Zach Behrens

Whether you knew it or not (or even cared), California has an official state rock. It's called serpentine and it contains a mineral -- chrysotile asbestos -- that's not so good for your health. Now State Senator Gloria Romero of Los Angeles wants the title to be stripped, according to the Sacramento Bee. "California should not designate a rock known to be toxic to the health of its residents as the state's official rock,"...

Just in time for all the iPhone 4 buzz today, an app to guide you through the Hollywood Bowl has been launched. The free app, which can be downloaded beginning today for iPhone or Android, will also be available on Blackberry and mobile web in July. Features includes basics like concert information, videos, photos and how to get there. But some features are especially useful. To name a few: the GPS-enabled map to help...

Remember when the enormous Chilean quake earlier this year sped the Earth up? Now scientists are saying the 7.2 Mexicali quake on Easter Sunday shifted the earth's crust 31 inches on the U.S. side. Over on the Mexican side, research indicates a much larger shift: at least 10 whole feet. But the LA Times notes, citing an expert, that "while the numbers sound dramatic, they probably were not noticed by humans immediately after the...

The downtown L.A. skyline as seen from L.A. State Historic Park (aka "The Cornfields") | Photo by calvinfleming via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Whacky! Watch the LAX bomb scare suspect from Sunday get tasered by police in this video. Have you checked out the Los Angeles Film Festival yet? It's gearing up for its second weekend. There was a 5.0 earthquake today, but in a place where people usually don't feel them: Canada....

Jason Bateman today was on the receiving end of cat calls and evil eyes from exasperated Apple customers today after he was allowed to cut in front of hundreds (some say thousands) of people waiting at The Grove to purchase their reserved iPhone 4. The "Arrested Development" actor was reportedly sitting in line like everyone else until an Apple employee spotted and snagged him out to escort him into the store. Then, proudly a...

A food truck serves customers on Wilshire Blvd. | Photo by polaroid-girl via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The civil war between food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants in the Miracle Mile seems to be kicking into high gear. LAist has received a few observations from readers stating that passenger vehicles are now taking up all the parking spaces on the 5700 block of Wilshire Boulevard, staying there all day and getting ticketed. There's no...

The damage done by the Gulf oil spill is horrendous, claiming the unfortunate top spot as the worst environmental disaster in American history. Although land spills have very different effects on the surrounding area, ChartBin, via California Watch, reminds us that the largest recorded oil spill actually took place in California in Kern County, L.A. County's northern neighbor. In March of 1909, a well head that blew out, begetting the Lakeview Gusher, and spewed...

Of the 187 medical marijuana dispensaries that registered in 2007, 174 have informed L.A. officials they plan to stay open. The notices from dispensaries are part of the process after L.A.'s ordinance on the shops went into effect earlier this month. Under it, some facilities can lawfully stay open, but hundreds of others were deemed illegal and have to close. That, however, hasn't stopped all of them. The famous KFC-turned-dispensary i Palms that was...

Governor Arnold Schwarzengger was quick to make a statement last night after the oil-company funded ballot measure that would weaken California's landmark air pollution bill officially made the ballot. "“This initiative sponsored by greedy Texas oil companies would cripple California’s fastest growing economic sector, reverse our renewable energy policy and decimate our environmental progress for the benefit of these oil companies’ profit margins," he said in a statement. "I will not allow this to...

The Los Angles District Attorneys Office has begun an inquiry into possible ethics violations made by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Submitted last Thursday, a complaint refers to news articles about free tickets the Mayor accepted -- but did not report -- to 81 events, which included courtside tickets to Lakers games, a seat at the Oscars and to music concerts (Beyoncé, Shakira and Mary J. Blige, to name a few). As for what an inquiry...

This is really becoming a trend. Following in the footsteps of LAUSD, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education is the latest to approve a boycott of Arizona over their controversial immigration law, banning official travel and to the state and stopping any contracts with businesses based there. Meanwhile, two Riverside County and one Orange County cities have approved resolutions in support of Arizona's law. Hemet and Lake Elsinore both approved them...

Happy First Day of Summer! | Photo by Grant Palmer Photography via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Curious how public transportation in Los Angeles County works? Metro CEO Art Leahy is speaking at the Transit Coalition's free monthly meeting tomorrow night. Add bonus: it's at Philippe the Original. Thanks to social media tools like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, the LAPD stands a better chance to catch the Laker rioters who committed crimes last Thursday...