A wind advisory for mountain areas in Los Angeles and Ventura counties expected to end this afternoon are now including the Santa Monica Mountains that divide Los Angeles' basin and the San Fernando Valley--previous advisories did not include the National Recreation Area. 15 to 30 MPH winds are expected with gusts up to 45 MPH. The advisory is set to end at 3 p.m. this afternoon but winds are expected to pick up tonight and......

The National Weather Service released an alert this afternoon announcing that the Santa Anas have weakened and wind advisories throughout most of the region ended at 3:00 p.m. However, the advisory for the mountain areas of Ventura County and LA County (excluding the Santa Monica Mt. Range) are still in effect until 8:00 p.m. tonight. The good news out of this is that air quality could improve with wind subsiding on the San Fernando and......

At the 2007 BioBlitz in Rock Creek Park in Washington D.C. |Photo courtesy of National Geographic For twenty-four hours starting tomorrow at noon, 120 scientists, 1,400 LAUSD students and community members will embark on the 2nd National Geographic BioBlitz in the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area (though some say it's essentially a National Park), which stretches from the ocean to Cahuenga Pass at the 101 Freeway. Together they will comb the area, as well......

Exploring Rock Pool at Malibu Creek | Photo by Zach Behrens If you open up the National Parks System Map and Guide and look over to Los Angeles, you'll see a green area denoting a National Parks Service unit within the city and into Ventura County. "There's a National Park in Los Angeles?" Why yes, yes there is. "This is still a big secret in Los Angeles; that there is a National Park in......

I'm for feeding birds all year, but as we're celebrating it this month, stop a moment and be grateful that our warm-blooded friends live in the California climate. As the Wild Bird Centers of America reminds us: - A typical backyard bird doesn't weigh as much as two nickels. - Birds spend most of their waking hours searching for food -- without the help of "hands" and "fingers". - They may consume 15% of their......

A second victim of this weekend's street racing-related crash in Hollywood has died from his injuries. The first victim was Nigel Gudray, the driver of the Infiniti struck by the speeding BMW driven by an intoxicated Carlos Steven John, was burned past physical recognition in the accident and died on scene. The passenger of Gudray's vehicle died overnight as a result of his burns. The six-month-long search for missing college student Donna Jou continues......

Maybe you want the 'Subway to the Sea' to go to WeHo instead of down Wilshire Blvd. through Beverly Hills. Perhaps you are evil and think nothing should be done at all letting traffic roll as it sort of doesn't do anyway. No matter what vision, now is the time to chime in like the backseat driver you are at some public meetings or via the written word. Wad at MetroRiderLA has the low-down:By......

Recent major events for the LAFD include last night's apartment fires in North Hollywood and Westchester. Busy day on LAPD's blog: a drive-by shooting yesterday, a labor day homicide, Congressman Xavier Becerra's office burglarized, two fatal Skid Row stabbings, a Carl's Jr. robbery and a fatal shooting this morning in South LA. Sparked by the recent heat-reated power outages, Matt Littman at the Huffington Post asks if Los Angeles is in permanent decay: "It......

When a new development is planned and traffic impact studies are needed, the developer hires the consultant, not the City. So you can see how residents are wary if the developer is in cahoots with the consultant to downplay results in favor of the development. And right some where:In Sherman Oaks, the local homeowners group was following a proposed 89-condo and 16,000-square-foot mixed-use project on Ventura Boulevard. The developer agreed to update an old......

Yup, it's what you were thinking -- razors. The baron of a clean shave himself, King Camp Gillette, bought this land off of the now Mulholland Hwy in 1926 after making a fortune in the early 1900s off of the safety razor. Today, his home and ranch are open to the public for the first time. Near the entrance of Malibu Creek State Park, the 588-acre park was collaboratively purchased for $35 million by......

In the next several weeks, LAist will embark on a series of hikes and present to you an ambitious 6-part photo essay. This is the fifth one. Here are parts 1, 2, 3, and 4. As always, LAist encourages you to get out and take advantage of and experience the beautiful landscape of Southern California. Most of us forget that we are fortunate to live in such a diverse and ecologically unique locale that......

In the next several weeks, LAist will embark on a series of hikes and present to you an ambitious 6-part photo essay. This is the fourth one. Here is parts 1, 2, and 3. As always, LAist encourages you to get out and take advantage of and experience the beautiful landscape of Southern California. Most of us forget that we are fortunate to live in such a diverse and ecologically unique locale that offers......

In the next several weeks, LAist will embark on a series of hikes and present to you an ambitious 6-part photo essay. This is the third one. Here is parts 1, and 2. Stunt Ranch is a 67-acre private UCLA reserve with public access to its trails. It is located on the north-central flank of the Santa Monica Mountains just outside of Malibu (4.5 miles North of). It was recently devastated by a wildfire......

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held this week on Saturday & Sunday, April 28 - 29th. Monday Cathryn Jakobson Ramin signs Carved in Sand 7pm @ Dutton's Tuesday Jeff Hobbs presents The Tourists 7pm @ Book Soup Jeffrey Lewis signs Theme Song for an Old Show 7pm @ Dutton's Santa Montefiore discusses and signs The Gypsy Madonna 7pm @ Vroman's Wednesday Kristen Buckley presents Tramps Like Us: A New Jersey......

In the next several weeks, LAist will embark on a series of hikes and present to you an ambitious 8-part photo essay (not as majestic as BBC's Planet Earth). This is the first one. As always, LAist encourages you to get out and take advantage of and experience the beautiful landscape of Southern California. Most of us forget that we are fortunate to live in such a diverse and ecologically unique locale that offers......

SoCal winter hikes have a benefit: hiking past 9 a.m. does not bring on heat stroke. And if you are doing a 5.1 mile, two and a half hour hike with a 1000 ft. elevation gain and loss, it cannot hurt to sleep in a little. Named after Darius Towsley, who discovered oil here in 1865 and later sold it to Chevron (then Pacific Coast Oil), this Santa Clarita Valley hiking spot is only......

Almost three years ago, the LA Times visited the Rainforest Trail in Studio City, which lays in the Santa Monica Mountains that split the Valley from the rest of the city. They said that while you will easily see 100 people hiking the Wilacre Park/Coldwater Canyon Park basic loop, you won't see many along this hidden trail. That still holds true today. You see, to get to the Rainforest Trail, you have to hike......

Writer Jenny Price likes nature and nature writing. And she lives in LA. Is this a contradiction? She says no, in a long, thoughtful and smart piece in the April issue of The Believer called 13 Ways of Seeing Nature in LA (via WorldChanging). Actually, it's only the first six ways; the remaining 7 will appear in May. Here's a taste: nature stories should see and cherish our mundane, economic, utilitarian, daily encounters with......

KPCC reports that former city councilman Marvin Braude has died. Braude was first elected to his post repping the 11th district in 1965, then won the next 7 elections, serving for 32 years. He worked to preserve the Santa Monica Mountains, siding with environmentalists over developers. We once heard (but can't prove right now -- bad google!) that he was such an avid bicyclist that he regularly rode his bike to work at the......

McMansions, the suburban blight sweeping the rest of the nation has finally arrived in the San Fernando Valley but LA isn't taking it sitting down. The City Council passed an ordinance that effectively limits the building of exceptionally large homes on lots not meant for that size. Several other local communities expect to put into effect similar ordinances. Charlotte Laws, Valley Glen's Councilperson, has some specific non-aesthetic reasons to limit mansionization. A bonus for......

Looking for something to do this weekend? LAist recommends you head on down to Carson's ADT Event Center for the Track Cycling World Championships. What is that? Well, Phil Anschutz and co. (aka the Sports Lords of LA) think cycling is the next budding sport in SoCal, and invested $15 million in North America's only indoor velodrome to prove it. Admittedly, LAist has not watched much track cycling before, but the thought of bycycles......

Yesterday, we lauded the cleansing properties of the rain that has been falling on our fair city for the last few days. This welcome precipitation washes our streets, lawns, buildings, and cars of all the accumulated pollution and grime our city can pile up over the long dry season. It renews and reinvigorates us, and our built environment. Our city shines like polished stone. We fall in love with her all over again. This......

Newsflash: Traffic in LA sucks. But we knew that. That's why we're always twenty minutes late for everything. That's why the sky turns that peculiar shade of brown during hot summer days. That's why that asthmatic kid who lives down the hall has to stay inside during smog alerts. That's why we spend more time idling in traffic, in our hybrid or German sports car or SUV, listening to bad LA radio. Hating other......

According to a new UCLA study, L.A. County residents need to get off their butts. Researchers say that nearly half of county residents get next to no exercise. Dr. Antronette Yancey, the study's lead author, blames a "sedentary culture" for the problem. She notes that some people will circle a parking lot for 20 minutes to get a space close to their destination - which kinda sums up the issue, eh? We hate to admit......