Zach Behrens

Wow. Depending on where you are, it's either slightly windy or super windy. The National Weather Service has kept many areas under a wind advisory--meaning winds are over 35 MPH--and downgraded others. Winds blew up to 83 MPH at Whitaker Peak near Castaic and 59 MPH in the Malibu Hills this morning. Affected wind advisory areas, lasting up until at least 3 p.m., include Topanga, Santa Clarita, Santa Barbara and other cities near mountains...

It's a sad day for transportation news in Los Angeles. Veteran journalist Steve Hymon was one of the many laid off at the LA Times today, according to Kevin Roderick at LA Observed. Hymon, in our opinion, was one of the best writers at the paper. He's succinct, clear, creative, has an ear for bullshit coming out of city officials mouths and is happy to call them on it. Before covering transportation issues, he...

Between now and August 17th, the group Yes on Equality needs to collect nearly 700,000 signatures to qualify to put a proposition on a ballot that would rescind Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California last November, the Associated Press is reporting. Also circulating are petitions from two straight college student friends--one from UC San Diego and another from California Institute of the Arts--to replace the word "marriage" with "domestic partnership." They have...

In addition to participating in City Council meetings via videofeed at Van Nuys City Hall, you can at San Pedro City Hall starting next week. “We understand that distance and traffic can make it difficult for Harbor area residents to express their comments and concerns before City Council,” said Councilwoman Hahn in a statement this afternoon. "This is an effort to ensure that their concerns are represented fairly.” The six-month video conferencing pilot program...

Photo: OC Register The blast was so loud, it woke up firefighters across the street. When they went outside just after 11:30 p.m. last night, they discovered that an explosion occurred at Solus Industrial Innovation, a plastics manufacturing plant in Santa Margarita. The cause is unknown, but preliminary results indicate that a large industrial process electric water heater may be the culprit. The blast punched two holes in the ceiling, broke several fire sprinkler...

Photo: current events For the uninitiated to downtown, a list of lunchtime eats near the two courthouses is very useful. This week, Blogger Erin Holness gives us some good options like Homegirl Cafe, Pete's Cafe and Bar and Phillipe's Original Restaurant. Of course, downtown's choices are expanding all the time, especially these days. Recently, there was D-Town Burger on 6th and a little further south, Magnolia on 9th. Then today, blogdowntown's Eric Richardson noted...

Parked in front of MySpace headquarters yesterday, Kogi BBQ was cited by police for not having the correct permits allowing them to operate in Beverly Hills. "You know how new we are," owner Mark Manguera told the Daily Dish. "We didn't know that we needed 50 million more permits here than anywhere else." Kogi will file for the needed permits and be back on the Beverly Hills streets as soon as possible. "You know,...

Photo by Pink Dispatcher via Flickr The final vote count is over and the controversial measure B lost by 2,644 votes. By the morning after the March 3rd election, it was too close to tell with 45,000 more ballots to count. Two weeks later, the count was still close with 50.5% opposing, 49.5% in favor "The defeat dealt a blow to the hopes of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had spent $145,000 from a campaign...

Scientology Building in Hollywood | Photo by acaben via Flickr "Will you be celebrating Jim Jones and David Koresh's birthday?" gadfly Arnold Sacks dramatically said during public comment before the City Council voted to approve around $40,000 in fee waivers--meaning the city absorbs the costs of paying overtime for workers to shut streets down--for special events around the city, including $3,000 for a L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Event taking place Saturday at the Shrine...

Coachella announced today the addition of MIA to the popular desert festival's lineup on April 17, 18 and 19. Earlier this month, they added the Chemical Brothers, The Orb, Devandra Banhart, Murder City Devils and Etienne de Crécy. Today's addition give festival goers over 125 artists to check out. Also: Yesterday, the festival announced some new on-site lodging. These luxurious accommodations are described as fully furnished “Safari” Shikar style “sleeping” and “lounging” tents and...

At the the Roman Pool | Photo by Brandon L. Hull and Terry Montague Copyright 2009 Regal360.com If you haven't been to Hearst Castle in San Simeon, a few hours drive north on the 101 Freeway, it is highly recommended. Not only is it one of the most smoothly operated state parks in California, its history and the ties to Los Angeles' 1920s and 30s lifestyle are eye opening and fascinating. This week, the...

Now here's a lede from the LA Times that has marijuana activists cheering in the streets: "U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said Wednesday that the Justice Department has no plans to prosecute pot dispensaries that are operating legally under state laws in California and a dozen other states -- a development that medical marijuana advocates and civil libertarians hailed as a sweeping change in federal drug policy." Last month, Holder said there...