Zach Behrens

All northbound lanes of the 405 Freeway will be closed tonight from midnight to 5 a.m. to make way for the partial demolition of the Skirball Bridge. But unlike what Metro warned drivers of earlier this week, this should be the last night because crews are two days ahead of schedule. Sepulveda Boulevard will remain open as a detour while the Skirball Bridge and and Skirball Center Drive on- and off-ramps, save for the...

The Big Blue Bus Line #1 | Imaga via Google Maps It looks like Big Blue Bus finally jumped on the Google train! Today transit activists were excited to find that Google Maps offered transit directions via Big Blue Bus, something that has been desired for awhile now, even prompting a petition last month. Neither Google or Big Blue Bus have made an official announcement about the feature, which could mean today's discovery is...

Photo by joanna8555 via Flickr An unidentified performer who has tested positive for HIV has sent waves through the adult entertainment industry, prompting a quarantine and a number of companies to halt production. So far, four have taken action: Vivid Entertainment, Wicked Pictures, Hustler Video and Digital Playground, according to the LA Times. The incident has activists once again calling for mandatory condom use in films, something that is generally frowned upon in the...

via LCD Soundsystem's MySpace When we ran a ticket giveaway in August for this concert, you responded with zeal. So, heck, we're doing it again! This Friday LCD Soundsystem is playing the Hollywood Bowl with Hot Chip and Sleigh Bells and we're giving away another two pairs of tickets (if you want to buy them, here's the Ticketmaster link). To enter, head on over to our Facebook page, "like" us if you haven't already...

Woodman Avenue in Sherman Oaks | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Thanks to a law signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month, cities now have the power to ban mobile billboards, and Los Angeles, which pushed the issue with state legislators, will be no exception. Today a city council committee (.pdf) will discuss three motions that could spell out the death for the unhitched trailers that display ads throughout the city, mostly in the...

Artisanal LA artwork Ice cream from Malibu, vegetables from Silver Lake, Beer from Northeast L.A. and salsa from Chinatown. First-time event Artisanal LA today announced its complete -- save for a few expected additions -- schedule and line-up for its October 23rd and 24th event. The event is meant to bring together the region's unique local, sustainable and handmade food businesses all in one space. Think craft beer (Eagle Rock Brewery, for example), baked...

Obama is coming back to L.A. (let's hope for better traffic this time), Delta earns $256 million in baggage fees during the second quarter of this year, the best of Orange County, a look at Julius Shulman, a new ramen shop in Little Tokyo, Bruce Lisker and the LAPD vs. the Venice Drum Circle.

As if there wasn't enough hinky traffic today. A suspicious package prompted the LAPD to close down streets around the intersection of Echo Park and Sunset boulevards this afternoon. Luckily by around 4:30 p.m., traffic slowly crawled back to its normal crawl once police destroyed the package and deemed the area safe. At around 3:30 p.m., police were notified of the suspicious package in the parking lot at Walgreens....

Trying to save the budget in Sacramento (this building will not be sold) | Photo by AdrielH via Flickr A group of private investors will be purchasing several of state-owned buildings for $2.3 billion, the California Department of General Services announced Monday. California First LLC, a partnership between a Texas real estate firm and an Orange County private equity firm, will soon own 7.3 million square feet of office space across the Golden State,...

Detail of tonight's detour map. All maps can be found at Metro's project website Work to replace the Sunset Boulevard bridge over the 405 Freeway has been going on for a few months now, but tonight marks the beginning of a second bridge's replacement, and it once again brings some traffic headaches. For five night this week, crews will demolish half of the Skirball Center Drive bridge in the Sepulveda Pass. That means full...

When downtown bar impresario Cedd Moses opened Las Perlas, he was on to something. The downtown Oaxacan-themed bar focuses on not just tequila, but also mezcal, the Mexican hard liquor which KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez today reports that is gaining popularity in Los Angeles. Also of note is what people these days are calling the Byzantine-Latino Quarter in the area of Pico and Normandie (map). "Historically this used to be Koreatown," says Gabriel Martinez, who...

What the Station Fire looked like on its second day from La Canada (more photos here) | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist Sometimes cutting the budget to public safety departments can cost you more in the long run. Case in point, the Station Fire, which lasted months and charred some 250 square miles. On day two of the blaze, when it was still relatively small, the Forest Service may have not ordered more state and...