The Mt. Hollywood Trail in Griffith Park | Photo by Steve Zaslavsky via Flickr Environmental and neighborhood groups are organizing to save Griffith Park from the possibility of development. Last month, Col. Griffith J. Griffith's grandson and the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust put in an application to formally preserve the park by getting it designated as a historic landmark. "We're doing it to stop commercialization," the grandson told the Daily News last month.......

As KCRW offers their first key chain fringe benefits cards (whew! we'll finally remember to use it now), one local neighborhood council has gone out and done something similar. The South Robertson Neighborhood Council, an official City of Los Angeles community volunteer advisory board that represents neighborhoods south of Beverly Hills such as Beverlywood and La Cienega Heights (map below to see if you live, work or play there), has launched the SOROCARD that offers......

The Hollywood Coalition of Neighborhood Councils is hosting a Town Hall on Thursday night to address "Parking, Planning and Transportation." In an effort to entice attendees, the Coalition promises "plenty of free parking," thereby demonstrating a commitment to an old, tired paradigm of transportation that will continue to result in the gridlock, congestion and frustration the Coalition purports to address in the Town Hall. The Coalition is missing a big opportunity to encourage the community......

Good news regarding last week's LAPD shootout in Glassell Park. The fourth and last suspect, a Northridge resident who was the driver of the suspected car, was arrested Monday in Granada Hills. It wasn't that hard either: "he was in the same vehicle police believe was used in the driveby," according to a report by the Daily News. Last Thursday, a drive-by shooting occurred in the late morning, resulting in the death of a man......

The day has finally come. And if you didn't do your homework, you still have some time study. Yesterday, LAist Contributor Jeremy Oberstein talked up the California props and the "phone tax" with Ken Wall on KABC 790's Al Rantel Show. For the aurally inclined, here you go... Press "play" to listen &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://aprodxn.com/laist/Olberstein_KABC.mp3"> And if you want to read about each of the propositions, here they are, both sides of the coin and all: S:......

“Carol Baker Tharp loved the City of Los Angeles and spent the past year working to strengthen its neighborhoods as the General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today in a statement announcing the passing of Carol Baker Tharp. "Though we mourn her passing today, we take comfort in the fact that her work and ideas will continue to yield positive benefits for the people of Los Angeles.” Tharp was......

Today's Daily News discusses yesterday morning's Congress of Neighborhoods where city's 89 neighborhood councils met in a convention style environment to learn skills such as media relations and working with city departments. Throughout the day, one major focus of chatter surrounded how to "wield their increasing influence." The Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council recently succeeded in a community effort in halting a Home Depot from coming to their neighborhood. The Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council is......

Two explosions ripped through a convoy carrying former Pakistani premier and maybe the country's best hope for Democracy, Benazir Bhutto, following her triumphant return after an eight-year exile. She was not hurt, but hundreds were killed and injured. How did the White House respond? By tying it back to the war on terrah, of course, saying, "Those responsible seek only to foster fear and limit freedom." A dump truck is in a "precarious spot"......

Brady Westwater at the blog, LA Cowboy, asked some fair questions on his blog yesterday about the former head of the city’s transportation department, who was fired last week: “Why Did The Press TOTALLY Fail Us On The Gloria Jeff Disaster?” After some research, he found that “not a word was ever printed about her past” – if that’s true, Gloria Jeff is in the wrong business. Get this woman to a PR firm......

The LA County Board of Supervisors and the City Council are set to vote today on a "Lights Out Los Angeles" proposal, which would encourage all city employees to "voluntarily turn off all non-essential lights between 8 and 9 p.m. on Oct. 20, replace at least one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb and pledge their participation on www.lightsoffla.org." Mirthala Salinas didn't show up to work today at her new gig......

Los Angeles is cleaning up after a wet weekend that drenched the southland and knocked out power to thousands. Want asthma? LAUSD is building seven new schools near freeways, despite scientific studies saying such construction could damage the children's lungs. Huell Howser is here. That's amazing! The city's neighborhood councils could be in for some major changes. Maybe now, you'll actually understand what they are. A Los Angeles man suspected of shooting his pregnant girlfriend......

Since 2004, Chow Bella have been implicated in the deaths of three dogs, been the focus of numerous complaints from community activists and on the wrong end of scorn from those whose pets sustained injuries while staying at Chow Bella. ...

Yesterday on doorsteps of homes in Studio City came flyers telling people to vote in today's Studio City Neighborhood Council (SCNC) election. Yesterday in the e-mail boxes of many Valley residents was an e-mail telling them to vote tomorrow. If you know anything about Neighborhood Councils... Actually, let's rephrase that. If you don't know anything about Neighborhood Councils and these elections, there is a good reason to that: outreach is hard. So one would think......

It looks like neighborhood councils are back in style with two new hires for General Manager and Assistant General Manager at the city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE). Their first "whirlwind" week on the job has come on the heels of two new neighborhood councils: Panorama City and Rampart (making a total of 89 councils in LA). In their first letters to the public and neighborhood council members, General Manager Carol Baker Tharp shares......

Mayor Sam blogger Councilman John openly questions Neighborhood Councils on their emergency preparedness initiatives. Should they be spending part of their $50,000 annual budget on stock piling materials for a neighborhood? Do they need consistent guidance from the city? Well, here is some guidance: if you do not have 10-gallons of water stored in case of an earthquake, you might be screwed. If you are reading this and going, "nah, I won't be," it's......

Back in November we approved Propositions 1A and 1B, bonds that gave $19.9 billion in transportation funding throughout the state. On Friday, California transportation officials recommended cutting more than $1 billion worth of freeway projects sought for Los Angeles County - including funding for a northbound car-pool lane on the San Diego (405) freeway. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other officials are obviously not pleased and will be asking residents to step it......

“By giving every resident high-speed access, we will transform Los Angeles into a cutting-edge city across every neighborhood and every economic sector,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “LA WiFi will help us meet the technology needs of our world-class media and creative industries, give a leg up to small businesses, plug every neighborhood directly into the knowledge-based global economy, and make computer training programs for students an after-school reality.” The first step of LA WiFi initiative,......

I do not remember who told me this, but he must have been important. We were at a fundraising party all wearing fancy suits and the Mayor Villaraigosa was there. He started talking about the Director of the Bureau of Street Services for the city, Bill Robertson: "There's a thing about Bill you have to know." At this point, the tone of his voice sounded like it was going to turn into an angry......

Maps are way too much fun, way geeky and way effective in community projects and analyzing your neighborhood. Above you see a map we created on an easy Web 2.0 tool called Wayfaring. When communicating with city officials and neighborhood councils, visuals are key. And if you really want to make your neighborhood the best it can be, why not drive/bike/walk grid and take note of all the improvements that can be done. Maybe......

So back in November we asked the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, who oversees Neighborhood Councils, for a quick 5 question interview... LAist: Okay, so what the heck is a DONE Advocate and what are these Neighborhood Councils all about? DONE: ... LAist: Why should our readers get to know their Neighborhood Council? DONE: ... LAist: What is one step our readers can do right now to participate to help mold the future of Los......

Last Saturday morning, the Board of Public Works invited all neighborhood councils to attend a meeting to kick start the go-happy 1950s Keep America Beautiful program. Los Angeles has been chosen as the kick off location for the national program, the Great American Clean Up, that takes place from March 1 through May 31. Along with a crowd of about 50 folks, bloggers/downtown neighborhood councilmen Eric Richardson from Blog Downtown and Brady Westwater of LA......

Brrrrrrrrr... did you enjoy cuddling under your blankets last night during that blast of cold weather? Don't forget that it snowed in Los Angeles less than a year ago (and will SCV be so lucky?). Maybe this is Los Angeles' way of saying hello to Beckham with a little frosty cold treat. We're enjoying it. After all, some of us are transplants. Besides the top stories that you probably already know by now, A.M.......

Last night, the former DONE GM (this is city lingo and you'll understand right below) wrote a lengthy e-mail, equaling out to more than 5 pages on paper, about Prop R. If you don't know about Prop R or much about Neighborhood Councils, here's a good start from the "No on Prop R" point of view: Neighborhood Council Board Members: For those of you who don’t know me, I recently retired as the general......

Mayor Sam points us toward a new blog dedicated to opposing Measure R, a controversial ethics reform ballot measure that encompasses both campaign ethics and the changing of Los Angeles City Council term limits from 2 to 3. It's a sore subject because it looks like combining new restrictions on campaign contributions with term limits is included simply to entice voters to approve it. It's a sore subject because the bill went onto this......

Yesterday, Kevin Roderick's LAObserved.com noted Mayor Hahn’s new chutzpah-laden proposal to increase Neighborhood Council budgets from $50,000 to $150,000, with that additional $100,000 being directed towards street repavements and improvements. Why is this a bad thing, you say? Why shouldn’t Neighborhood Councils have local control of what gets repaved? A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, and no potholes on your streets, thanks to Jim Hahn! We'll tell you why this......

Los Angeles Daily News reporter and columnist Rick Orlov is a familiar face at City Hall. He should be—he’s covered the City Hall beat since 1988 and has been writing about politics for over 30 years. Orlov’s columns and articles are required reading for local politicos. He's a straight-shooter, though he says he gets a lot of feedback from readers suggesting he is biased one way or the other. “If you’re covering the circus,”......

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) issues fascinate LAist. Created by a City Charter amendment, neighborhood councils have been established by Mayor Hahn as a cornerstone of his administration—but it's been slow going in some districts. Four out of about 81 neighborhood councils have yet to hold initial elections for a Board of Directors. The reasons behind these tardy elections are as diverse and unique as the neighborhoods themselves. For instance, the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood......