Zach Behrens

Following up on last week's news that the Orso space was going through some changes, the New York Times today dives in, examining the Hollywood power lunch spots of today and yesterday while explaining Orso's demise: Named for a dog that once befriended Mr. Allen in Venice, Orso was hurt when the Creative Artists Agency and International Creative Management moved into Century City office towers...

A park planned along the L.A. River between the Los Feliz/Silver Lake area and Atwater Village jumped another hurdle today when the LADWP Board of Water and Power Commissioners gave its stamp of approval, something that was needed since the property lies within a LADWP transmission line right of way. The 3.4 acre park, tucked between two pedestrian bridges to the north and south and between the 5 freeway and L.A. River to the...

Charlie Beck Today is the big day. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will name our new Chief of Police. Per former Chief William Bratton's recommendation, the new LAPD leader is from within the department. The candidates are Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell and Deputy Chief Michel Moore. But if you cannot wait to hear, the Los Angeles Times has the scoop: Beck will lead the department, the paper says...

Photo by Malingering via Flickr On the heels of West Hollywood and Santa Monica, Los Angeles councilmembers will consider banning the practice of declawing. "Declawing is not a simple cosmetic procedure akin to a manicure or a pedicure," says the motion, authored by Councilmember Paul Koretz and Bill Rosendahl. Continued: "On the contrary, to remove a claw, the bone, nerve, joint capsule, collateral ligaments, and the extensor and flexor tendons must all be amputated....

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this afternoon that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will co-host the 82nd Academy Awards next year. Martin earned an Emmy nomination after he hosted the 73rd Academy Awards. He also hosted the 75th ceremony. Baldwin has never hosted the show. The Oscars will be aired on ABC on Sunday, March 7, 2010, from the Kodak Theatre. As for the Golden Globes next January, Ricky Gervais...

For the past couple of months, two trucks have teased us as they prepped for their debut. The Grilled Cheese Truck tempted us with delicious photos before launching with great success last week. Up next is the Buttermilk Truck, which launches next week Wednesday at The Brig in Venice. With a breakfast and a late-night menu, there's a handful of items that sound savory. For example: the Hawaiian Bread Breakfast Sliders have Portuguese sausage,...

When you go to the Tam O'Shanter Inn, Five Crowns or Lawry's, there should be a good mix of men and women servers. After a gender discrimination complaint was filed in 2003, Lawry's stopped a policy dating back to 1938 in which women were the preferred gender to hire. Despite the change in policy, the case went forward to federal court. The Pasadena-based company will pay out more than $1 million, half of which...

A large fire this afternoon is burning right next to homes in Diamond Bar, about one-half mile from the 60 freeway, reports KABC-TV. It began around 11:45 a.m. Because there are several different start points, the word "arson" is being thrown around a lot, but not by officials. There are no evacuations at this point and no reports of damage or injuries. Update: The cause of the fires might be from a pickup truck....

Photo by nicadlr/LAist Featured Photos On December 8th, voters in L.A.'s Council District 2 (from Sherman Oaks to the Northeast Valley) will hit the polls to elect a new councilmember. The Mayor Sam blog digs into the latest filings for the two candidates, finding some notable patterns for each. Chris Essel has a lot of special interest money coming her way. Donors include developer Rick Caruso (The Grove, The Americana), AEG's Tim Leiweke (L.A....

Photo: Sheep purple What's happening over at Yelp? The powerhouse of a community-driven review website made a big local announcement today, but one many users are not happy with. Yelp said they are "parting ways" with their most recent community manager, Dawson S. That comes after the exit of Stephy S. (LAist interview) and a slew of others. "Gosh. It seems hard to imagine how Yelp will maintain any sort of credibility in the...

Mojava-based Masten Space Systems yesterday won $1 million in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, funded by NASA "as an incentive to spur development of technology by space entrepreneurs," according to the AP. Teams this past weekend had to fly robotic robots that would rise 160-plus feet, travel in the air for at least 180 seconds, land on a rocky landing pad and then fly back to the starting point....

78-year-old Mong Kim Tran does not like getting pulled over. Via the Daily Breeze, here's the craziness that took place last week: "When he was told he was getting a speeding ticket, Tran came within three inches of the officer's face and began screaming... When the officer told Tran to back off, Tran took a fighting stance, and struck the officer twice with a closed fist and then kicked the officer in the groin......