Zach Behrens

Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed The blogosphere is abuzz about the latest CIA report released showing that waterboarding, a form of torture, was the reason officials were able to thwart a terrorist attack in Los Angeles. LA Times gives the low down: Defenders of the practice say the waterboarding of Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed produced information that allowed the U.S government to thwart a planned attack on Los Angeles in 2002....

One boy died this morning after being struck by a Metrolink Train outside Riverside. Train 702 was traveling toward Riverside from Los Angeles when it caught up with two boys trespassing and cutting across the tracks around 7:30 a.m. The other boy survived. As of 9:20 a.m. the train was still out of service, but buses were being used to bridge riders....

Photos via Twitpic via Nate Ballard How much of a meta dork is Gavin Newsom? His communications director Nate Ballard twittered two photos of Gavin twittering his gubernatorial announcement this morning. Newsom raised a quick $15,000 by early afternoon (he announced that via Twitter, too) and as noted by commenter Torrmoz (here's his Twitter), he's gained nearly 4,000 more followers since this morning....

Official Sample Ballot booklets for the May 19th election began their journey yesterday to homes of voters. “Every registered voter in the County will receive an Official Sample Ballot booklet prior to Election Day,” said LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan. “Sample Ballots contain important information to help ensure that voters are able to successfully cast their ballot, either by mail, or at their neighborhood polling place.” This also means you can start the...

Jane Harman Although it is all hearsay at this point, the New York Times (and, well, the whole Internet) is abuzz about Southbay Congresswoman Jane Harman's alleged involvement in aiding two lobbyists in exchange for becoming the the all powerful chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Pro-Israel lobbyists Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee were under investigation and eventually indicted for violating the World War I-era Espionage...

LA City Council today approved the third phase of a water conservation ordinance aimed a reducing the consumption of this bitch-thirsty city. Soon, residents and businesses may only water their lawns and other landscaping on Mondays and Thursdays. An earlier phase, which prohibited watering between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. remains in effect. The new restriction begins on June 1st....

The Los Angeles Fire Department had two larger events during the 11 a.m. hour this morning. The first was near Silver Lake on Fletcher near Riverside Dr. where about one half acre of grass and brush burned near structures, but firefighters were able to knock it down in just less than 20 minutes at 11:43 a.m. No one was injured and no buildings were damaged. On Westwood Blvd. near the 10 Freeway, a car...

Found in Boyle Heights | Photo by Jimson Weed Gazette via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Years old records were broken for the second day in the row yesterday. Here's how it broke down, according to preliminary results from the National Weather Service: Downtown's thermometer hit 100, breaking an April 20th, 1956 record when it hit 96. LAX hit 95, breaking the 1986 record of... 86. In the same year, Long Beach was scorching...

Scratch William Parker's name from the idea list, or so said the LAPD Commission today, who voted to oppose to name the new LAPD headquarters with his name, which stirs up a controversial racist past. Instead, Councilmember Richard Alarcon wants to name the building after Mayor Tom Bradley. Here is the councilman's take on his bio: Tom Bradley arrived in Los Angeles in 1924, the son of sharecroppers and the grandson of slaves. In...

Yesterday broke records and today it's expected to get hotter, breaking triple digits again, in some areas such as inland-valleys. Some predicted highs are 94 for LAX, 96 for Burbank, 97 for downtown, 98 in Long Beach, 101 in Anaheim and 97 in Woodland Hills and Pasadena. Cooler temps should come to the coastal areas tomorrow with widespread cooling on Wednesday or Thursday....

Photo by blaisetnutter via Flickr Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will release his proposed budget later this morning promising to to close the $530 million deficit for the upcoming fiscal year (July '09 through June '10) all while continuing to build the LAPD and preventing layoffs--up to 2,800 by his estimates--by asking employees to share the sacrifice. Of course, now through June 12th when City Council has to adopt it by, things will change. Villaraigosa's proposals...

He beat it with a sledgehammer, took a chainsaw to its head and fed it to his dogs. Jack Ziniuk, 64, of Anza in the 909 951 was arrested today for felony animal cruelty. “He told us he was having an argument with his neighbors and some dogs had attacked his horse but when deputies got out there they found the horse already dead,” a Riverside County Sheriff’s said to the LA Times. “He...