Zach Behrens

This weekend is the big two-day music festival and cannabis expo at the San Manuel Amphitheater and police are ready to make arrests. Cypress Hills, Slipnot, Deftones among many other bands are playing alongside the Cannibus Cup, Medical Marijuana Expo and 4:20 Movie Night. In a statement, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department warns against any recreational use of the drug. "Further, there is no provision in the law for the use of marijuana...

One of the six similarly-themed sculptures at the new LAPD headquarters | Photo by Eric Richardson/blogdowntown The new abstract public art at the Police Administration Building in downtown is garnering some nice discussion and attention, as all good art should. Artist Peter Shelton tells blogdowntown that the six "beasts of burden" should have viewers making up their own stories as to what they are. And people are: ink splots, cow splat, blobs, pigs, butts...

A second water main break occurred last night in the Hollywood Hills, a few miles drive east from an earlier break. LADWP crews cleared the "slow leak" break on Packwood Trail off Mulholland Drive by 2:30 a.m., more ethan four hours after the break was reported. Earlier on Tuesday, a break prompted the closure of Mulholland Drive in the Sherman Oaks and Bel-Air Crest areas. Two others were reported in South L.A....

E-mails obtained by the LA Times indicate that director Roman Polanski is likely to be extradited to the U.S. to face sentencing in his thirty-year-old child sex case. “While the Swiss officials cannot speak for the judge, the extradition will likely be ordered based upon the facts submitted in our papers,” read an e-mail between two employees in the district attorney's office from two weeks ago. That package may have also included information about...

Zombies in Hollywood (see more photos here) | Photo by honeybeejen LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A two-car accident on Friday night between a vehicle and an LAPD cruiser left a young woman dead in Venice. Lots of questions are being asked. Foodie Alert in NoHo: Barsac Brasserie is now Firenze Osteria with Top Chef season five contestant Fabio Viviani partly behind the operation. Oh really? "This airport will not be world-class until we...

The body of 42-year-old Zoltan Tombol was found today after a couple days of searching in the Cleveland National Forest. Tombol, an L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy described as being in in exquisite shape, went missing Sunday night when he went hiking. Officials have been mum about any speculation to the cause of death, but when his truck was found yesterday, there were no signs of foul play. An autopsy will be performed tomorrow....

A warning, of sorts, came from a delegation of local members of congress today. Two mainstream media headlines begin to the tell the story. From this morning, the Pasadena Star News: 14 SoCal congressional leaders call for prioritizing Gold Line And this afternoon from the LA Times: Mayor's effort to fast-track Westside subway faces challenge

Photo of smoke from Station Fire by Lynn... via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Big, but not surprising news snuck out yesterday about the 250-square mile Station Fire. After a cold front and a few days of rain, containment finally reached 100 percent last Friday evening. The fire, which began on August 26th, had been listed at 98 percent for weeks as firefighters worked on hard-to-reach smoldering areas. The blaze killed two...

16-year-old Natalie Innocenzi from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy became the 92nd Rose Queen, officials with Tournament of Roses announced this morning. 1,000 girls tried out with only seven making it to the Royal Court. Innocenzi will ride on the Macy's Float during the festivities on New Year's Day....

The Dodgers lost yesterday, giving the Phillies a 3-1 lead in the series, but if our boys in blue win tomorrow, the playoff series comes back to Los Angeles for games on Friday and if need be, on Saturday. That said, Dodgers officials today are releasing 6,000 tickets for the two potential games. The cheapest tickets go for $51. Go, go Dodgers!...

At the Golden Dragon Parade in Chinatown | Photo by Huro Kitty via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Remember how Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took two vacations over the summer? First there was one to Iceland and then another to Africa. That bugged KTLA's Eric Spillman enough to go digging for costs, if any, to taxpayers. At first he was given the run around, being denied access from public records about the Mayor's security detail....

Photo by Kevin Britton via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr There are some staff changes happening at the Times this week. Tina Daunt, who wrote at the paper for 20 years, is among an unknown number of people laid off. Last night, she wrote on her blog: I had a really bad day today, and tomorrow is going to be even worse. You see, I've been a newspaper reporter for a major metropolitan paper...