Zach Behrens

Speaking from South LA today, Vice President Joe Biden announced that affordable-housing development Esperanza Community Housing Corporation will receive $875,000 for the removal of toxic paint from 225 homes. The money will employ workers for the abatement work, but also "save the country millions in future health care costs that would otherwise be spent to treat people suffering ailments connected to growing up in contact with lead-based paint," according to the Associated Press. To...

On Wednesday as a car chase came to the end in a residential neighborhood, suspected driver and known gang member Richard Rodriguez gave up by laying down on the ground and fanning his arm away from his body. The first officer to arrive kicked Rodriguez in the head (watch the video here), prompting the latest hit in viral police violence videos. The police union representing the El Monte officer is calling it a distraction...

Photo by Advanced Land Imager on the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) | Courtesy of NASA As they always do with major fires in Southern California, NASA released a photo showing the burn scared mountains from the Jesusita Fire from May 10. The photo "shows the northern part of the burned area, which stretches from the outskirts of Santa Barbara (hidden beneath clouds) into Los Padres National Forest," says NASA. "Many valleys throughout the burned area...

Photo via YGRS's blog After Pultizer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold caused a flame war between the two cities this week, LA Weekly has now highlighted noteworthy comments made on LAist and SFist. Among those noted is Orange County native and SFist Editor Brock Keeling sneaking over to LAist and writing "pst, your burritos are secretly much, much better." bennyinsf says: "I know a lot of people in NorCal and especially here in...

The California Department of Public Health today announced a quarter-million dollar fine given to Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Hospital after "the hospital compromised the privacy of a patient when 21 employees and two physicians improperly accessed records." That patient was "Octomom" Nadya Suleman This is the first time a penalty has been assessed under new patient privacy laws went into effect last year when it was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. "Medical privacy is a fundamental...

Neighbors walk the median, soon-to-be park, at a planning meeting in 2008 | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Studio Oaks Park, named that way because it stretches between the two Los Angeles city neighborhoods, will start to become a reality next week when construction crews enter Phase 1 of the project. The Park, which is really a large median that divides a 2,000 foot stretch of Ventura Boulevard from residential homes, is a vision of...

The LAPD, summoned to the chambers by City Council this week, is standing by their report about that the bicyclist ran into a hummer, not the opposite in an incident a few weeks ago. However, according to StreetsblogLA, things are not adding up: "If you believe the LAPD, [the cyclist] 'ran into the side of the hummer' then you have to believe that [the cyclist], who was wearing light colored clothing and had a...

Via UTLA's Twitter LAUSD teachers planned a walk out today over budget cuts forcing massive teacher layoffs, then a judge said no, the teachers okay, we won't walk out, we'll protest before school begins and now some teachers haven't stopped protesting. This planned civil disobedience includes 700 teachers calling in sick and small protests around the city. Both the United Teachers of Los Angeles union and Cuts Hurts Kids are live tweeting as events...

Say what? Via the LA Times: "No trace of the medicine HCG was found in Manny Ramirez's system at the time of his drug test, three sources with specific knowledge of the results have told The Times. It was a prescription for that drug, which is a non-steroid but banned by Major League Baseball, that led to the outfielder's 50-game suspension for violating the league's drug policy." Discuss....

A driver who crashed on Ventura Blvd. early this morning was shot while driving on the 101 Freeway. At about 2:45 a.m., the driver was shot at the Hayvenhurst Avenue exit of 101 in Encino. The driver then made his way Ventura where he crashed into a light pole. Witnesses came to his aid discovering his several bullet wounds and called the police. He was taken to the hospital in unknown condition and police...

Photo via Curbed LA Apparently, an East Hollywood woman had a crew come out last year Fourth of July to remove a city curb for a big private driveway. Alyssa Romano, resident and fourplex building owner on the 1100 block N. Westmoreland Avenue, did not obtain a permit for her illegal driveway. Curbed LA reports: Since Romano removed the city-owned parking space without a permit, she was instructed by the Bureau of Street Services...

The National Weather Service says some areas in Southern California will experience hotter than normal temperatures for this time of year with Sunday being the hottest day of the weekend. Areas that could experience 12 to 18 degrees above normal include Orange and San Diego county costal areas, San Bernardino, Inland Valley and San Diego valleys and mountain areas in San Bernardino, Santa Ana and San Diego. For those going to KROQ's Weenie Roast,...