Zach Behrens

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...

Douglas Ring, a name known around City Hall, was found dead today in his Brentwood home. Preliminary results seem to indicate his death was a suicide, but the official cause is pending a final coroner's report, according to the LA Times. The 65-year-old developer and lawyer is the husband of former City Councilmember and current President of the Board of Harbor Commissioners, Cindy Miscikowski. He is credited with leading the rebuild effort behind Central...

One lawsuit won, some 20 to go. A federal judge sided with Los Angeles in the never-ending battle over billboards this week. It was one of the three lawsuits filed by World Wide Rush, which "argued that it had a right to erect new signs or supergraphics because it requested permits during a four-month period in late 2008" when no ban was in effect, explained the LA Times. "Under the company’s logic, their applications...

A sandstorm in Death Valley National Park | Photo by erikogan via Flickr Back in 1996, four German tourists vanished in Death Valley National Park on a blistering 120-degree day. After months of searching, their minivan was found in a ravine, but there was no sign of the group, which included two boys aged 4 and 10. Since there have been no breaks in the case, which has been a long-standing mystery for the...

As the two hotels and condos prepare to open at L.A. Live (all in one building), Eric Richardson at blogdowntown sat down with the building's Director of Food and Beverage to get some details. What's known so far is enough to get foodies excited. There will be two "signature" restaurants with yet-to-be-named celebrity chefs. The ground floor will be home to L.A. Market while the other restaurant will live on the 24th floor. There...

As the two hotels and condos prepare to open at L.A. Live (all in one building), Eric Richardson at blogdowntown sat down with the building's Director of Food and Beverage to get some details. What's known so far is enough to get foodies excited. There will be two "signature" restaurants with yet-to-be-named celebrity chefs. The ground floor will be home to L.A. Market while the other restaurant will live on the 24th floor. There...

Art Walk patrons enjoy The Gastrobus in September | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist As the Downtown Art Walk grew in popularity over the past year, so did unrelated activities like a large craft show and, of course, food trucks. Well, it looks like Main Street, which has turned into food truck alley on the second Thursday of the month, will remain empty of some trucks. "Don Chow Tacos, @fishlips_sushi, and @indiajonesct got the boot...

If you've ever seen the stickers on buses or around stations and bus benches asking "Who is John Scott?" the mystery is over. He is 74-year-old John Scott (yeah, he has a website) of Los Angeles, the oldest tagger (specifically, a slap tagger because they are stickers) caught by LA County Sheriff's Deputies, finds the LA Times. He was arrested this morning, ending a seven-month mystery, at the 7th/Metro Station in downtown after putting...

Fortunately, the former head of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tustin pleaded guilty in court today and could face four years in prison, says KPCC. Although Clifford Lewis Polston worked for the club for 30 years, between 2001 and 2007 he used $33,000 of the organization's money to pay off his credit cards, vacation rentals, plane tickets and parking. Not only that, he gave his wife a fictitious consulting job for $72,800. And...

The Downtown Art Walk, which is centered around Gallery Row, might be all the buzz tonight, but over in the nearby Arts District, a new 24-foot tall mural at Traction and E. 3rd by Shepard Fairey has just gone up, says Ed Fuentes at blogdowntown. It's called the "Peace Goddess" and is part of LA Freewall project, which could turn the area into largest outdoor art gallery. ALSO: Fairey's art gallery, Subliminal Projects, has...

In what is being described as "a major bloodbath," 80 employees between Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and London have been cut from Current's payrolls, reports SFist via Techcrunch. Current says, however, that it is not a cost-cutting move, rather a result of less in-house programming and more outsourced productions. That's not to say all in-house has been cut, television production and programming development will be consolidated "under one roof in Los Angeles...

There's another event to add to tonight's festivities at the Downtown Art Walk and its at the LAPD's Central Division police station on 6th Street. LAPD Captain Blake Chow and other officials are hosting a open house for the community, which will include a guided tour of the station, live entertainment, demonstrations and a mini food festival of sorts that they are calling a "taste of downtown."