Zach Behrens

Photo by savemejebus via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr With the sold-out L.A. Marathon--that's 25,000 people--on its new, yet popular, Stadium to Sea route, street closures will be aplenty this Sunday. The race moves mainly through Los Angeles, but it will also affect streets in West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. “We urge people to check out the traffic plans posted by each city so that they’ll be well informed on where they...

If you plan on hitting the many St. Patty's Day-friendly bars along Main Street in Santa Monica--or wherever you go--be smart and be safe. Considering the holiday, police across the region will be on the lookout for the overly inebriated. Tomorrow night, the Santa Monica Police Department will host a party of their own (translation: drivers license and DUI Checkpoint) on the 300 block of Pico Boulevard. "This is the first of several checkpoints...

The weather has been great, but it's breaking some records, says the LA Times, per the National Weather Service. Yesterday, UCLA hit a new high with 87 degrees and Santa at 92. Out in Ventura County, Oxnard and Camarillo hit 86 and 85, respectively. It should cool down into the 70s across the board beginning Thursday, so enjoy!...

The Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown L.A. | Photo by frankjmtz via Flickr It's not just city of Los Angeles employees facing thousands of layoffs--yesterday L.A. Superior Court officials laid off 329 workers and closed 17 courtrooms to address a $79.3 million deficit this fiscal year. That's in addition to the 156 voluntary departures through attrition and the expected 500 more by September, when another 50 courtrooms could close, officials announced...

A small mishap prompted a 20-minute closure of security screening in three terminals this morning. At 5:20 a.m. a wheel-chair bound woman going through a secondary screening because of her prescription medicine--LAX officials called it a bottle of liquid above the allowable amount--left the area towards her gate, apparently because she thought it was being confiscated. When screeners noticed she was gone (ah, hello?), they halted screening per TSA standard protocol as they searched...

Depending on your vantage point, it might appear that Griffith Park is on fire. Heavy smoke is rising into the air, but it's from a fire that's consuming multiple vehicles and a debris pile at "Pick Your Part Auto Recycling" in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. The debris pile is quite large, too, measuring about 50-feet by 75-feet and 20 feet deep. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott emphasizes that there is no...

Celebrating Paddys Day doesn't mean driving drunk. So just don't do it (ever). Police around the region will be keeping an extra careful eye out for drunk drivers tonight and there will be at least two checkpoints. As published Tuesday, Santa Monica Police plan a checkpoint on Pico Boulevard. Additionally, the LAPD will set one up at Crescent Heights Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., according to West Hollywood City...

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is back in Washington D.C. today, rallying for billions of dollars to fulfill the 30/10 plan, which is 30 years of transit projects--12 in all--built in 10 years. Unlike business as usual, the money would be paid back in full, thanks to the voter approved Measure R, which increased L.A. County's sales tax to raise $30 to $40 billion for transportation projects. California Sen. Barbara Boxer is in full support, but...

Photo by eleanor.black via Flickr Although a local medical marijuana referendum failed to collect enough signatures to make June's ballot, the statewide initiative to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana like cigarettes and alcohol is still making its way through the process. "It's pretty much in the bag," said Richard Lee over the phone about the initiative statute he submitted. Lee, who founded the cannabis trade school Oaksterdam University in 2007, said counties around California...

Did this one wake you out of bed? If Twitter is any indicator, yes, it woke up hundreds of thousands of Angelenos this morning. A 4.4 earthquake struck Pico Rivera, about 11 miles from downtown L.A., at 4:04 a.m., according to the United States Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program. This size quake is categorized as "light." There have been no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Update: "Currently Los Angles Fire Department has all...

Burbank officials are at odds with planners of the California High Speed Rail Authority over station locations, finds the Glendale News Press.

A sunset, as seen from Venice | Photo by Anthony Citrano via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A new taco joint is opening on West 3rd Street tonight, serving up such items like grilled tilapia fish tacos, braised beef taquitos and spicy grilled tiger prawns. Tax relief for homeowners and green energy companies? Gov. Schwarzenegger says no. Former LAPD Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell has taken over the Long Beach Police Department. (Will they finally...