Los Angeles Times

A Corona del Mar couple have been battling the Coastal Commission over the placement of their shower, tables, and barbecue, all right on the sand. Even though those and other items are within the property line, the Commission isn't having it.

Many residents can still recount when their neighborhoods were far less ethnically diverse than their are now, which is backed by new census data showing that in most cities, the white population is down.

The Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports’ new Clean Trucks program is the object of a legal battle pitting Teamsters, environmental and public health groups, the NAACP, and community groups demanding clean air against trucking companies and shippers.

L.A. Live, the city's new megadevelopment, does little to engage the growing downtown area and ends up being little more than another separate commercial enclave in a city desperately needing closely-knit urbanism, according to Christopher Hawthorne.

As rail expands into East L.A., residents are both excited about economic opportunities and worried about gentrification and the possible loss of the area's distinct Latino character.

The Bureau of Land Management hasn't gone through with its plans to auction off leases on land, apparently intended to be explored for oil and gas.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has an ambitious plan to get L.A. to go solar. Still, without a proper financial analysis, skeptics find it too lofty to be true.

Not even the Christmas season is expected to turn things around for struggling retailers, which are dropping like leaves and littering vacancies in shopping centers across the country.

For years, citizens have been calling for a freeway cap and park in Hollywood. Now, a preliminary design has been released and advocates say work could begin as soon as 2012 -- if funding comes through.

For about a month, commuter rail has been rolling in Baghdad. Where once there was danger, now there are commuters.

An Eero Saarinen house in Indiana has been acquired by the Indianapolis Museum of Arts in a cross effort to preserve and exhibit the famous work. Christopher Hawthonre wonders if this could be a model other cities and museums should follow.

After a church in Denver was denied permission to expand its facilities, they filed a lawsuit against Boulder County on charges of discrimination. This month, the case reached a federal courtroom.

Environmental groups aren't happy to hear that Yellowstone officials may be installing more cellphone towers and providing wireless internet in the near future, fearing that the technology will detract from and destroy the park's natural scenery.

Officials have brokered a deal to remove dams from the Klamath River in the Pacific Northwest -- a plan intended to counteract sharp declines in salmon counts and appease environmentalists. But the plan is also meeting criticism.

Two traffic engineers in Los Angeles hacked into a traffic light control system with the intent to influence upcoming contract negotiations.

Not one board member of the Metrolink in Southern California is an everyday rider. But is it so bad that these members, usually politicians, are calling the shots?

Los Angeles County voters narrowly approved Measure R, a half-cent sales tax measure, by 67.4% (2/3 was necessary) to fund rail and road projects, including the Subway to the Sea. The victory is seen as a huge coup for LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The Wedge -- a well-known bodysurfing spot in Newport Beach made famous in the 1966 surf film "The Endless Summer" -- is becoming a part of local history, thanks to a group of bodysurfing preservationists.

Artist Edgar Arceneaux is the man behind the Watts Towers Project, a collaboration of international artists to make the poverty-stricken neighborhood facing on the famed folk art structure into works of art in their own right.

A grassy median in a tony Santa Monica neighborhood has been a hotspot for local fitness buffs looking for a nice place to workout for years. But residents tired of the constant outdoor gym that invades their street are complaining to the city.