Zach Behrens

Photo by jason.rojas via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr That vertical mall project at Wilshire and Vermont? Gone, dead, boom. A small brush fire in the Sepulveda Basin was knocked down this afternoon. Sister station nation: CBS and KCAL's news broadcasts will now be co-branded as NewsCentral. Alrighty, then. A movie called Battle: Los Angeles will be filmed in ... Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A venice skateboarding legend has died: "Baby Paul Cullen, the youngest...

An assembly bill making its way through state committees gained the support of the city of Los Angeles today. AB 524 "would allow civil fines of up to $50,000 for the taking and selling of images or recordings of people engaged in personal or familial activity, with actual knowledge that the images or recordings were obtained illegally and if any compensation, consideration, or remuneration was provided," according to a city motion. Councilmember Paul Koretz,...

Metro is continuing to study the conditions below the ground surface as they prepare an environmental impact report for the possibility of placing a subway line or two in the Westside. Next week, exploratory drilliing with minimal sound, vibration and traffic effects, will take place at San Vicente/Gracie Allen, Wilshire/West of Irving and at UCLA Parking Lot 36 near Wilshire/Veteran. Next month, there will be five public meetings where the public can hear updates...

Photo by VeryBadLady via Flickr When the LA Weekly broke the news about the still-out-there "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, who would rape and murder victims in South LA, one detective had an idea. What if the matching DNA from the crime scenes was of a registered sex offender who had not yet been swabbed? Of the 1,500 local sex offenders that matched the Grim Sleeper's description, 92 of them did not have DNA on...

A quick 20-minute trip to Anaheim via high speed rail could be a reality in less than ten years, according to Metro, whose board today officially supported the California High Speed Rail initiative, as well as a first segment that would connect Los Angeles to Anaheim. The segment within the 800-mile system could begin construction as early as 2012, finishing six years later, and is considered to be the most "construction ready.” “Union Station...

Photo by kristi.nicole via Flickr Last weekend, it was over 100 hidden staircases between downtown and the Hollywood sign. This Sunday the Location Managers Guild of America will bring the second of a series of six walks along Route 66, says the blog Franklin Avenue. This weekend's walk will cover 9.4 miles from West Hollywood to Union Station in downtown. It will begin at Barney's Beanery and follow Santa Monica Boulevard through Hollywood where...

In addition to approving support for high speed rail, the Metro Board today approved ExpressLanes for portions of the 10 and 110 freeways as part of a one-year congestion reduction demonstration project funded by a federal grant. Because there's no space to build more freeways, Metro says this is a way to squeeze in more capacity. Under the plan, car pool lanes would turn into toll lanes of sorts. Those who carpool, take public...

Good times at The Roxy | Photo by The Roxy Theatre via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Now in its second year, the Sunset Strip Music Festival in West Hollywood announced yesterday that the event has evolved from a series of concerts in nearby venues to a full on street festival with two stages in addition to the strip's indoor venues. "The street fest is part music festival, part club experience and part celebration...

While it's all high fives in Sacramento, it's stress in the city and county halls of across the state. A big part of the state's budget solution is on the backs of local governments, raiding their funds and only sometimes with a plan of paying them back years later. In the LA Times, the budget proposal from Monday night was likened to a “ponzi scheme that passes off responsibility to future governors, legislators and to our taxpayers" by Judy Mitchell, mayor of Rolling Hills Estates and president of the League of California Cities.

State Assemblyman Paul Krekorian will be soon be voting on the proposed budget solution, which severely impacts local governments including Los Angeles. If it passes, Los Angeles could lose millions and has leaders like Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Council President Eric Garcetti worried. Krekorian also happens to be one of the frontrunners in the race for Los Angeles Council District 2. That's quite a pickle of a situation and when pressed about it, his...

Photo by A.C. Thamer via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It's another typical day in the Los Angeles area--temperature wise at least--but south facing beaches are expected see some of the biggest waves seen in years because of a swell originating in the South-Pacific. "The high surf is a byproduct of 50-knot winds that developed off Tahiti and are blowing toward Southern California, producing 8-to-12-foot swells at some beaches," explains the LA Times. As...

The company contracted by Los Angeles to install, maintain and monitor cameras that record drivers running red lights, eventually prompting a costly traffic ticket by mail, has filed for a court receivership, an alternative to bankruptcy. Now city officials are looking at what options they have when the contract expires with Nestor Traffic Systems, which could go out of business or be purchased by a another company. Since April 2006 when the first red...