Zach Behrens

For the oversharers out there, here's one reason not to tweet out your location, Foursquare publicly or otherwise locate yourself on various other social networks. NPR reports: "A new Web site called PleaseRobMe.com has drawn attention to the issue by repurposing posts from foursquare, a social networking site that lets people share the latest about their whereabouts. PleaseRobMe demonstrates that it's easy for anyone to find out you're not at home — and therefore,...

Will the world witness Los Angeles' inability to regulate illegal signage on Oscar day? Just a day after city attorneys filed sweeping lawsuits against supergraphics across the city, a new one has appeared on the First National Bank Building, just down the red carpet from where the Oscars will take place on March 7th, says Dennis Hathaway at Ban Billboard Blight. "The supergraphic that went up two days ago without any permits is made...

The ExpressLanes project, which someday will allow solo car drivers to share carpool lanes for a price along the 110 and 10 freeways, could be delayed when the Metro Board votes on a request to do so today. At issue is the 10 Freeway between the 605 and 710 freeways. Unlike the 110 Freeway, the 10 doesn't have two carpool, or hot, lanes. If Metro is given time to add one of these lanes,...

Photo by Salina Canizales via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in Washington D.C. and spent yesterday lobbying the feds and congress about the "Subway to the Sea." He wants it built in 10 years, but local funding could not support that timeline. However, in about 30 years, thanks to half-cent sales tax generated by Measure R, the funding will be there. The "bridge loan" would be money upfront to be...

Senator Barbara Boxer, along with Foster Farms, yesterday called on the USDA to take a closer look at misleading labeling practices of chicken. These days, that "all natural" label could mean just that, or it could mean sodium-injected, a sexy practice called plumping. Chicken labeled “natural” can contain up to 500 percent more sodium than truly natural, no saltwater added, fresh chicken. Despite the trickery on the packaging, reading the nutrition label would also...

Photo by victoriabernal via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Cyclists are fuming after charges are not being filed in a case where a hit and run incident left a cyclist in the hospital. If you remember from when we first posted about this, witnesses said the driver got of her porsche, looked at him and left. She later went to the police station, apparently saying she thought she hit something. Although the police let...

To date, Caltech has earned themselves 82 awards from the year-old American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, totaling more than $33 million and supporting 93 jobs, the school announced today. The money has gone towards studies on how to reduce jet noise, an upgrade to the Southern California Seismic Network, a catalog of jellyfish DNA and the California High School Cosmic Ray Observatory (CHICOS) program, which provides high school students access to cosmic ray research,...

L.A. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich is not too happy about the $30 million the county is having to pay for mudslide cleanup, which entails removing nearly a million cubic yard of mud, rocks and lumber in the Station Fire area. “The U.S. Forest Service’s failure to extinguish the Station Fire in its earliest stage resulted in a catastrophe that is still impacting our County residents and taxpayers,” he said in a statement. And with...

Is this why the price of tickets to games are increasing? LA Times sports columnist Michael Hiltzik today rails on Frank and Jamie McCourt--now divorcd--for not paying state and federal taxes on the $108 million they've made over the the last four years. He dives into their lifestyle (such as the eight homes they own) and notes, "the point is not to begrudge the McCourts these luxuries. The point is to question why we...

At Pasadena City College | Photo by California CPA via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It's cloudy out there today and that could mean rain, or at least a 20% chance of it this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. By tonight, the chances are upped to 50%. Temperatures today will remain in the lower 60s. Thursday will be partly cloudy, once again with highs in the 60s, but no rain is expected....

In Chinatown | Photo by jtstrathdee via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Let's go Dodgers... Now the lowest priced ticket at games will be $15, thanks to recent price hikes. Downtown's king of bars, Cedd Moses, is nearing the debut of his latest venture, Las Perlas, which will feature tequila and mezcal. City operated child care facilities will take a blow due to the budget crisis. 3D is hear to stay, it seems. The...

A supposed taped radio conversation between a Los Angeles Fire Department paramedic and a UCLA Medical Center staffmember about Michael Jackson's arrival on the day he died appears to be a fake. "We have a male, 50. Pop star Michael Jackson. Unresponsive, no pulse. Tried to resuscitate him. Unsuccessful. We are en route," the male voice said, according to CNN.