Zach Behrens

LAX | Photo by jakerome via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Police are investigating the death of a man found in an airport restroom this morning. A custodian in a Terminal 3 bathroom discovered the body at approximately 7:45 a.m. and alerted authorities. Few details were released by Airport Police and the LAPD, which has jurisdiction over the incident, but news reports show it was a more creepy scene. Unnamed sources tell the LA...

State Attorney General Jerry Brown today announced sweeping efforts to curtail highly paid local officials around California. In a series of announcements, the gubernatorial candidate said he was taking filing lawsuits against eight city of Bell officials while serving a subpoena to neighboring city of Vernon where one employee apparently made $1.64 million a year (another highly paid one was recently let go). Meanwhile, Brown, who apparently earns a considerable pension himself, is also...

A fare system that would be based on the time spent riding public transit or distance traveled instead of the current per boarding price will be discussed at a Metro committee meeting on Thursday, according to Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA. It's just a report that studies what other transit systems have done, but if something were to go forward, it's rife with challenges, including updating the controversial TAP system. Currently, it costs $1.50 per...

Drivers in Culver City today were taken by surprise when they went through a drivers license checkpoint. Two separate ones were set up -- one in the morning and another in the afternoon -- resulting in 80 impounds and three arrests for outstanding warrants. Drivers of impounded vehicles were also cited for "Unlicensed Driver" and "Driving on a Suspended License," authorities said. The morning checkpoint occurred from 7 to 11 a.m. on Centinela Avenue...

david drexler A Northridge apartment was set on fire early this morning after a suspect or two threw molotov cocktails at it, according to KTLA. The news comes on the heels of a Monday morning molotov cocktail attack in Long Beach, but no connections have been confirmed. This morning's incident took place on the 8600 block of Wilbur Avenue around 4:30 a.m. There were no injuries and damage was sustained to a screen door...

Photo by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Just a few months ago, Homeboy Industries had to layoff the majority of its employees. Times were tough and the money wasn't coming in. The move left around 330 workers, mostly former gangmembers learning new job skills -- Homegirl Cafe, Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Maintenance, etc. -- without much-needed intervention, social services and tattoo removal that was part of the program for many. Basically, "nothing stops...

L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti as L.A. Mayor Ramon Quintero on "The Closer" on TNT. His father, Gil Garcetti, left, plays the retiring LAPD Chief of Police The last time we saw L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti acting on TV, it was a bit... awkward turtle. Last night, however, casting directors for "The Closer" did perfectly, having him play Los Angeles Mayor Ramon Quintero (he is part Mexican and speaks Spanish fluently)...

"Sundown on Sunset" | Photo by Mark Luethi via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Toyota drama heads to Orange County: "Santa Ana will be ground zero for sudden-acceleration lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. after a panel of judges last week consolidated the cases to the federal court there." A weekend downtown shooting in the Historic Core that left a 14-year-old injured may have gang ties. Learn how to protect your bicycle from this former...

On some Los Angeles streets, you can use a smartphone app to report graffiti, potholes and other problems. In the Santa Monica Mountains you can help the National Park Service document invasive plants that need to be eradicated with your smartphone. Now another project from the University of California, Davis, is getting some attention, thanks to the New York Times. The University of California, Davis, has citizen scientist document roadkill throughout the state. There's...

Photo by AlishaV via Flickr Last month, DMV employees conducted a "sting" of sorts that nabbed 18 people in the Van Nuys civic center area abusing handicap placards in order to get free or closer parking. Now comes news, via AOL's Patch West Hollywood, that the city's parking division will be cracking down on scofflaws. Parking enforcement officers will begin to randomly approach drivers who display disabled placards to show proof o ownership. If...

A fire is burning in the Porter Ranch area this afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. At 1:50 p.m. a half-acre brush fire north of the 19100 block of Sesnon Boulevard prompted officials to call for additional firefighters. By 2 p.m., the northwest-moving blaze had consumed to two to three acres of "light brush," said LAFD Spokesperson Erik Scott. The area burned two years ago in the a large 14,000 acre fire...

Photo by spotreporting via Flickr Do you get all jittery reminiscing about the many first day of schools you had as a kid? That sense of excitement -- or dread -- is happening across Los Angeles today as thousands head back to school today, changing the summertime traffic patterns to worse. And if there was ever an interesting year, this should be it, thanks to the LA Times and its watchful eye on teacher...