Save the date for Council District 12's Eighth Annual Citrus Sunday coming up on Sunday, May 5. This volunteer fruit drive brings tens of thousands of pounds of fresh oranges and grapefruits to food banks that serve struggling San Fernando Valley families. Join Northridge West, Northridge South, Granada Hills North, Granada Hills South, Porter Ranch, […]

The 279 candidates for MyLA2050 are vying for a piece of a $1 million pot that aims to underwrite 10 of the best ideas for changing life here for the better.
It’s crowdsourcing with a conscience. And to scroll through the entries is to peer into the idealistic, entrepreneurial, only-in-L.A. psyche of a metropolis in transition.

Mayor Villaraigosa gave his final State of the City speech Tuesday evening at UCLA's Royce Hall. Below is his statement following the speech and links to view it in case you missed it. To My Fellow Angelenos, I write to you tonight to thank you for the privilege of serving as your Mayor for the past eight years. […]

Click here for the questions with answers and the regional budget powerpoint results. Additionally, the Citywide results are posted at budget.lacity.org.

El Camino Real takes second place. Both head to national competition in April. By Saul Daniels, Northridge Patch For the third consecutive year, Granada Hills Charter High School won the state Academic Decathlon Sunday in Sacramento with 56,165 points out of a possible out of 65,400. The team has been national champ twice. El Camino […]

This week neighborhood councils were blindsided by the Mayor's office.  The Mayor said that because the Proposition A sales tax measure failed to pass, he will not include funding for 2014 neighborhood council elections in his proposed budget.  If neighborhood councils want elections, they will need to collectively surrender 20 percent of their proposed $37,000 allocations to pay for it. […]

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the City of L.A. Bureau of Sanitation 2013 "Discover Recycling" Open Houses! Families, children and residents of all ages have the opportunity to meet Sanitation collection truck drivers and staff, enjoy truck demonstrations and facility tours as well as receive information about recycling and a host of Sanitation services. […]

Los Angeles residents will be able to complain about graffiti, abandoned furniture, potholes, broken street lights and fallen trees using their iPhone and Android smartphones starting March 18. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled the My LA 311 mobile app and a redesigned website for the City of Los Angeles in a Google+ hangout with reporters Wednesday. […]

Opportunity – Respond quickly if interested. The Department of City Planning is looking for volunteers for a new billboard working group. The PLUM Committee has directed us to assemble this working group to address billboard and digital billboard issues, and in particular a potential new program that could allow a limited number of digital billboards […]

Congressman Henry A. Waxman has been on a long mission to eradicate unnecessary helicopter noise in the skies over Los Angeles County, and today he, along with Congressman Adam Schiff and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, has introduced legislation that would put restrictions on low-flying choppers here. It's called The Los Angeles Residential Helicopter […]

From the L.A. Daily News, January 24, 2013 A recent fight over a proposed $3 billion bond issue for street repairs illustrated the growing influence of neighborhood councils in Los Angeles City government, as they exerted enough influence to keep the measure off the ballot for now. The success in that case represents an evolution […]

Bicycles are not cheap. That's why you need to take measures in protecting it from thieves. Follow these steps and share them with fellow riders. Record the serial number, make, model and color of your bike. This information is usually located somewhere on the frame. Put the information in your cell phone or somewhere easily […]

The LA City Council’s pending new sign ordinance will not outlaw digital signs. Despite the City’s ban on new billboards dating back to 2002, the City is in the process of approving a new ordinance that will allow new signs (including digital signs) in designated “sign districts” which are to be limited to commercial and […]

At LACMA (Photo by -SHANE NOIR- via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr) If your New Year's Resolution was to spend more time checking out local museums, your budget is no excuse this weekend, as several area facilities will be absolutely FREE to visit. The Museums Free-For-All event is in its eighth year, and for several venues the offer stands […]

The LA City Council unanimously confirmed the Mayor’s appointment of Grayce Liu as the next permanent general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment on Friday. Grayce Liu was made interim general manager in August of last year after former GM BongHwan Kim left to take a position in San Diego. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa nominated […]

Bike rack (Photo by via the LAist Featured Photos pool) It took a long time but the Los Angeles City Council has passed an ordinance that will dramatically increase the number of parking spaces for bikes in new developments. The Bike Parking Ordinance will allow new developments—both residential and commercial—to swap some parking spots for bikes in lieu of parking spots […]

How Will Federal Funds Transform Your Community? Last October, you told the City of Los Angeles how Federal funds should be spent to improve your neighborhoods, such as more affordable housing, job training, and street repairs. The City heard you and has included many of your ideas in a plan that will make these improvements, and more, possible in your community. Please join City representatives […]

City Clerk June Lagmay announced today that the Office of the City Clerk - Election Division is in need of approximately 3,000 additional pollworkers to staff polls for the 2013 Municipal Elections on March 5, 2013 and May 21, 2013.  The Election Division expects to place a total of 6,240 pollworkers to work these two […]

We hope all you had a great New Years celebration with your friends and family. Please take a look at some of the new laws that took effect as of Jan 1, 2013 in our great state: Cars and drivers Insurance: Drivers pulled over by police are permitted to show officers their proof of insurance […]

Photo by Everett Collection via Shutterstock If you had your iPhone, iPod, iPad, iMac or even your bicycle stolen, there's now a way you can get your precious property back, thanks to the Los Angeles Police Department's Knock-Knock "fence" burglary task force. Earlier this year, the task force began their mission probing fences, which are described in […]