Zach Behrens

A non rainy day | Photo by the1withtheeyes via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Census worries: "California has cut its census funding to $2 million from $24.7 million a decade earlier, and a Pew Charitable Trusts study released this week found that L.A. funding has also plunged." What's the latest in the courts with cases that involve vehicles and cyclists? The suspect in the UCLA stabbing/slashing pleaded not guilty today in court. The people...

The Safe Haven Logo Although there is a state law that allows parents to legally surrender a newborn baby, there are proper ways to do it and not do it. Last Friday, firefighters in Norwalk returned from an emergency call when "observant crew members" spotted him. "Most abandoned babies are never found alive," noted a news release from the LA County Fire Department. The Caucasian male baby, thought to be only four to eight...

"Breaking News" photo courtesy of TMZ Her husband may have signed the no driving while holding a cell phone law, but the message apparently hasn't hit home for California's First Lady Maria Shriver. TMZ earlier today posted two photos--one from this Summer and another from this weekend--of Shriver on a cell phone while driving. In response, Schwarzenegger this afternoon tweeted to TMZ's Harvey Levin: "Thanks for bringing her violations to my attention. There's going...

A midnight fire on the west side of Los Angeles International Airport is causing some delays this morning. Terminal 6 is experiencing minor delays and officials are asking travelers to give themselves enough time as light signals around the airport have been affected. Other than that, the outage is mostly affecting administrative (non-essential personnel) and tenant buildings. There is no estimate of when the power will be restored....

Ah yeah, signs of the upcoming ski season! Today's storm over California is dumping snow in the Sierras up north. If it stays, we might be seeing an earlier ski season than expected. Curently, Mammoth Mountain is scheduled to open on November 12th, but depending on what happens over night, there is potential to see the popular skiing spot open earlier. Officials with the ski area say it's been snowing hard since 8 a.m. and about a foot has fallen in the main lodge area.

Last month was a tragic one for the Van Nuys community. Andrew Garcia, just four months old, was killed when bullets flew into the car where he was being fed. Two others were wounded. The two suspects in the case got away until last Thursday when one of them was arrested. Alfonzo Landa, 17, will be charged with the murder of Garcia and the attempted murder (with a shotgun, no less) of six others in the September 27th shooting in Van Nuys.

Weather Underground has a pretty sweet Google Map mash-up with live graphics showing the current weather pattern over California (or zoom in on whatever city you want). As of right now there are some isolated patches of rain over Los Angeles County (map). The majority of rain in the county is expected tonight when flash flood watches go into effect.

Photo by Malingering via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A two-year study between the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and USC's Center for Community Health Studies and Housing found that housing the homeless is about $80,000 cheaper than leaving them on the streets. The survey found that taxpayers spent $187,288 a year those living on the streets because of their use of hospitals, jails and clinics. Putting people in permanent housing costs $107,032....

Photo by Jamie Engber via Flickr There may be a $405-million budget shortfall, but that's not going to affect the levels of police officers employed by the city, according to an accord reached yesterday by a couple City Councilmembers and Mayor Antonio Villaragosa. The Mayor has a goal of hiring 1,000 more officers, which near completion, but compromised with councilmembers to temporarily cut the academy for the rest of 2009. The move should allow...

Photo by CarbonNYC via Flickr Police are currently searching a Hollywood neighborhood after an after-school shooting near Helen Bernstein High School. At 1:55 p.m., police received a call about shots fired on the 1300 block of North Wilton Place. A 16-year-old girl was shot in the hip area, according to police. LAUSD officials say she is in stable condition. Witnesses say they saw three male juveniles run from the shooting area, but saw no...

The 20-year-old UCLA student who allegedly took a knife to a classmate's throat last week was charged with premeditated attempted murder today. Prosecutors believe Damon Thompson stabbed the female student during a chemistry lab class five times and slashed her throat without any provocation, according to the LA Times. Prior to Thursday's incident, UCLA officials were aware of Thompson's unusual demeanor. One professor said he received e-mails from the suspect that could be characterized...

Thousands across Los Angeles are without power today, according to the L.A. Department of Water and Power. Some 20,000 customers in the greater South Los Angeles area are affected. In portions of Studio City and North Hollywood, about 1,100 customers are without power. Outages have always been reported in East Los Angeles, Mid City, and Woodland Hills. The department has increased the amount of crews working on power restoration....