Zach Behrens

A proposal to create a Business Improvement District (BID) in Echo Park heads to a City Council committee (.pdf) this afternoon. Submitted by Councilman Eric Garcetti in January, it "would serve the local business community by providing increased security, homeless services, beautification, and streetscape maintenance. Establishment of the BID is expected to revitalize the local economy and is a positive step towards neighborhood renewal." Not everyone is on board, though. The Eastsider LA spoke...

Now that red light cameras are costing Los Angeles money--to the tune of $100,00 a month--instead of generating income, or at least being revenue neutral, a L.A. City Council panel yesterday "reluctantly" approved a short 3-month contract extension with the company that operates them, says the Daily News. Since their installation, the LAPD says there have been no fatalities at the 32 camera-intersections (but accidents are up, mainly because people can't drive) and they...

Hermosa Beach won a ruling last month from the Second District Court of Appeal, allowing them to have the “discretionary power” to deny oil-drilling permits, but they still stand a chance to lose in the end. At issue is a 1.3-acre property owned by Macpherson Oil Company, which wants build up to 30 oil drills and other related infrastructure. The court decision throws back the final decision to a jury, but finding that too...

Photo by jek in the box/LAist Featured Photos Los Angeles may have 40,000 parking meters today--an estimated 10 to 12% are broken--but the city was slow to adopt the revenue generating, ticket inducing technology, finds columnist Steve Harvey. The first meters were installed in 1949 during a pilot project where the NoHo Arts District sits today. That's 14 years after the first ones appeared Oklahoma City (Even today, L.A. is slow to start up...

Veteran weatherman Johnny Mountain and early-morning co-anchor Suzanne Rico have retired from KCBS/KCAL duopoly, according to the Variety. But that's not all in what is being called a "restructuring plan" or "newsroom carnage," depending on how you look at it. Word is that several staffers, perhaps up to 12, were laid off last Friday and are all expected to be replaced, presumably by cheaper workers to help save money. Meanwhile, KPCC 89.3 FM is...

Once again, the ever-on-going controversy over speed limit increases are heading to the L.A. City Council's Transportation Committee (Also on deck is more rail and/or busways in the Valley). Arleta Avenue, Sheldon Street and Hollywood Way will all see 5 MPH increases from 35 to 40 MPH if approved. The latter proposed increase is the most ironic, says Damien Newton at Streetsblog: "... just last week, Burbank implemented a road diet on some of...

Although it seemed suspect that Riverside's Chief of Police--he retired after the incident-- crashed his car and got it away with it last month, karma has caught up with him. "The California Highway Patrol, which investigated the incident, said [Russ] Leach had four drinks at his home on Super Bowl Sunday before going to a strip club in Colton where he had at least seven more. He was taking prescription pain medication at the...

A woman who was sitting at a bus stop on Sunset Boulevard during the afternoon of March 11 died when she was shot in the head. At first, it appeared she had collapsed for no reason, but doctors at a local hospital found a bullet wound in her head, reports LA Weekly. "Apparently no one, including the boyfriend, heard a gunshot," noted the paper. "Police say the couple recently became homeless." The incident took...

When it comes to the three-year billion dollar construction project to bring carpool lanes to the northbound 405 Freeway over the Sepulveda pass, Metro has a Twitter account, the world's easy tool to deploy information at a moment's notice, but they don't use it all the time. Nor can you trust their press releases about when closures will occur, finds Eric Spillman at KTLA. "All morning I reported on our air that the closure...

Photo by alexbcthompson via Flickr On Saturday evening a man was shot while sitting in the barber's chair in what police are saying could be a gang-related incident. Domingo Reyes, 35, was at Alberto Barber Shop in Westlake near MacArthur Park when the incident happened around 6:58 p.m., according to the LAPD. Reyes was shot in the head and the chest and rushed to the hospital where he later died. The shooter was only...

Curbed LA attended Wednesday night's scoping meeting about adding an additional stop to plans for the Westside Subway Extension. Public comments ranged the gamut, from it's absolutely needed to hell no. Curbed's conclusion seems right on: "If we were betting bloggers, we'd have to say Metro will skip a Crenshaw staton. The ridership isn't quite there, the density can't be changed, it's cheaper to build the line without it, and you have wealthy homeowners...

Photo by okarol via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It's official. The L.A. City Council will assert jurisdiction over the recent LADWP rate hike to look it over and either pass it or send it back. A slice of barren Silver Lake land has been turned into a green oasis. Ride a bike? Get thee to StreetSummit tomorrow! New book about Orange County life in the 60s: "Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love...