Zach Behrens

Today, Santa Monica was honored with a Bronze level distinction from the League of American Bicyclists. Some cyclists may disagree considering heavy and unfair policing by the city, but in terms of infrastructure, Santa Monica has close to 16 miles of bike lanes, 19 miles of bike routes and a 3 mile beach bike path. They also estimate they parked 20,000 bikes with in 2008 their bicycle valet program and bicycling "plays a key...

We have a really fast moving front coming through that may bring some very light rain after midnight tonight (70% chance). Before that, today is expected to me mostly cloudy with highs in the mid 60s to low 70s. Tomorrow will be cloudy with a 50% chance of rain in the morning. The rest of the day should remain partly cloudy with highs once again in the mid 60s to low 70s. The same...

The 52-year-old Vegas performer--the man with many voices--died early this morning from causes not immediately known. The self described "musical impressionist" has been a Vegas mainstay since 1996 and last year earned his 11th consecutive Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year award. His usually sold out show just moved to Steve Wynn's Encore from the Mirage in February. "One of the most unique human beings and entertainers in the world has been taken from...

Just in case you really want a lot information, pre-recorded or with a live operator, the state's Department of Public Heath now has the official Swine Flu Hotline at (888) 865-0564. The line is manned from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Today, two Irvine residents await test results for their sicknesses, which are listed as "probable" swine flu cases. Both were in Mexico and the...

Photo: jmlawlor As the feds try to acquire a large chunk of Malibu real estate to protect it from development, Pepperdine University has donated 72 acres of pristine Santa Monica Mountains habitat above Pacific Coast Highway to the state. The newly obtained Little Las Flores Canyon will connect to Tuna Canyon Park and will provide a continuos wildlife corridor to Topanga State Park. "It features a deep canyon system formed by Little Las Flores...

We've grown large, but our rate of growth has slowed down. Compared to last year, the state's growth plateaued at 1.1%, but in counties like Riverside and San Bernardino--those two saw growth drop to a whole point or more. Los Angeles added 43,000 new residents (our total now is 4,065,585) while the state grew by 409,000 total. Still some cities saw a greater growth rate than average: Palmdale grew bw 3.5% and Pasadena by...

From last year's march (more photos here) | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist Although the turnout is expected to me much smaller than in 2005 and 2006, today's marches will bring tens of thousands of people together over the causes they believe in. "Most of the groups agree on the same policy measures -- legalize illegal immigrants, stop work-site and residential raids, and end the separation of families through deportations," the LA Times reported. Traffic...

The new $15 parking fee at the Getty, disappearing mailboxes, the "Subway to the Sea," the Pantry's 85th b-day and more...

There are still no confirmed cases of swine flu in LA County, but over at Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, one comrade has fallen sick and 30 that were around him socially have also been quarantined just in case. The marine in question, who had not been to Mexico, is doing well and seems to be improving. Back to LA County, one student at CSULB is listed as a "probable" swine...

Your elected state representative might be looking at a 10% pay cut. | Pedestrian friendly standards have been set for downtown by the city. | On Friday, it's May Day, which means Marches. For downtown, there are five rolling through. If you're traveling around there, we'd advise taking rail.

Download a PDF of the map here | Provided by the LAPD The big news today about a serial killer wasn't the alleged identity of the Zodiac Killer or anything about the possibly-still-on-the-loose Grim Sleeper, but of the Southland Strangler, also known as the Westside Rapist, who would target elderly women, raped and kill them in the 70s and 80s. He was arrested last month and could be responsible for up to 30 murders....

Photo by A.C. Thamer via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr You know the saying, it goes something like this: "statistics speak for themselves." So when LA Weekly's Patrick Range McDonald got sick of hearing the Mayor and LAPD Chief William Bratton claim crime levels were down to 1956 levels year after year, he decided to do his own statistics gathering finding that no, Los Angeles is really not living in the 50s...