Zach Behrens

No, the insanely popular Sunset Junction Festival is not going away (dates for this year are slated for August 21st and 22nd), but Silver Lake will soon be home to two major festivals with the introduction of the Silver Lake Jubilee come this May. And by what's been announced so far, it's looking like a killer event. Although no line-up has been announced yet (companion monthly Wednesday night events called Serenade Sunset, however, do...

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!...

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...

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...

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...

$10,000 rewards for tips leading to the arrest of suspects involved in two separate shootings that left a 10-year-old girl and an 18-month-old toddler earlier this month were approved by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors today. Erika Miranda, 10, was shot three times on March 2 when an unknown male suspect opened fired on a crowd playing basketball on the 1800 block of East San Luis Street. The toddler, Linsey Baquedano, was struck...

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...

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...

Those who are already members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) should know this--"the big one" will likely be preceded by a biggish one--but it's a fact worth repeating over and over and over again. "I would expect some aftershocks with a 4.4 quake," USGS seismologist Bob Dollar tells Sciencedude Gary Robbins at the OC Register about this morning's "light" 4.4 quake at 4:04 a.m. "There’s still a 5 percent probability that we’ll...

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...