Zach Behrens

The year got started to the type bang no one wants to hear about. In the first early morning hours of 2009, at least five people were shot dead from Long Beach to Pomona to Los Angeles, the LA Times reports. Two people were killed outside a party in Long Beach when shots broke out before 12:40 a.m. Around the same time, officers were arriving to a call in the Los Angeles neighborhood of...

There's still time to see the parade floats without the whole parade part. The post parade Showcase of the Floats runs today and tomorrow at the end of the parade route on Sierra Madre Blvd. An estimated 150,000 people are going to attend just this part, so there are shuttles to and from the Sierra Madre Gold Line station and a few park and ride lots. And if you want to be super fancy, download the audio tour from iTunes before you go.

Photo by discarted via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Something seems to be working, but one is still too many. Los Angeles had 380 murders in 2008, which is the lowest since 1969 and a downward trend from 2004 when there were 518. By comparison, both Chicago and New York City saw their murder rates increase each to over 500 last year....

Behind Bars | Photo: The Consumerist As tax season approaches, California Attorney General came to an agreement today with H&R Block over deceptive practices, although the tax preparation company claims no wrongdoing, according to the state. The settlement is over what Brown calls deceptive marketing of tax refund loans. Basically, "a refund anticipation loan is a short-term loan secured by a taxpayer's anticipated income tax refund," as described by Brown's office. $2.45 million in...

The symbol of the housing boom and bust, Pasadena based IndyMac Bank that was seized in July by the federal government, has been sold to a group of seven investors for $13.9 billion. "We have assembled a group of experienced private investors in financial services to acquire the former IndyMac and operate it under new management with extensive banking experience," Steven Mnuchin, the leader of the holding company that bought the bank, said in...

Photo: savemejebus via Flickr Councilmember Tom LaBonge, who represents Griffith Park, loves loves loves to hike and be in what he calls the greatest park in the world. Often, he holds hikes with residents and tomorrow is no exception. "All cultures of the world celebrate the new year, and in Los Angeles we like to mark this day by hiking to one of the greatest vistas in Southern California with people representing the many...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may be out of state vacationing, but his people proposed yet another solution--their fourth--to the state budget problem, expected to reach a $40 billion deficit if nothing is done in upcoming months. Today's proposal combines a previous ones with more new ideas, the Sacramento Bee finds: That plan called for a temporary increase in the state sales tax, expanding the sales tax to cover some services, a nickel-a-drink alcohol tax, a...

Photo: Coyote2012 Metro (not Metrolink) will be offering 24-hour service on all its rail lines (that's Red, Purple, Blue, Green and Gold) tonight in celebration of New Year's Eve. They'll be running every 20 minutes from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and you don't have to pay for a fare between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. (and that includes buses, too). Then, Thursday morning to facilitate the large crowds for the Tournament of the...

Cue six degrees of Kevin Bacon game now... Three more victims of Bernard L. Madoff's Ponzi scheme were announced, including the Hollywood couple that is Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Madoff is accused of running a reportedly $50 billion Ponzi scheme in which investment money from new clients was taken to pay off earlier investors. Hollywood is no stranger to playing victim to Madoff--Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, business manager Gerald Breslauer and Eric Roth...

Over $300 billion in bailout money from the government and the next place you see Citigroup's money is towards a major sponsorship of a football game. Good advertising move or waste? The money to secure their sponsorship was spent long ago, but they should still be publicly humiliated, right? We hear that in every time out a new stat about Citi's epic fail will be announced and it will be scrolled across the scoreboard...

Well, if you happen to drive within seven miles of home, then you might be in luck. The Auto Club of Southern California is offering their Tipsy Tow service for those too inebriated to drive, but aware enough to take advantage of the free service.

It's that time of year again for New Yorkers to get a fill of riding the subway with no pants. Luckily (or the opposite depending on how you feel), this year the annual Improv Everywhere event is spreading across the nation including Los Angeles on the afternoon of January 10th. If you're thinking this might be illegal, it might be and it might be not. According to Metro's Chief of Transit Police, Commander Dan...