down. That's according to Streetsblog LA's Damien Newton, who has confirmed the news with anonymous sources. If true, Newton already has transit community abuzz with possible replacements. Ideas include the former Mayor of Bogota, Columbia, who brought Ciclovia, an event coming to L.A. next month, and Janette Sadik-Khan of...

Yesterday the National Weather Service warned that the hot Santa Ana winds were making a comeback, bringing warmer weather and fire danger to Southern California this weekend. But now we're hearing it's going to be more like a heat wave, which the Daily Breeze correctly calls "a significant and abrupt change" to our current weather. A high pressure system will hit the southland starting Friday and lasting throughout the weekend. While the beaches will...

Today's end-of-day links: solar panels on the eastside, a motel in Silver Lake, Obama on healthcare (again), microchips for pet dogs, pipeline safety, supergraphics in Hollywood and more.

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Santa Monica was home to the first food truck lot, but, despite its success, it lasted one whole day. The city shut it down over zoning issues and put the concept to study. That was January. Then last month the city's planning department concluded it would give out three-month temporary use permits for food truck lots on private property. The deal was that the city would monitor the effects of...

A building at USC has been evacuated after a suspicious package was reported to authorities, University officials said in an alert to students. Students were warned to stay away from the The Hedco Neuro Sciences at Watt and Downey Way (map). Campus security and LAPD were taping portions of campus off, including up to 34th Street and Trousdale (map), according to the Daily Trojan's twitter. Update: The suspicious package, which is a paper envelope,...

They've been pissing off drivers since 2007 and now CBS2 is making it their latest target. They are stop signs in a few hiking areas around Los Angeles. But these aren't just any stop signs, they are a very rare breed that carry photo enforcement technology. You may be alone in the nature, but someone's watching to see if you roll through a stop sign.

Mount Washington in Northeast L.A. | Photo by Jennifer Gaillard via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Some are starting to apply the Manhattan phrase "bridge and tunnel" to suburbanites who visit downtown Los Angeles. Oh, really? The recession supposedly ended in 2009. Want the home once owned by William Randolph Hearst? No, not his castle up the coast, the one in Beverly Hills. It's up for sale right now and it's all yours for...

How will legalizing marijuana via Prop 19 effect California's budget? What about crime? Is it effective drug policy? These topics and more will be discussed tomorrow in Sacramento at a joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly Committees on Public Safety. Per state law, legislative committees must hold public hearings on ballot measures. For two hours on Tuesday morning, politicians, state employees and experts -- ACLU, Rand Corporation, etc -- will convene in Sacramento....

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong You can predict the cheers from residents on this one. Citing an anonymous source, the LA Times says at least eight city of Bell officials and employees have been arrested. Who and what charges will be brought against them will be announced later today at a press conference, but it's likely that among the arrested include City Manager Robert Rizzo and at least four of the five city councilmembers. The...