Zach Behrens

News of increased parking rates--yeah, $15--at The Getty Center and Villa effective July 1st did not go over so well with some people. So today, they announced that it will be free after 5 p.m. on Saturday nights when the Getty Center is open 'til 9 p.m. The Getty Villa is not open Saturdays, so it does not apply there. Of course, museum admission has always and will always be free so if you...

Freelancers, actors, waiters, web designers and all sorts of people who receive 1099s often find themselves puzzled at why they get letters from the city telling them that they owe money. That's because if you're doing business within the city of Los Angeles, you officially need to declare your earnings. In many cases, people don't earn enough for you to owe, but if you don't register in a timely fashion, you will owe plus...

The moment the new water laws hit Monday, it's like the LA Department of Water & Power went bonkers with water conservation ideas. Today is a new door hanger program, in which the the hangers were given to the public via their print newspaper subscriptions. "LADWP door hangers are designed to help customers encourage their neighbors not to waste water and to avoid fines associated with violations of the City’s Water Conservation Ordinance," they...

A one-acre fire is burning in a remote part of the Cleveland National Forest in Orange County today. Officials first got word of a column of smoke that led them to a section about a mile west of Los Pinos Peak. “It is way up there and in a very inaccessible area,” a fire official told the OC Register. They predict the fire will not spread and will be knocked down fairly quickly....

Following suit with the LA Department of Water (LADWP), a city agency, the LA County Board of Supervisors declared a water emergency today for three the county areas. Residents served by the Department of Public Works (LADPW) will have to meet a lower 15% tier usage rate or face higher fees, a similar system to the city of Los Angeles. Also, the Board approved to charge customers for "water service availability" in Kagel Canyon,...

Priscilla Ahn playing with the Sweet Hurt's Wendy Wang at pehrspace last year (more photos here) | Photo by Koga/LAist Neighborhood concerns over noise and quality of life issues surrounding pehrspace in the Historic Filipinotown neighborhood apparently have led to the self-invoked precautionary and temporary closure of the venue's Monday night concert series run by Sean Carnage. "This is very emotional matter for me, and it may be for you, too, so I ask...

via KTLA A bus making a right turn fatally struck, ran over and dragged man some 700 feet down a Venice street yesterday afternoon, according to KTLA. At about 4:32 p.m., the Metro bus was making a turn onto northbound Pacific Avenue from westbound Rose when a 30-year-old man was crossing Pacific and happened to be in the blind spot as the vehicle made the turn, police believe. The 51-year-old driver was not aware...

Advocacy via Google Maps is a lovely thing. Take your neighborhood, your city, etc., document what could be improved, where incidents are happening and let the data help drive more livable streets. Today, we become savvy to a newer website called Bikewise, which documents bicycle hazards (leaving room for suggestible improvements), crashes and thefts in the Los Angeles area. Caltech student Zane A. Selvans, who runs the site, began with Pasadena is hoping others...

Will Kogi BBQ start getting more notoriety because of these awesome rants instead of their food? The last time, it was an e-mail from Kogi's PR person to a food blogger where she explained she did not like being treated like a "vending machine" for press inquiries. Now, their resident blogger going after the so called "hypestar" in a long post. Here's an excerpt where the term is defined: "What is a hypester? (Not...

A xeriscaped lawn in Silver Lake | Photo by Jeremy Levine Design via Flickr One day after new lawn watering regulations went into effect, the LA Department of Water and Power announced a program to encourage residents to replace their traditional bitch thirsty green grass lawns with ones filled with drought tolerant plants. You're not going to make loads of money, but it's a good step for the department to take, nonetheless. From their...

Okay, what was in the air yesterday? At approximately 4:36 p.m., a 60-year-old male driver ran into a bus stop, injuring three others and himself, according to Devin Gales at the Los Angeles Fire Department. Everyone was transported to area hospitals in minor condition except one 25-year-old female who was left in critical condition. The bus stop was located on the 14300 block of Vanowen near Van Nuys Blvd. Earlier. Earlier in the day...

The big media news today is that LA Weekly's Editor, Laurie Ochoa, is "parting ways" after eight years of leading the paper (she also worked there in various roles from 1978 to 1998). As that news hit, foodies were abuzz that is must be due to her husband, Pulitzer Prize winning food critic Jonathan Gold, being offered the Food Editor position at the New York Times. However, a source close to the matter at...