Zach Behrens

Cabrillo Beach in San Padro | Photo by airbutchie via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Safety vs. appearance: Curbed LA is investigating "a long-standing, but far-from-universally embraced Los Angeles building code that requires all buildings 75 feet and taller to have a helicopter landing pad." Reacting to the City Attorney and LAPD having two journalists smoke dope and drive under the influence, Streetsblog LA's Damien Newton points to real studies on the issue. A...

Senator Jenny Oropeza (D - Long Beach) has died, according to the Sacramento Bee. The 53-year-old was diagnosed with a blood clot in her abdomen earlier this year and had been largely missing from the floor since. She was an State Assemblymember from 2000 to 2006, when she was elected to the Senate. Before that she was a member of the Long Beach School Board and Long Beach City Council. R.I.P. Jenny Oropeza....

Photo by toastyphotos via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A big push earlier this week resulted in big results. On Monday, which was the last day to register to vote before the November 2nd election, some 17,000 people came out to fill out and turn in forms at more than a dozen registration drives through L.A. County. Before that, over 150,000 voter registration forms were received by the Recorder-Registrar/County Clerk's office. "Every election is...

When "This Old House" premieres in January, it will a first in its 30 seasons to tackle a home in Los Angeles. Not only that, it will be their first Spanish Colonial Revival project. "Southern California is rich in architectural history, but much different than the New England homes we normally feature on the show," said host Kevin O'Connor.

So, does marijuana impair driving? That's the question City Attorney Carmen Trutanich wants to answer in his crusade against Prop 19, the November ballot initiative that seeks to legalize and tax marijuana in California. This week, Trutanich and the LAPD invited LA Times columnist Steve Lopez and...

via the Daily Breeze Police are searching for a balding heavyset sexagenarian man who allegedly robbed a Manhattan Beach bank on Monday, according to the Daily Breeze. Most memorable about the suspect was what he was wearing: a "Mark Sanchez" New York Jets jersey. "I'm being set up. I swear it wasn't me," Mark Sanchez himself jokingly claimed on Twitter, where he added the humorous hashtag "#worstframejobever." Anyone with information is encouraged to call...

via TMZ A 1968 Playboy playmate of the year has been charged with attempted murder of her husband, who is currently listed in grave condition after being shot Saturday, according to the LA Times. 68-year-old Victoria Rathgeb, who posed under the name Angela Dorian (and is also known as Victoria Vetri), told police that a drug dealer shot her husband, but investigators concluded that she pulled the trigger. Rathgeb is being held on a...

AP Photo/Dave Martin The White House is not going to announce days ahead what streets President Barack Obama will be using when he comes to town on Friday, but the administration is definitey aware of the anger caused back in August when a 30 minute drive turned into a three hour one. If anything, things shouldn't be as crazy this time. Obama is scheduled to attend a fundraiser for U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Boxer...

After launching a useful Hollywood Bowl mobile app this summer, the LA Phil is at it again. With the season at Walt Disney Concert Hall in full swing, the organization has now brought patrons another mobile tool. Their free "LA Phil," which is available on Blackberries, Androids and iPhones, includes concert schedules, program notes, options to buy tickets, performer biographies...

Hikign Elsmere Canyon in the Santa Clarita Valley | Photo by puck90 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A neo-Nazi is running for a seat on Riverside County's water board. "A federal judge said on Monday that she is inclined to deny a government request to delay her order that immediately stopped the military from enforcing its ban on openly gay service members." Magic Johnson sold his ownership stake in the Lakers to UCLA...

Los Angeles' version of The Tony's (or Obies) is coming up in January and last night the nominees were announced. Coming out on top was Pasadena's The Theatre at Boston Court with 17 Ovation nominations, followed by 16 nominations for...

Mayor Huang It was 1 a.m. at the New Taste Dumpling House last Friday in San Gabriel. Mayor Albert Y. M. Huang and an unidentified women apparently got into a fight over money -- she reportedly throws a a steamer of dumplings at him and he returns with throwing vinegar. Huang then allegedly took her purse, tried to take her SUV before fleeing in his own vehicle, which she clung onto as he drove...