Zach Behrens

Photo by GarySe7en via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr There's been a lot of bicycle talk on LAist today and here's one more: the idea of bicycle sharing in Los Angeles has been mulled over about quite a bit and next week, a city panel will examine (.pdf) using a site near Olvera Street and Union Station for a variation that theme--bicycle rentals. From a motion introduced last month: More and more...

Photo provided by the Krekorian Campaign It's pretty much been known for months, but today Assemblymember Paul Krekorian announced his campaign for Los Angeles Council District 2, which crosses the Valley from Sherman Oaks to North Hollywood to a handful of Northeast Valley neighborhoods like Shadow Hills and Tujunga. Currently, Krekorian represents the 43rd Assembly District, which covers Burbank, Glendale and portions of LA including Valley Village, Valley Glen, Toluca Lake, Atwater Village, Silver...

After a year of disappointments, the Los Angeles Marathon is considering a new route that would begin at Dodger Stadium and end in Santa Monica, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press: "Marathon officials are planning a new route for the 2010 race, starting the course for its 25th anniversary at Dodger Stadium and ending it in Santa Monica, hoping to breathe life into an event that in years past has lost some of its luster."

The popular rotisserie chicken and french fries joint Reddi Chick at the Brentwood Country Mart will be serving free ice cream today from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. The eatery is not exactly an ice cream shop--they serve the basic soft serve chocolate and vanilla in a cup or cone--but if you're in the area, free helps in this economy, right?...

This morning's greater alarm fire in the Arts District that took one building with it was apparently a marijuana grow-house, according to KNX1070 radio. "We don't have any eyewitness reports of interesting-smelling smoke," noted downtown maven, Eric Richardson at blogdowntown. The fire, first reported at 6:40 a.m. on the 600 block of South Santa Fe Avenue in the one story commercial building, took 75 firefighters 37 minutes to knockdown. The cause is under investigation...

Crimes within one mile of Hollywood and Highland between last Saturday and Tuesday, according to the LAPD Crime Map With tens of thousands of crimes in Los Angeles, the LAPD's crime map tool will never be 100% perfect, but missing 40% of all reported crimes is a far cry from being complete. Thanks to an LA Times investigation--the second about the LAPD's touted crime map--today we learn that 26 homicides, 137 rapes and over...

A problem at an electrical distribution station that caused around 20,500 West LA customers to lose power tonight was restored by 9:55 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. The problem began around 7:40 p.m. causing some 13 people to be trapped in an elevator, traffic jams across Westside neighborhoods and LAPD officers in the West Bureau to go on tactical alert. The basic area where power was knocked out...

Yesterday, Controller Wendy Greuel lambasted the city's Emergency Management Department for spending $30,000 over what she thinks they should have on lunches for LAPD officers covering the Michael Jackson memorial service. Not only that, the near $50,000 spent was with a business 80 miles outside city limits. Speaking to the LA Times, Jim Featherstone, manager of the department, responded, saying the vendor is able to prepare large amounts of food within 24 hours. "We...

A fire in the Sepulveda Pass began as a small brusher, only growing to around 10 acres at 3:30 p.m., according to the LA Fire Department. By 4:15 p.m., they said it was 80 acres. Still, no structures have been damaged and no injuries have been reported. As the day moves into late afternoon and nighttime, fire officials are concerned over sundowner winds that could flare up the fire into a larger one. 250...

Photo by CarbonNYC via Flickr Abram Bynum, 35, was killed by Columbus Police officers yesterday in Ohio at the end of a high-speed chase on Interstate 70. Before moving to Columbus, Bynum lived in the Antelope Valley and is accused of five rapes that happened between 2004 and 2007, according to the LA Times. While in Ohio, detectives from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department convinced him to give DNA samples and when they matched...

As an 8-acre fire burns near the Getty Center, a commercial fire has prompted the full closure of Sierra Highway near the Canyon Country campus of College of the Canyons, reports a city of Santa Clarita's emergency text alert. The fire began shortly before 1 p.m. in a strip mall at 17223 Sierra Highway, a knockdown was called at 1:48 p.m., but fire truck equipment blocked access to the street....

It's like a Rothko painting with sunglasses | Photo by nicadlr via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The state has handing out IOUs to people in lieu of their income tax returns since last week. Now those with IOUs can return them to the state when paying their personal or corporate state taxes. Music fans rejoice. Vault 350 in Long Beach will reopen and also serve as the headquarters for internet radio...