Zach Behrens

Lake Balboa at sunset | Photo by T Michael Kim via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A brush fire in Riverside prompted a mandatory evacuation in some neighborhoods this afternoon. The LADWP is offering free California friendly landscaping workshops over the next four Saturdays. Environmentaland has opened its doors at Hollywood & Highland. It's a theme park of sorts... an interactive environmental one, they say. Cobras & Matadors shut their doors to the Los...

Photo by versageek via Flickr Tonight and tomorrow night, the LAPD will be conducting a couple DUI checkpoints around the city. "Our Message is simple: If we catch you drunk, you will be arrested," they say. So far this year, the North Hollywood Division has experienced 87 driving under the influence related and 667 “Hit and Run” traffic collisions. In Hollywood, there have been 66 driving under influence-related and 662 hit and run traffic...

No big surprise here. City Controller, and former Councimember for District 2, Wendy Greuel will endorse Chris Essel for the council seat. Both women have backgrounds in the film industry business. This is the second big endorsement for Essel in the past few weeks. She most recently gained the support of former Mayor Richard Riordan. Assemblymember Paul Krekorian was endorsed by Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley earlier this week and no word...

Speaking of domestic violence, Actor Tom Sizemore was arrested on those charges late last night. Police picked him up on the 100 block of Beaudry Avenue around 10:45 p.m. He remained in jail this morning in lieu of a $20,000 bail. "Over the last few years, Sizemore, 47, has developed a troubled history with the law," says the LA Times. "In August 2003 he was convicted of misdemeanor charges of physically abusing and harassing...

Apparently, Los Angeles County Sheriff's have been doing random bag checks for Metro since March, according to Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA. Metro staff emphasized to him that the searches are legal, after he spoke to them when a reader witnessed it happening to commuters entering the Gold Line platform at Union Station. Notes Newton: "When Metrolink announced it was going to begin randomly searching passengers' belongings last summer, there was a firestorm of protest....

Got beef? Check that package for establishment number "EST. 31913." 825,769 pounds of ground beef distributed in California and other Southwestern states were recalled today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service after it was thought it may be linked to a salmonella outbreak. The meat was produced between June 5, 2009 through June 23 and was packaged under a variety of names, according to the Associated Press. More specific...

View full map here The brutal drenching Southern California took back in 2005 shut down a good deal of recreational space around Los Angeles. An LAist favorite included the trail Henniger Flats in Altadena, but more locally was the loss of the Lake Hollywood Reservoir Tomorrow morning a good-sized portion of the pedestrian-only path will reopen to the public. The 1.4 mile path will start at the Montlake Dr./Tahoe Dr. gates in the Hollywood...

A possible arson suspect has barricaded himself somewhere on the 5400 block of Russell Avenue, near the intersection of Hollywood and Western, according to the LAPD. Not many details are available, but police believe he may have a weapon. A good number of police and fire have responded to the situation that is currently ongoing....

Photo by honeybeejen via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Since the LAPD deployed 40 foot officers in the Hollywood and Highland area earlier this year crime has dropped considerably, city officials announced today. An overall reduction in crime has dropped 26% and more specifically, there has been a 21% drop in robberies, 29% decrease in burglaries and a 40% percent decline in auto theft. Why such an increase in policing? “Hollywood has long been...

The sign, as seen at Mulholland Drive and Laurel Canyon Blvd. For a few years now, a big swath of open space at Laurel Canyon and Mullholand Drive has been up for sale. The current owner has been nice and patient enough to sell the land instead of turning it into a housing development, but only under a payment plan with goal dates to be met. The next date is August 17th and the...

Director John Hughes, 59, has died, according to TMZ. He was in New York City on a trip taking a morning walk when he suffered from a heart attack today. Hughes' movies--some of them that he wrote, director or both--many of them based in around Chicago, included classics such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Home Alone and Planes, Trains & Automobiles. After stepping back from the film industry, he...

Photo by ghetto_guera29 via Flickr While Schwarzenegger slashed 100% of funding for domestic violence in California, the Department of Justice today announced that Recovery Act money is heading to a handful of grants to domestic violence shelters in California, including two in Southern California. House of Ruth, Inc in Los Angeles County received $500,000 and $520,755 was awarded to the Southern California Alcohol and Drug Program headquartered in Downey. “The most vulnerable in our...