Zach Behrens

The heavier showers that poured over Los Angeles this morning have moved on to the Eastern part of Los Angeles County. A group of scattered showers should hit the area in a few hours and could douse the city sporadically throughout the day. Around 7 a.m. this morning there was a cloud to ground lightening strike, said Stuart Seto, a Weather Specialist from the National Weather Service. Later tonight, there is a 20 percent...

The Dr. Phil supergraphic at 10801 National Blvd. | Photo via a blog dedicated to the building To the astonishment of building tenants and just about everyone else, an illegal supergraphic went up last week on the same building that was used by the city as an example of the verboten advertisements. In late January, the building at National and Westwood Boulevard--then with a Tropicana supergraphic--was used as a press conference backdrop to talk...

Although there is no specific mention of the high speed train between the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas, Republicans are crying foul. "Michigan is a state of about 10 million people, and we are the hardest hit, as I have said, by this economy," said Representative Candice Miller. "And yet we are expected to get approximately $7 billion from this bill, and apparently the Senate Majority leader has earmarked $8 billion for a...

Out of the Closet in Alaska Thanks to Sarah Palin talking about her favorite second hand clothing store, small store owner Ellen Arvold of Out of the Closet in Anchorage, Alaska received a cease and desist letter from Out of the Closet in Los Angeles. "We've invested a lot of time, energy and money or resources branding Out of the Closet, tied specifically to our HIV/AIDS mission to provide care and advocacy regardless of...

Desert Dandelions in the Pinto Valley, Joshua Tree National Park | Photo by Dawn Endico via Flickr With the rain, even how relatively little there has been this year, comes wildflowers around Southern California. "We are seeing a few flowers already, but the best of the bloom will most likely be from the last week of February through the first two weeks of March," reads the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park's website. For Casey Schreiner...

Angels Flight at the 1996 re-grand opening | Photo by bcmacsac1 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It's been a long time coming and downtowners eagerly are awaiting the reopening of Angels Flight, the funicular railway between Hill Street in the Historic Core to the California Plaza atop Bunker Hill. In fact, people are so eager that last week the Downtown News wrote an editorial saying "it is time for local government officials to...

Still with no vote on California's budget, the Senate and Assembly adjourned last night around 8:30 p.m. last night after a long tiring day, considering the Assembly was in lockdown until 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning (see Joe Coto, D-San, Jose sleeping in the photo?). In order to get the budget passed, the Senate democrats just need one more Republican to jump the fence and side with them--two other GOPs are already there and he...

Photo JT3 11 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Whether or not you've got the day off, here's what's affected for today: All Metro operated buses and Metro Rail trains that include the Metro Red Line, Purple Line Blue Line, Green Line and Gold Line will operate on regular schedule. Mail Delivery is a big no. Banks? Nope. Public Schools? Day Off! City Hall, County Hall of Administration, State Office = Closed. Major public...

The San Gabriel Mountains as seen from Anaheim | Photo by tux96 via Flickr The recent weather has left the snow pack at over forty inches in the higher elevations of the San Gabriel Mountains, according to Forest Service officials in the 680,000 acre Angeles National Forest. And at lower elevation levels, snow is over a foot with more expected this weekend. So if you're itching to get out and have never been before,...

Traffic as of 4:45 p.m. The much needed rain for bitch-thirsty California is a good thing, but it has its consequences. Shortly before 5 p.m., the California Highway Patrol was reporting 57 incidents in LA County, which is higher than usual for even Friday at rush hour. A lot of the crashes are injury collisions with "rain as a contributing factor," one officer told us. Also, reported snow is causing some delays on the...

The ten people suspected of starting last Fall's destructive wildfire in Montecito and Santa Barbara will only be charged for "misdemeanor trespassing and unlawfully building and using a campfire without permission," the Associated Press is reporting. The District Attorney said that he could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that their illegal campfire beget the conflagration that spread and destroyed 230 homes and burned near 2,000 acres. The Tea Fire began on November 13th...

Did you see that plane carrying this pictured Colorado lovin' on California banner during this morning's rush hour? It's part of Denver's attempt to woo us--and mainly corporations--to move from sea level to one mile high in the sky. LAist Gives it a Try: Have you been to Denver? The sky looks unusually blue. Oh wait, there's no smog, that's what the sky is supposed to look like.