Zach Behrens

The Poppy Reserve in Antelope Valley | Photo by tomsaint11 via Flickr After our wildflower post earlier today, a couple commenters had questions and comments specifically about poppies and the cherry blossom season. Poppies: They are just one of the many types of wildflowers, but since they're our state flower and icon, it is the most popular and well known. You can find them during the upcoming season mixed in with wildflowers throughout Southern...

Photos via unurth - street art, used with permission The wall on La Brea near San Vicente is french film documentarian-turned-street artist Mr. Brainwash's rotating art gallery. Last night, Jackson Pollock and his drip technique spilled onto the sidewalk. In the past, we've seen Einstein, Star Trek, Madonna/Britney Spears, Marion Cotillard and the Mona Lisa doing some mooning. Special thanks to unurth - street art for pointing this out!...

As usual with every election, parking will be relaxed next Tuesday, March 3rd when you go vote. Within one block of polling places, parking meters, time limits, permits, street sweeping zones will not be enforced by parking enforcement officers or the LAPD. Just, please, make sure you vote. (Photo: delera-photos)...

Early Wedensday morning at 12:20 a.m., a 48-year-old Burbank woman answered the front door of her West Jacaranda Avenue home only to be shot dead by the man on the other side. Last night, police got a break and arrested Armen Mangasaryan, 29, of Burbank. Motive and his relationship to the woman, if any, is unknown at this time. The woman's boyfriend was home at the time, but was not considered a suspect....

Photo: Fred Camino General Manager Gail Goldberg for the Planning Department on building a subway to the Westside to bottleneck blogger Steve Hymon: "We can accommodate more people, we can't accommodate more cars. And so we have to give people other options. Other cities do this.... I think we are going to have to bite the bullet and do the subway. We are going to have to find other ways to get people through...

Photo: Jeremy Levine Design And that's not a bad thing. The New York Times yesterday looked into Eagle Rock's changing neighborhood dynamic, but change is not as easy as said in President Barack Obama's first college town: "The new residents brought prosperity and, the locals say, a little arrogance as well. 'They sounded the trumpets and announced a vision of something like Silver Lake or Los Feliz,' said Bob de Velasco, who runs Commercial...

Mount Hayden - North Rim Vista from the Ken Patrick Trial in the North Rim | Photo by mandj98 via Flickr It may be out-of-state, 500 miles and some 6-7 hours away by car, but it's a pretty dope National Park, so a shout out is deserved. And little closer to home, Joshua Tree National Park will be celebrating its 15th anniversary on Halloween (now that could be a party to rival West Hollywood's...

Photo by didler burton via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr In a state report card (.pdf) evaluating all the Caltrans districts, 7, which is responsible for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, has the worst grade. "It's actually kind of appalling," a staff member of Councilwoman Jan Perry's office said in an article from blogdowntown. Here's some of the breakdown: District 7 is responsible for over 6,200 lane miles, which carry 25% of statewide traffic....

On Sunday, Captain Blake Chow will take over the LAPD's Central Division, which mainly covers downtown. In a short bio released by the department, it credits Chow's rise in the chain of command--from a foot beat cop to commanding officer--with his community policing skills. “I have had the unique opportunity to see the Downtown area in many phases, from the civil unrest that marred many areas of our City, to reemergence, and to the...

In this image made from video, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal delivers from Baton Rouge, La. the Republican Party's official response to President Barack Obama's address to a joint session of Congress (AP Photo/APTN Pool) This is going to get old fast. In response to Barack Obama's big "State of the Union" like speech last night, the Republicans, via Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, had sharp criticisms of the President and stimulus bill including trying to...

Photo by lewish1990 via Flickr Admittedly a long shot by police, the LAPD today released the audio of an anonymous phone call tip about the fourth murder by the serial killer dubbed the "Grim Sleeper." Over a span of more than 20 years, the mysterious killer--connected by DNA--has taken the lives of at least 11 victims and injured one. The police are not sure if the phone call described below was purposefully misleading or...

Photo: Casey Schreiner Casey Schreiner at ModernHiker trekked over to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park this past weekend to see how the wildflower blossoms are doing: "While the wildflowers still aren’t out in force quite yet, there are a few areas in the north end of the park that are pretty colorful," he wrote. The park's website publishes a weekly wildflower report (scroll down) or you can call their wildflower hotline at (760-767-4684) for updates....