[Americana at Brand via Curbed flickr pool member chotda]

· State adopts new enviro-friendly building code standards [LA Times]
· Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle gets 21st Century upgrades [OC Register]
· Old Riversiders sue to save Old Riverside [Press-Enterprise]
· Valley businesses close as people stop buying stuff [Daily News]
· Visiting ancient LA: Olvera Street video on YouTube [viewfromaloft]
· Sales tax would throw oodles of money at Gold Line extension [SGV Tribune]
· Withdrawn: IndyMac customers take out a billion [LABJ]

[Marina del Rey Lagoon via Curbed flickr pool member marinajon]

· CA Supremes says oilman can sue Hermosa for $500 million [Easy Reader]
· Pacific Palisades joins Brentwood;fight against shelter/kiosk ads [Palisadian]
· Nude lawyer leads charge against nude beach ban in OC [HB Independent]
· Bigger downpayment, lotsa cash now required to buy a home [CNNMoney]
· Conflicted El Segundo approves big military recruiting center [Daily Breeze]
· Good news: LA-OC rent increases slowing down [Lansner]
· Below South Pas: $780 million to fund 710 freeway tunnel [Star-News]

[Koreatown/Hollywood skyline via Curbed flickr pool member kingofthehill]

· Real estate financier does himself in; terrible market, deals blamed [WSJ]
· History repeating: Old downtown demanded parks, too [On Bunker Hill]
· Buyers snapping up housing "bargains" in Orange County [OC Register]
· But in Torrance... not so much. Poor need further pricechops [MSNBC]
· "May new home sales were down 79.4% from a year ago" [LA Land]
· The wonderful grassy history of the American lawn [New Yorker]
· We're not listening. lalalalaa. Regional recession? [Press Telegram]

Every July, crowds gather in Laguna Niguel in Orange County on the 2nd Saturday of the month to pull down their pants and "moon" passing Amtrak and MetroLink trains. But this year's event, which drew a crowd of 8,000, according to the LA Times, was broken up by police. Via the paper: "We had some mooners and some female flashers and some people who were nude altogether," said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. "There was also lots of drinking. We felt that it was in the public's interest to shut it down." More photos of happy, drunk-looking people can be seen via Abchick's Flickr set.

[Another Man's Paradise via Curbed flickr pool member lush.i.ous]

· Banksy revealed!? Was he a posh British schoolboy? [The Sun]
· Gone green: Calabasas opens new eco-friendly civic center [Daily News]
· 405's exit ramp becomes pet cemetery [LA Times]
· Seriously? Bush lifts ban on California off-shore oil drilling [Science Dude]
· Exxon's Torrance neighbors face stigma of contamination [Daily Breeze]
· Fed on top of things. Vows to stop shady lending [abc7]
· Kunstler: IndyMac+Fanny+Freddie= Uh-Oh [clusterfuck nation]
· OC's Great Park unveils grass! Balloons rise again [OC Register]

[Happy baby and vendor via Curbed flickr pool member susan catherine]

· Kaiser Permanente announces new Fontana mega-hospital [Daily Bulletin]
· Mortgage Meltdown: Scary! Fannie & Freddie Mac continue tumble [WSJ]
· Orange love: Irvine is 12th fastest growing city in US [OC Register]
· Gang takes to the water, lands on Catalina [AP]
· Landscape architects get appreciation as we densify [Planetizen]
· Banned: Palos Verdes Estates targets loncheros [Daily Breeze]
· Nude people sue over closure of OC nude beach [Daily News]

[Design of new Bluebird Park gate in Laguna Beach via LB Independent]

· Laguna Beach park gets new gussied up gate [Coastline Pilot]
· Somebody's buying: Mortgage applications rise 7.5% [CNNMoney]
· Maguire ditches OC office towers for $211 million [LABJ]
· Burbank airport curfew infuriates Van Nuys, City officials [Studio City Sun]
· Is density turning suburbanites into Democrats? [Boston Globe via Planetizen]
· Petition asks Google to add "bike there" option to maps [Treehugger]
· Goodbye gangs, hello double frap: Glassell Park gets a Starbucks [York Blvd]

[The lovely Port of Long Beach via Curbed flickr pool member missabbyjean]

· Long Beach declares 6-month moratorium on check cashing businesses [P-T]
· Asteroid (maybe with alien babies) caused local fireball [PE.com]
· Old story, new publication: Foreclosures causing blight [CSMonitor]
· Statewide drought may lead to water rationing in LA [nbc4]
· Country's riskiest housing markets: #1 the IE; #7 the OC; #8 LA [Lansner]
· Local dog, Trakr, a 9/11 hero, will be cloned [nbc4]
· Wave of realty euphoria ends in M'hattan Beach. Inventory up [MB Confidential]

[Day 1 of new Hands Free Law]

· Frozen: Credit market keeps squeezing homeowners [WSJ]
· Bikers involved in rowdiness, shooting. San Pedroans peeved [Daily Breeze]
· Gold Line stopped. Westsiders rejoice, Expo Line goes on [West LA Online]
· RPV neighbors oppose project, but declare non-NIMBY status [Peninsula News]
· So it begins: High-end OC homes finally getting the pricechop [Lansner]
· Hands free, baby! First day of no talking while driving law [abc7]

[Rendering of proposed Wattstar Theater via LA Watts Times]

· 50 years later: Watts to get its own movie theater [LA Watts Times]
· Venice will get a new $2 million skatepark "attraction" [The Argonaut]
· KB Homes suffers staggering 55% drop in revenue [Daily News]
· Opponents to Church: Don't ring your Jesus bells in the RPV [Peninsula News]
· Aufed! Alpine Village demolition done without permits [Daily Breeze]
· Moratorium on oil drilling ends 6/30; Here come the Texans [LA Wave]
· Home turnaround: Buying trends in the OC on upswing [Lansner]

["Where shoes die" via Curbed flickr pool member susan catherine]

· The Kooks will help reopen the formerly decrepit Hollywood Palladium [scenestar]
· The evils of Google: Kids using sat photos to pool-crash [PSFK]
· McMansionsy: Big housing project proposed for hills above Brea [OC Register]
· Over Designed (and may we say Hideous). TLC's new show of poor taste [ATLA]
· More on the illegal trashing of LA. Yeah, it continues... [LA Times]
· Don't block my view! Malibu moves toward "view protection" law [Surfside News]
· Jumping the Starck: Philippe Starck gets own competition TV show [Unbeige]
· Gold Line route to Ontario down to Final 4 picks [Daily Bulletin]

· No need for Xanax—online home-value sites far from perfect [AP]
· Israeli company buys 21-acre LA lot [Globes Online]
· Combing through LA's hair district [Militant Angeleno]
· Obama—wonderful for transit, horrible for your commute [LAO]
· Good dad helps bring disabled kids' playground to OC [OC Register]
· Gurney gridlock—UCLA Medical Center moving to new digs [LA Times]

[LaSalle Lofts in San Pedro from our visit last November. You've come a long way, baby.]

· Marmol's Palms House gets national exposure for being so darn green [MR Prefab]
· Job losses threaten to make housing slump worse [WSJ]
· Quite a slump: Listing prices down $149k from peak [LA Land]
· Trends in Marketing: Clean surfaces sell [MB Confidential]
· 710 Freeway tunnel revived. Furious debate ensues [Star-News]
· San Pedro's LaSalle Lofts go on sale; FHA loans available [Daily Breeze]
· DWP's Chief found to be a massive water waster [Daily News]
· Hawthorne mall sits vacant, murdery looking; awaits redo [Daily Breeze]

[Surfers versus Paparazzi in Malibu aka "That's one crazy bitch." Get 'em surfers!!! ]

· More surfers v paparazzi in Malibu. Stomp those cockroaches. [YouTube]
· UCLA moving slowly on renovation of Pauley Pavillion [Daily Bruin]
· Amtrak (!?!) reaching capacity thanks to high fuel prices [kottke]
· Tagger falls onto 5 freeway; still clutching spray paint can [LA Times]
· Gas prices cause downturn in use of OC toll road [OC Register]
· More on those neighborhood fights over sober living homes [Daily News]
· Metro mistakes: Go underground! Lessons of BART and Arlington [Overhead Wire]
· Much ado about nothing: coverage of Metro ridership is Bollocks [Peter Gordon]

[Coppertone via Curbed flickr pool member mce323]

· Heavens to Betsy! Long Beach to get bicycle boulevards [Press-Telegram]
· DWP goes on hiring spree. Now fix our broken streetlights [Daily News]
· Less talk, more action: Planning for OC's Great Park continues [OC Register]
· Pasadena man uses Chinese labor to create art [Foothill Cities]
· Malibuites asked to conserve water or face rationing [Surfside News]
· Gain from Pain: Foreclosures make SoCal homes more affordable [Press-Enterprise]
· The 3 worst Disneyland attractions; Hall of Presidents, anyone? [SF Gate]