Zach Behrens

Photo by mares8 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr L.A. County's second largest city last night passed a medical marijuana ordinance that, like with Los Angeles, is steeped in controversy. The city council had previously approved an ordinance, but last night's vote enlarged buffer zones around schools and forces collectives to grow within city limits, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Growing within city limits is intended to keep illegal growers and drug cartels...

A sharrow in Hermosa Beach | Photo by Dan Gutierrez via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Plans to pilot bicycle sharrows on Los Angeles streets are beginning to solidify, a city bicycle official said today. A working group between the city's Department of Transportation and L.A. County Bicycle Coalition hope to announcee five to ten sharrow locations by the end of the month (a list of possible locations were announced in January). Paint could...

Columnist Harold Meyerson at the Washington Post today gushes over L.A.'s voter-approved Measure R, the sales tax which is expected to generate $30 to $40 billion for transportation projects over the next 30 years. Not only that, he loves Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's 30 in 10 plan. "Now, Los Angeles is asking Washington for loans -- not grants, mind you -- to be repaid with that sales tax revenue, to accelerate said construction so that it can be done in one decade rather than three."

In West Hollywood | Photo by The Flooz via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr A 33-year-old Burbank school teacher turned herself in to authorities Monday for having sex with one of her 14-year-old students. Amy Beck had taught at the school for 10 years and resigned unexpectedly last Friday. From Chinatown to San Pedro, the National Trust for Historic Preservation today announced grants to local historic sites in L.A. County. Found guilty a couple...

The non-profit charged with bringing Los Angeles' revitalized downtown its first streetcar by 2014 released a short and simple one-year progress report today. In it are the accomplishments over the last year, including the formation of the non-profit, grants awarded and applied for and public meetings, such as the one about possible routes. They also tease their new marketing and advertising campaign called "It's on track." The ads demonstrate how the streetcar can connect...

Aiden Kelly directs a group of porn stars on the set of 'Party of Feet' | Photo by Koga/LAist (more NSFW photos here) It's already against the law expose workers directly to bodily fluids, but it's rarely enforced on porn sets where no condoms are used. Now the L.A.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation has garnered attention via a petition filed with the state to further change the law to require condoms use on adult films,...

Pop culture references aside, the wisteria plant is a big deal in Sierra Madre, says the Pasadena Star News: "In 1894, the owner of the house at Hermosa Avenue and Carter Street bought a 75-cent wistaria plant that provided quite a return on the initial invest ment. The plant blossomed into a city institution that raised money for World War I, the city’s volunteer fire department and the mortgage of the first Women’s Club...

Imagine if you had to walk six kilometers every single day just to secure water. While that's not a reality for us in bitch thirsty Los Angeles, it is for women and children around the world (and take note, they carry 40 pounds of water). On April 18th, the folks at the locally-based Live Earth will be hosting a series of 6km run/walks taking place over the course of 24 hours in 192 countries--Los Angeles and numerous other California cities are involved--"to ignite a massive global movement to help solve the water crisis."

This story gets a big Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Up in Lancaster over the weekend, a man who asked a woman to stop talking on her cell phone during a movie was stabbed in the neck with a meat thermometer by the woman's apparent enraged boyfriend and another friend (yes, how dare he ask for silence during a movie, right? Geeeeez.). The man is expected to survive and two others who came to his aid...

Photo by CarbonNYC via Flickr A 28-year-old Sherman Oaks man today was sentenced to 18 years in prison after hiring a hitman to kill a witness involved in a different case against him. “You’re your own worst enemy," said United States District Judge Percy Anderson. In 2008, an Immigration Customs Enforcement informant provided information about Pavel Valkovich's involvement in a bank fraud scheme, which led to his arrest, according to the United States Attorney's...

Known as one of the fastest baseball players during his era, Willie Davis was a Dodgers legend. Today the 69-year-old was found at dead in his Burbank home when a neighbor who usually brought him food came over. It is believed he died of natural causes. The Roosevelt High School graduated joined the team in 1960, staying with them for 13 years. R.I.P., Willie Davis....

About 500 people were evacuated from the Westside Pavilion this afternoon after smoke was reported coming from within the building, which is located on Pico between Overland and Westwood. A small electric fire occurred in an empty tenant space on level three outside Nordstroms and next to Wetzel's Pretzel, according to Ashley Walkley, the Pavilion's marketing manager. No injuries were reported and the public was let back inside the mall about 35 minutes later....