Zach Behrens

In a unanimous vote by the Los Angeles City Council this afternoon, a loop hole in a medical marijuana moratorium was filled. "Hopefully that will bring this matter to success," said Councilman Dennis Zine, a former LAPD officer. Although a ban on new medical marijuana dispensaries went into effect in 2007, the hardship exemption language created a loophole, prompting over 500 new storefronts to pop up around the city. With today's action, hardship exemptions...

Since a moratorium went into effect on new dispensaries, the exact opposite happened--more than 500 opened because of a hardship exemption loophole in the ordinance. Today, a few months shy of the moratorium being lifted, the City Council will vote on to whether or not close that loophole, as recommended by its planning and land use committee, and will look at 16 (of the many hundreds) hardship applications, either passing them or denying them....

Kogi BBQ is making a special New York City appearance today in Midtown, drawing hundreds of curious about our city's food truck sensation. It seems, not even New Yorkers are used to this kind of attraction. "Wow, that's some crazy line! I think it will be easier to just hope on a plane to LA!" said one commenter on Gothamist. The blog Midtown Lunch live blogged the one hour appearance, watching 200 people get...

Streetsblogger Damien Newton is not happy with the most recent Dodgers free parking promotion, which will run during the series against the Oakland A's June 16-18, saving you $15. Newton's problem is that the Dodgers earlier this year refused to fund the public transportation shuttle between the stadium and Union Station, a program that began just last year. Here are his thoughts plus math: "Well, now it's official. The Dodgers don't consider people that...

"What we've seen has been totally unfair toward landscapers," tells Larry Walsh, assistant executive director of the California State Landscaping Contractors Association, to the Daily News. "We think the idea of two-day limits [Mondays and Thursdays] is wrong. It would be much better to have a water budgeting system, where people are allowed a certain amount of water at a base rate and they decide how to reach it... We are asking that there...

Andrew Gallo, who is accused of killing Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others in an April drunk driver crash in Fullerton, will be arraigned today in court on three counts of murder, drunken driving and fleeing the scene of an accident, reports the LA Times. The 22-year-old driver was said to have had three times the legally acceptable blood alcohol limit when he ran a red light, crashing into Adenhart's vehicle. He was...

Photo by joshme17 via Flickr It's been proposed and pooh-poohed by the public before, but considering our drought, does treating sewage so it's drinkable gaining more public consensus in Los Angeles? It already has in Orange County at the world's largest modern reclamation plant that serves many of the county's residents. Back in February, the Catalina Island Conservancy's podcast, Isla Earth talked about the plant: &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://www.islaearth.org/radio/shows/2009/february/020609_low.mp3"> Previously with the Conservancy in regards to the...

Yes, Chavez Ravine, or the more recent marketing term Dodgertown, has its own zip code, which will formally launch tomorrow when Los Angeles Postmaster Mark Anderson throws out the ceremonial first pitch. 90090 takes over the area around Dodger Stadium and the baseball club has named a section called Mannywood 90090. Blogger Mark Bodie who blogs over at The Mancave Memoirs has his own suggestion: "The next move for the Dodgers is to rename...

Photo by Manjith Kainickara via Flickr North Hollywood: What do you do when the city owns a vacant lot that's being used by people as an unofficial trash landfill? Clear it out and make it into a park. On Monday, Councilwoman and Controller-Elect Wendy Greuel and others will make the first ceremonial dig on the Bellaire Pocket Park Project, located at the corner of Bellaire Ave and Strathern St. Plans include featuring native plants,...

Paul Krekorian Now with Wendy Gruel heading to the City Controller Office on July 1st, her seat will be soon vacant leading to a possible campaign if a special election is approved by City Council (and it's likely to go that way instead of an appointment). Tomorrow is the last day to submit proof of residence and voter registration within Council District 2, which stretches from Sherman Oaks and Studio City through North Hollywood...

We're experiencing scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms today with a 40% chance for it to continue tonight, according to the National Weather Service. Tomorrow only holds a 20% of rain with Sunday expected to be partly cloudy. Temperatures should remain in the 60s for the most part throughout the weekend with some areas hitting the low 70s this afternoon....

Raymond Lee Oyler, who set the deadly Esperanza Fire in 2006, was sentenced to death today after a jury recommended the penalty with the judge concurring in his final sentence. Five firefighters died when flames overtook them while protecting a house in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains. 41,000 acres burned and 34 homes were lost, too. The 38-year-old arsonist was convicted in March of five counts of first-degree murder, 20 counts of...