Zach Behrens

With all but two precincts reporting, only 316 votes separated candidates Paul Kortez and David Vahedi for the 5th district of Los Angeles, which covers the Hollywood Hills, Westside and Sherman Oaks/Encino. Koretz, a former West Hollywood councilman and state politician, led with 50.51% of the vote, over a point ahead of Vahedi, a community organizer and lawyer, according to the LA County Recorder-Registrar/County Clerk. The race is too close to call because provisional...

An ordinance in the high desert city of Lancaster went into full effect on March 1st, but today Lancaster officials are reminding residents not to water their lawns between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. “The summer heat is already beaten down upon us," said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris about today's reminder. "It is imperative that we each do our part to conserve water this summer. We must sustain this precious resource in our...

With 100% of precincts reporting, preliminary results for yesterday's special election are here. It's preliminary because an unknown number of provisional and vote-by-mail ballots still need to be counted. Here's a round up of what happened: The Big Picture: The turnout was 17.39%, or 753,242 people. 466,112 physically showed up to vote and 287,130 were absentee. A total of 4,301,299 people are registered in LA County. Props: All ballot measures failed except Prop 1F,...

Other than Prop 1F, all the budget ballot props have failed, according to the Sacramento Bee: "With about a quarter of the state's precincts in as of 9:30 p.m., the Secretary of State's Office reported none of Propositions 1A through 1E were garnering more than 41 percent of the vote. Only Proposition F, which would freeze the salaries of state elected officials in bad budget years, was winning - and it was winning big."...

Photo by A.C. Thamer via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The LAPD didn't get hit as hard as other departments in the City Council approved city budget, but the current plan does slow down hiring new officers. Now the Los Angeles Police Protective League has submitted their ideas to save the city money in order to get back on track of getting more officers on the streets. There are 16 in all,...

Come July 1st, there will be some new blood in city hall. After a nasty race, Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich tonight won the race for City Attorney, announced the LA Times in a breaking news alert. He faced current 5th District Councilman Jack Weiss. As of midnight, Trutanich had over 55% of the vote with 76% of precincts reporting, according to the LA County Recorder-Registrar/County Clerk. Trutanich had the endorsement of Sheriff Lee Baca, but...

By 1:15 p.m., a voting precinct in a garage on Stern Avenue in Sherman Oaks just received their 60th vote. That's 60, or 4.28%, out of roughly 1400, a number provided by the LA County Recorder-Registrar's Office pertaining to the average amount of registered voters per precinct. Countywide, a sampling of turnout was a bit higher at 8.76% as of 2 p.m., according to the Recorder-Registrar's Twitter feed. Polls are open to 8 p.m....

Photo: neonspecs via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Hello, Election Day! Today, Californians decide the fate of the state's budget, or at least the direction of around $5 billion of it. And in Los Angeles, our new City Attorney will be chosen along with a new Councilman for the tony 5th District. Here are a few tips, just in case you need: Polling places will be open from 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00...

The City Coucnil not only saved cuts proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to special funds--that's where bicycle funding sits and was threatened to be completely eliminated--but they also directed LADOT not to propose cuts to the the bikeways department before consulting them. And a lot of the attention drawn to this subject was due to cyclists who showed up to yesterday's hearing and spoke during public comment. "Yesterday proves one thing that bike activists...

Little Armenia via The Neighborhood Project | Photo: Tony Pierce Little Armenia business owners are making headway in creating a stronger neighborhood brand. Coming soon are signs on the 101 Freeway near the Sunset Blvd. exits identifying where the neighborhood's location, the Little Armenia Chamber of Commerce announced in an e-mail last night. They also announced two upcoming major improvements. One is an Armenian Gateway Monument Installation and the other is the formation of...

For the second time this week, an earthquake has struck an area 10 miles southwest of downtown near unincorporated Lennox. The 4.1 shaker struck at 3:49 p.m. this afternoon, followed by a 2.5 aftershock at 3:51 p.m. On Sunday evening, a 4.7 rattler shook up in the same area and earlier this month, a 4.4 struck in the Santa Monica Mountains. The Los Angeles Fire Department is reporting no immediate damage, but per policy,...

A state senate bill that would allow gay couples to enter into a domestic partnership is making its way through the Nevada legislature. After passing through the Senate, the state's Assembly followed suit, but only after some amendments, last Friday. It now goes back to the Senate for approval, but even if passed, Gov. Jim Gibbons has already said he would use his vetoing power. Meanwhile, back in California, the state Supreme Court still...