Zach Behrens

Photo by A.C.Thamer via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It's official, but that doesn't make it good news: The Gulf oil spill has surpassed the Exxon one, making it the worst one in U.S. history. A little parade happened in downtown L.A. today to rally the efforts of bringing LeBron James to The Clippers. Sounds like fun: ABC is doing some game show where you throw stuff and people off the side of a...

The LA Times is saying that forecasters are predicting this three-day holiday weekend to have "perfect beach weather." That means 80s in the basin, possibly 90s in the Valley but perfect on the coast. Enjoy!...

While strawberry farmers in Ventura County and up the coast fight a possible state decision to use a pesticide they think it dangerous, citrus farmers have a problem of their own: Huanglongbing disease caused by the Asian citrus psyllid. "It is the most serious citrus disease in the world. It affects more trees quantitatively than other causes. You can't sell your fruit, and it kills every tree it infects," said John Krist, CEO of...

As if we didn't know that. But here are the numbers, according to a 2003 data the San Bernardino Associated Governments was recently looking at, courtesy of Streetsblog LA. The L.A.-Long Beach-Santa Ana topped the list for miles driven per highway lane-mile. Then their own Riverside-San Bernardino came in second. San Francisco-Oakland took third with San Diego and Sacramento taking fourth and fifth. At ten was Oxnard-Ventura. Non-California cities that made the top 10...

Earlier this week the LAPD called the Twitterdom to action, trying to get them to help spread word about a hit and run that left a valet working at Koi in a coma last week. In the end, it was a tipster who saw the security footage that turned in a 74-year old man late Thursday afternoon, according to the WeHo News. The family of the victim, 22-year-old Benjamin Zelman, put up an award...

Beloved actor Gary Coleman has died. The 42-year-old who made his name on Different Strokes was at his Utah home this week when he suffered a brain hemorrhage on Wednesday. "The actor was admitted to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and was conscious and lucid until midday Thursday, when his condition worsened and he slipped into unconsciousness," reported USA Today. "Coleman was then placed on life support." After Coleman's career on Different Strokes,...

A proposed bill to ban the sale of sports drinks in California public schools during school hours was approved by the State Senate yesterday, advancing it to the Assembly for consideration. If passed there, the bill's sponsor Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is likely to sign it. Current law prohibits the sale of soft drinks at schools during school hours but a loophole allowed sugared sport drinks, more specifically described as sugared electrolyte replacement beverages. SB...

It's just about 11 a.m. and scientists are expected to band two baby bald eagles on Santa Cruz Island, which is 20 miles off the Ventura coast. The event is being broadcast live from the island online here. The bald eagle population within Channel Islands National Park suffered a blow in the 1960s, but recent efforts by the National Park Service and Nature Conservancy have helped bring them back. Today, biologists are banding the...

When a bear sitting some 15 feet high in a tree was shot with a tranquilizer this morning in Porter Ranch, it fell onto a safety cushion that firefighters placed below. The situation was nothing unusual, but the photo LA Times photographer Lawrence K. Ho captured was amazingly cartoony (we love it!) Check out a larger version here....

It's an a relatively unknown event supporting an important grassroots city function that's garnered little attention, but at 2 p.m. today the polls will open to the public in 11 San Fernando Valley neighborhoods. Yes, it's election day for some neighborhood councils. Save for a Daily News editorial by Councilman Paul Krekorian, there hasn't been much buzz about them (but do neighborhood councils ever get that much buzz in the first place?). Neighborhoods involved...

The Sunset as seen from Hollywood Boulevard | Photo by @sevenphoto via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It's that time of year again. Brush fires today erupted in Hemet and Victorville. "People Are Funny" and "Kids Say the Darndest Things" host Art Linkletter died at 97 in Bel Air. R.I.P. More Urban Wildlife! Three bears, two of them adorable cubs, were sifting through trash in San Dimas this morning. Kobe Bryant's former maid made...

Usually, an opening of a Walgreens isn't that big of a deal. But when it comes to downtown Los Angeles and it's rebirth, it is. The drugstore quietly opened Wednesday afternoon at 7th & Hope, mirroring hours of Rite Aid across the street, according to Eric Richardson at blogdowntown. Downtowners are likely pleased with this new convenience, but many still are praying for a local Trader Joe's....