Zach Behrens

In Studio City along the LA River | Photo by Dan Wuh via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr In 2008, a study of citywide temperatures classified Los Angeles into two categories. Zip codes with an average daily Summer temperature less than 80 degrees (Zone 1) and ones that were more than 80 degrees (Zone 2). The point was to give hotter areas of the city a little break on electricity bills when a new...

Bicycling Magazine has a nice feature on common collisions between cyclists and drivers and what to do to avoid those situations. According to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, nearly half of all bike-car crashes happen when "a motorist fails to see a cyclist and makes a left turn," the magazine says. (via bicycle advocate Stephen Box on Twitter)....

Photo by bredgur via Flickr In last week's post about a parking enforcement officer taking lunch while his vehicle sat partly in a red zone, one LAist reader asked for the final word on red zones. "Does the red zone go by the frame of the car, or the tire?" asked a commenter named "Los Angeles." Commenter "Defender90CA" replied "Red zone goes by the tire, not the frame." But that answer seemed suspicious. So...

The three-block Harlem Place Alley in downtown could be getting a green makeover, thanks to a project from UC-Santa Barbara in conjunction with the local neighborhood council, reports blogdowntown. Under the proposal, vehicle access woudl remain, but most all stormwater could be captured by using permeable paving and planted vegetation in underutilized spots. "Greenwalls" would help reduce the temperature by two degrees celsius. All this, of course, would need funding, to the tune of...

Photo by *Ann Gordon via Flickr Los Angeles is pretty soft when it comes to animal enforcement. Got a neighbor with a barking dog that won't stop? Good luck getting that taken care of. But under a new directive from city council yesterday, that could change. City staff have been instructed to develop an administrative citation program that could give Animal Service officers the power to write citations. And with that power, the city...

Someone got really, really, really lucky last night. The Mega Millions lotto prize of $266 million was bought by someone at a Pico Rivera store, according to KNX1070. There's been no official word on who won, but according to a source who asked for anonymity, it was a NBC4 employee....

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office at city hall yesterday morning was swept for a bomb after a threat was phoned in. “No evidence of a bomb or any sort of destructive device was located, nor has evidence been found lending credibility to this threat," mayoral spokesperson Sarah Hamilton said. And in Santa Clarita today, a bomb threat was called in to the Providence Holy Cross medical in the Valencia neighborhood. Both incidents come days after...

Photo by Grant Palmer Photography via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A woman died after she fell off a cliff in San Pedro today near Point Fermin Lighthouse. Witnesses say she leaped off. Rank and file LAPD officers are still in need of training when it comes to bicycle vs. vehicle hit and runs. The San Gabriel Valley's first openly gay mayor presides over the city of Sierra Madre. Karma alert: as California Poppy...

A portion of the Silver Lake Jubilee poster. See the full one here. Silver Lake's newest street music festival is coming up later this month and the line-up is pretty exciting, especially if you're into our local bands. The top three lines on the poster represent the headliners with supporting acts below -- all will play on the festival's three stages on May 22 and 23. Best of all, entrance to the Silver Lake...

Photo by heathervescent via Flickr A move to ban business with Arizona was unanimously approved by the West Hollywood City Council last night. Most public comments were in support of the resolution, including a someone who read a letter from community organizer Dolores Huerta, according to a city hall staffer present at the meeting. Rumors were afloat that around 75 West Valley Tea Party members were going to show, but they never materialized. The...

mares8/LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Los Angeles' medical marijuana ordinance was signed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last Friday, meaning city workers today began the process of informing unauthorized storefronts to close. "The letters will start going out Tuesday to more than 400 marijuana retailers in the city that are alleged to be in violation of the law, which prohibits the outlets from being within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, parks and other 'sensitive use'...

Photo by r_neches via Flickr Beginning July, everyone that receives a power bill from LADWP will notice an increase equivalent to 4.6% annually. That is, everyone, but the LAUSD if a motion by the L.A. City Council is approved. "The District faces a $650 million budget deficit now, and the anticipated state budget cuts are likely to cause even more drastic fiscal impacts," said Councilmember Paul Krekorian in his motion. "In March the LAUSD...