Two Los Angeles City Council members – ironically named Smith and Wesson -- introduced a resolution today calling on state and federal lawmakers to pass gun-control legislation such as banning the sale and possession of assault weapons. ... read more »

Los Angeles City Council confirmed today the Mayor’s nomination of Denise M. Verret to serve as the new Zoo Director of the Los Angeles Zoo. Verret previously served as the Zoo’s interim Zoo Director while a nationwide search was conducted by the Mayor’s office, and she will assume her new role immediately. ... read more »

A Los Angeles City Council committee today advanced a proposal that would require retail employers with more than 300 workers to give their employees more advance notice of their work schedules. The Economic Development Committee approved a requirement that would mandate retailers to provide employees with a work schedule at least 14 days in advance. It would also require that workers receive 10-hour breaks between shifts and be given the right to refuse changes after the schedules are posted. ... read more »

The Los Angeles City Council called on its police and transportation agencies today to develop a list of possible fines the city should impose for infractions by riders of e-scooters or dockless bicycles. ... read more »

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla will be the 2019 commencement speaker at Santa Monica College (SMC). SMC’s 89th commencement ceremony will be held Tuesday, June 11 at 6 p.m. at Corsair Field on the college’s main campus, 1900 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica. ... read more »

The Los Angeles City Council earlier this month approved a motion instructing city staff to draft a policy which mirrors the ``principles and priorities'' of the Green New Deal. ... read more »

Council President Herb Wesson   The Los Angeles City Council has voted to move forward a measure to provide the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) with $3 million annually for the next three year to fund the City’s Cannabis Social Equity Program, ... read more »

The comments came before the council approved a set of actions aimed at cracking down on illegal shops, including the formation of a working group comprised of the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department and other city departments to manage and direct enforcement efforts. ... read more »

South Los Angeles City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson announced that the heartbeat of the South LA community, the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and West Slauson Avenue, would be named in honor of one of it's own, Ermias "Nipsey Hussle" Asghedom ... read more »

The city has long struggled with how to clean up and regulate homeless encampments, and in 2016 passed a law that would limit the amount of belongings a homeless person could store on the sidewalk to 60 gallons. But not long after, in response to a lawsuit, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring Los Angeles police and sanitation officers from seizing and destroying homeless people's property in and near Skid Row. ... read more »

The Sentinel recently caught up with Martinez, to talk about these issues, giving residents some insight into how their council members are working for them. She and her colleagues, she said, are looking to move toward a more viable and cleaner Los Angeles, that includes every neighborhood, even those traditionally left behind.   ... read more »

It’s crucial that we have policies in place, like the sign ordinance, that give businesses the tools they need to help them grow and thrive. ... read more »

Councilmember Smith will serve on an interim basis until a special election determines a successor. ... read more »

Here are the top local stories of 2018 ... read more »

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez, LAPD Deputy Chief Kris Pitcher, and LAPD Lieutenant Marc Evans announced the official three-year anniversary of the formation of the Operations-Valley Bureau Human Trafficking Task Force and the staggering results the impact has made in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Since the Councilwoman’s inception of this OVB Task Force in October 2015, a first of its kind in the City of Los Angeles, 1,717 arrests have been made for human trafficking, pimping, pandering, supervise, johns, loitering, lewd conduct, and other miscellaneous acts. ... read more »