Zach Behrens

Although Judge Vaughn Walker last week ruled that Prop 8 was unconstitutional, the inevitable appeal of the case to higher courts put the resumption of gay marriages into question. Walker stayed his order so he could hear from both sides on why or why not marriages should take place in the meantime. Even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown chimed in, saying gay marriages should resume. Walker's decision should come by noon...

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist On Tuesday afternoon, one of city hall's local service elevators had this marking on its inner doors and it definitely looks like a tag. It's not surprising to see something like this because a) city hall is open to the public during business hours (but you do have to sign in) and b) tags like this only take seconds to do. Still a bold move -- you never know if...

West Hollywood held a wedding park event the day gay marriage went into effect in June of 2008 (more photos here) | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist Federal Judge Vaughn Walker is expected to make his ruling on the stay on his Prop 8 order before noon today. Last week he ruled Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, as unconstitutional. But he stayed the order at the request of proponents who have appealed...

Mitrice Richardson Sheriff authorities and the coroner’s office have announced an emergency press conference this morning about Mitrice Richardson, the woman who has been missing for about a year after being released from the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station in Agoura Hills. Although there will be no on-the-record comment until the 9:30 a.m. event, remains found earlier this week in a steep canyon have been confirmed as Richardson's, according to various news sources. Park rangers...

Mark your calendar folks, Coachella tonight announced dates for their 2011 festival. They are April 15th, 16th and 17th. Yups, that's 248 days away. Now on to the constant speculation and day dreaming about what the line-up will be. Check out LAist's coverage from this year's festival here, here and here. Rock, out....

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist City Controller Wendy Greuel is at it again and tomorrow plans to release an audit detailing how the city's Department of Transportation wasted $855,000 and exceeded a contract by nearly $2.5 million. Basically, LADOT contracted with a company in 2001 to lease Automated Vehicle Locator Systems (AVLS) for the parking enforcement fleet. Although they could have bought them for $1 a piece in 2006, officials said they went through with...

A one- to two-acre brush fire in Griffith Park is burning uphill near the 5 and 134 freeways, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. No structures are threatened or immediate evacuations have been called for. In a live TV interview, Captain Steve Ruda told KABC-7 that, from what he could see on TV, there appeared to be no winds (good news) and that firefighters "drill in that area all the time." The blaze...

Feliciano Sanchez News about the city of Bell isn't just about the salary scandal and possible voter fraud these days, there's also the case of 35-year-old Feliciano Sanchez, a former police officer for the small working class Los Angeles suburb. Sanchez plead guilty to "depriving a woman of her civil rights" and will be sentenced next month following an incident back in 2007, according to the Whittier Daily News. Sanchez had pulled a woman...

Photo by Andy Kennelly via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Human remains have been found in the Santa Monica Mountains by park rangers checking out a former illegal marijuana field. L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies are looking to see if there is a connection to Mitrice Richardson, who disappeared in the area a year ago. A local court commissioner has granted actor Jennifer Aniston a restraining order against a man who traveled across the country...

Here's a big WTF. A game of cards between family turned deadly when one man took out a gun and began shooting early Sunday morning in San Bernardino, according to the San Bernardino Sun. 33-year-old Ricardo Magana-Lemus was apparently losing money when his brother tried to call the game off because it was getting late. Magana-Lemus didn't want to end the game yet and an argument developed, ending with him apparently pulling a gun...

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Echo Park will be the newest home for community supported agriculture (CSA), in which customers pay a subscription fee for weekly (or every other week) pick-up of locally grown fruits and vegetables. California CSA, which serves several neighborhoods, including locations in North Hollywood, downtown, Culver City and Santa Monica, will begin an Echo Park location at Mooi Restaurant on Tuesday afternoons starting August 17th. One week costs $25 and that,...

Perhaps they're waiting until it's closer to November, perhaps not. The campaign for Prop 19, which would legalize marijuana in California, is not seeing large donations like similar drug propositions in the past, finds the LA Times. So far, the prop's author Richard Lee is the biggest donor, giving $1.5 million of the $1.9 raised through June. About $10 million will be needed to launch a widely seen TV campaign. The latest Field Poll...