Zach Behrens

The young, hip and cute superstar City Council President Eric Garcetti of LA's popular 13th district (Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater Village, etc), is now a married man. "It should mellow me out," Garcetti joked at today's City Council meeting. The small wedding was on Sunday with parents and close friends. Amy Elaine Wakeland and Garcetti have been dating for a while now; they currently reside in Echo Park. He's up for reelection...

Ham, anyone? This is what LAist Featured Photos contributor ~db~ had on New Year's Day for lunch at The Pantry in downtown. There were enough leftovers for two more meals. Submit your Eye Nosh food 'porn' photos and mini-reviews to LAist via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr....

Local congressman Xavier Becerra (Echo Park, Silver Lake, K-Town, Lincoln Heights, Eagle Rock etc) turned down President-Elect Barack Obama's offer to be U.S. Trade Representative last month because he did not want to give up his House seniority. But he may actually be interested in leaving congress to head the Commerce Department after Bill Richardson stepped down yesterday. "Even though he turned down the trade representative slot, Becerra is not only Hispanic, but he...

What recession? Of all places, the little village that could is getting a little more useful and livable. Trader Joe's at Weyburn and Glendon already had its grand opening last month, but wait, the kids were preoccupied with finals/undie run/winter break meaning no matter how much you love the joe, it's just wasn't not good timing. Solutions? Ahem. Have another grand opening, reports the Daily Bruin. Next door It’s a Grind Coffee House should...

The Daily News opined yesterday on the higher parking rates (from $1 to $4/hour): "Let's give credit where it's due. Los Angeles officials might not do a very good job of providing services, maintaining the integrity of city government, or enhancing the local quality of life, but they excel at siphoning taxpayers' money for the bottomless pit that is the city treasury... The new meters are just the latest in a long litany of...

"My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time," California Senator Dianne Feinstein said about President-Elect Barack Obama's pick of Leon Panetta to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta, known as a good manager who can to work through government bureaucracy, was the former White House Chief of Staff for Bill Clinton, an eight-term member of Congress, co-founder of California State University, Monterey Bay and a public policy institute within that college. He once wrote that the United States "must not use torture under any circumstances."

Well, that's what Casa's public relations folk are saying. But we'll let the public (and Yelp) decide its uniqueness starting tomorrow when Casa finally opens in downtown's California Plaza next door to MOCA on Grand Avenue (we've penned the area as Performance Row). Casa is Chef Kris Morningstar’s (former Blue Velvet exec chef) new Mexican restaurant will feature two different menus and concepts--one for lunch and another for dinner. Lunch is envisioned to be...

This one has been making its rounds among the blogs. New York Times book reviewer Charles McGrath had this to say while talking about actor Carrie Fisher's new memoir: "What her Hollywood upbringing doesn’t account for is Ms. Fisher’s manifest intelligence and adroit way with words. She is one of the rare inhabitants of La-La land who can actually write and has published four novels, the best of which, the semi-autobiographical “Postcards From the...

A photog with an unfortunate but funny countenance behind LAPD Chief Bratton at the 2009 May Day March | Photo by A.C. Thamer via LAist Feautred Photos on Flickr LAPD Chief William Bratton won't set crime reduction goals for 2009 yet, but he did say crime will decline this next year at a press conference today about crime totals in 2008. Although there were a spate of murders in the first few days of...

If it was your New Year's Resolution to see more art and do more cultural activities, then this is just good timing. January is now LA Arts Month, celebrating that--yes, yes we do have art, even sometimes internationally recognized more than it is locally.

At Tuesday's protests outside the Israeli consulate | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist Once again, a number of protests reflecting both sides of the issue will hit the streets today on Wilshire Blvd. Like earlier this week, a group of Pro-Isarel demonstrators are reported to be holding one outside the Federal Building in Westwood at 11 a.m. and a group of Pro-Palestinian will hold theirs at 4:30 p.m. outside the Israeli Consulate with a counter...

Photo by Paul!!! via Flickr Careful Los Angeles, New York is watching. "A closely watched count of film permits for outdoor shoots in the Los Angeles area shows that feature film shooting days totaled just 1,181 in the third quarter of 2008, down 38 percent from the year before, according to FilmLA, the nonprofit organization that coordinates permits for location shooting in the area," says the New York Times. Fourth quarter results are not...