Zach Behrens

Photo: Ben Garney Let's just consider this an unintended early April Fool's joke. Students denied admission to the University of California, San Diego were sent an e-mail late last night congratulating them on their acceptance to the school. Unfortunately, that was a mistake. "The applicants had been denied admission by the university earlier in the month. Someone accidentally sent the e-mail to the entire applicant pool of 47,000 although it was intended for only...

Considering the recent city audit report on high water bottle usage within departments, the LA Times took at look at the LA County Board of Supervisor's own practice of "affixing their own labels -- to avoid having the brand visible on TV broadcasts of their meetings." Here's how it works: "Every week, a college student who earns $9.92 an hour for a range of tasks peels the labels off water bottles, uses a computer...

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson At first California officials were pushing a proposal that would force ships to use cleaner fuels and emission-control measures when 230 miles from the coast. The shipping industry said such a law would have to be mandated federally, not by a state. Courts sided with the shipping industry. Now the Environmental Protection Agency is on board, reports the Press Telegram: "EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson believes the proposed rule could prevent...

A heavy equipment operator ruptured a gas line this afternoon prompting the evacuation of approximately 500 people from and around a film school building. Authorities have had trouble shutting the gas down and expect things to get back to normal around 2:30 p.m., according to USC Trojan Alert. UPDATE: At 1:48 p.m., USC officials announced that the leak was repaired at the School of Cinema and that the evacuation is over....

Did no one learn from the mess at UCLA's Medical Center over Farrah Fawcett and other celebrities? 23 people have been caught taking a peek at OctoMom Nadya Suleman's medical records without permission. "Despite the notoriety of this case, to us this person is a patient who deserves the privacy that all our patients get," a spokesman for the Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center. Health care privacy laws disallow access to records unless you...

Photo by Jeff Berk/Watch2.org Stacey Todd boutiques and Il Tramezzino cafe in Studio City were hit over the weekend with graffiti illustrating swastikas, alleged gang writing and stick figures with guns. It happened sometime between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, but it wasn't until after 10 a.m. that someone alerted police. "Anyone seeing anything that could be related to this vandalism incident is urged to report it to Van Nuys Police Division...

"Because that's the way we do business in L.A., you come and scream and yell and you usually get your way," Los Angeles Unified Supt. Ramon Cortines said in an interview to the LA Times about pending school budget cuts which has everyone in strife. Cortines is on to something here. It's unrelated to education funding, but religious institutions felt the annual Los Angeles Marathon made it hard on parishioners, so they lobbied city...

On Sunday afternoon, 69-year-old Erika Scarano was found by police with several stab wounds in her Hollywood home on the 1300 block of North Genesee Avenue (that's just north of Fountain, three blocks East of Fairfax). She later died at the hospital. Police believe that her 19-year-old estranged son, Christopher Francis Scarano, may have killed her and is now on the loose. "He is described as a White male, blond hair, hazel eyes, 6...

David Zahniser at the LA Times puts a man who once would have preferred to be out of the spotlight into it with a nice profile of LADWP union boss Brian D'Arcy. He was behind Measure B, the failed solar power initiative on the March 3rd ballot, but he's still pushing the issue, trying to get the same plan--obtaining 400 megawatts of energy through solar panels placed all over the city--approved by the DWP...

Last year, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority saw 330 families seek help in their winter shelter program, which gives vouchers for motel or hotel stays. This year? That number nearly doubled to 620 families, reported the Daily News. As the economy worsened over the last year, foreclosures, evictions, job loss all played a hand in this. One shelter in Culver City saw the numbers increase 10 times that of last year--from 4 to...

Tomorrow is Cesar Chavez Day, eponymously named for the Mexican American farm worker turned labor and civil rights leader. It's an official state holiday in California and in seven other states meaning closures of government buildings and services. Today, Los Angeles city offices and libraries are closed and tomorrow, state offices, the DMV and superior courts, state universities and community colleges will close. Mail delivery, public schools, county and federal offices will all remain...

Photo by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr There's a big closure for one of the nation's most congested freeway interchanges. Luckily... it's the weekend. Early this morning, a pavement crack located on the shoulder and into the number four lane (far right) was noticed on the connector approach bridge slab above Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Caltrans will close the northbound connectors to the 101 freeway in both directions for emergency pavement...