Beneath the blazing sun and high temperatures, thousands gathered yesterday before Los Angeles City Hall to protest Proposition 8. The public demonstration was one of many throughout the state and even spanned to cities outside of California, including Portland, Chicago and New York City. Here in LA, the crowd marched from downtown to Chinatown to Los Angeles State Historic Park (the former Not a Cornfield site).......

Don't try this at home -- or at the Civic Center Metro Station. / Photo by puck90 via LAist's flickr pool. TRANSIT TALK Metro is studying alternatives for connecting the Gold, Blue and Expo lines through downtown Los Angeles. This study will examine linking the future Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (near the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station) and the 7th Street/Metro Center Station. Tonight Metro will update the public on the project and allow......

We get to call it a "Winter Storm" because it's storming and it's January, and not to overstate the obvious, but it is Winter Storming like nobody's business out there. Although the rain may have tapered off somewhat in the overnight hours, the greater Los Angeles area is bracing for another onslaught of downpours, with more high winds, flood risks, and snow. Snow? What? Huh? Yes, Angelenos, we're talking the little white specs that......

ART TALK With just about a month left in the exhibit, artists Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, and Simone Legno will be gathering for a discussion about the work of Takashi Murakami at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. The event, called Pervasive Persuasion, is a panel-style talk moderated by Eric Nakamura, publisher and co-editor of Giant Robot, and will include thoughts on "how and why artists in Los Angeles are blurring the lines of media to......

There was an article in the LA Times some time ago about the Downtown arts and culture scene suffering Westside patronage due to rush hour traffic. Unless residents we're already Downtown, buying a ticket to a play, symphony concert or opera was not worth the frustration stuck in traffic. On Wednesday, the LA Opera announced their new weekday service to take ticket holders on a luxury motor coach from the Federal Building in Westwood to......

Every Friday, LAist is taking you on a trip down to Orange County to uncover the unique dining experiences that await adventurous eaters willing to explore beyond the county line. Here in LA, we are blessed with embarrassing riches when it comes to Latin American food. Just about every country is represented by at least a couple of places that truly embody the cuisine and spirit of the local culture. Venezuela is no different.......

Mayor Tony V. signed an ordinance Monday allowing the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery to have free admission. The Department of Cultural Affairs hopes the freebie will encourage more Angelenos to visit the gallery, which has been serving the community since 1951. Located at Barnsdall Park in Hollywood, the museum has been a venue for Southern California artists for decades. “The arts should not be a luxury available only to those who can afford......

View Larger Map Ventura Blvd. is well served by three bus lines, the 750, 150 and 240. During the day on a weekday, you can pretty much walk to a stop and find a bus coming. To the north of the Valley's famous boulevard is the Orange Line, which during the same times of day seems to run every few seconds (it's only at 12 a.m. am I waiting longer than 10 minutes). Sandwiched between......

We felt it slightly in the Valley and according to the USGS, a 4.7 Earthquake east of Santa Ana hit at 10:29 a.m.Lake Elsinore, CA - 13 km (8 miles) WNW (298 degrees) Lakeland Village, CA - 15 km (9 miles) NW (314 degrees) Portola Hills, CA - 16 km (10 miles) ENE (70 degrees) Corona, CA - 18 km (11 miles) SSE (148 degrees) Los Angeles Civic Center, CA - 80 km (50 miles)......

Civic Center developments still struggling amidst Downtown construction boom. Nothing like a good Saturday scandal story: a manager for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles was found to have illegally steered almost $800,000 in contracts to family members and corporate allies. One begets another: an inmate serving a life sentence for the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989 was stabbed 11 times by another inmate. Taking animal cruelty to a......

Worthy Sounds is an event company dedicated to bringing people together through music and tonight are hosting an event tonight called "Green Spirits." It is their intention raise awareness about sustainable opportunities and help people get involved. Held at The Gibson Showroom, five diverse music acts will be performing, there is a silent auction and an eco-spa suite sponsored by Jurlique. Net proceeds will benefit Tree People. To RSVP, email: worthysounds@gmail.com. Details: When: Tonight,......

- According to the LA Times, people who live next to trains and subways do not use them. - Eek! "From July 1 of 2006 to June 30 of this year, only 3.21 inches of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles — the lowest precipitation level since records started being kept in the 1880s." - After 80 mph driving and weaving on the Hollywood Freeway in March, actress Vivica A. Fox (Kill Bill, Independence Day)......

Beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the May Day immigration march will begin at Olympic and Broadway, heading towards City Hall on Spring St. According to Metro, "Rail service will be increased on the Metro Blue and Metro Red lines to handle the extra patrons expected to participate in the march. The Metro Green and Metro Gold lines will have extra trains ready for deployment should the need arise. The Metro Red Line......

Watching one of the best action TV shows, The Unit, on Tuesday night, we got nerdy for a second. As the elite military group known as The Unit (who only answer to the President), attempt to foil a plan of a terrorist's foul play in a Hamburg, Germany subway station, we could not help but notice Hamburg's subway station is just like the Universal Red Line. And as we all know, LA's subway stations......

The 0 to 57 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds roller coaster featuring Aerosmith's music has always confused us. The premise in which the audience happens upon a recording studio with Aerosmith, who is late for their concert at The Forum, invite us backstage. But we have to hurry through LA traffic to get there! So when traffic is jammed, we got to get jammin' (on the alt route that is). If you look......

- Topanga Canyon has more problems than the big boulder. - Isn't there a better Hollywood maverick than Ashton? - The LA Taxi Industry (parts one and two). - Less police, more politics? - The Intolerables (did we really imagine someone as a wigger?). - We like the beige tiles in the Civic Center Mall. - Tom Sizemore isn't a Whiz kid.......

History often proves unkind to ideas and plans once touted as the wave of the future. Take much of Downtown LA, such as the elevated walkways and segregated vehicular/pedestrian zones. And then there’s the Civic Center Mall. LAist found ourselves strolling through this partially subterranean development located northeast of City Hall that contains a subterranean parking, restaurants, mix of retail operations, miscellaneous amenities (e.g. shoe shine booth), and City operations (DOT). Plus lots of......