Dennis Hathaway

Buh-Bye to LA's 100 LED Billboards?

USC Grad Student Sues Over a Deep L.A. Secret: Who Got Rich Off Illegal Billboards?

A Field of Billboards for Farmers Field

Farmers Field or Blade Runner Stadium?

The downtown NFL arena deal allows a sea of billboards, congestion and millions in public costs

In Backward Attempt to Remedy 'Billboards Gone Wild,' L.A. Considers Opening 9 More Sign Districts

City of Billboards​NYC isn't the only one who thinks L.A. wants to be Manhattanized -- our own city leaders seem to be under the same supergraphic spell. But don't get too excited, NYU film-school rejects who settled for USC: We're not talking Manhattanized in a cute, compact "these lights wi ... More >>

Digitally Ad-Wrapped Skyscrapers Coming to L.A.?

Jan Perry opens a new front in the Los Angeles billboard wars

L.A. Anti-Billboard Activist Dennis Hathaway Named In Billboard Company Suits Against City

Speak up against billboards and you might just end up in a lawsuit.​One of L.A.'s most-outspoken activists against "billboard blight" was named in lawsuits brought against the city by some of the largest billboard companies, Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor. But Dennis Hathaway says it's ... More >>

Rushed and Confused L.A. City Council

Library, weed, DWP measures aimed for ballot all get short shrift

Van Wagner Outdoor Sheepishly Removes 'Medal Of Honor' Sniper Ad Across From L.A. Elementary School

Billboard BlightKind of like the Honor Roll, Mommy?​Ever the watchdog of fugly signage in Los Angeles, Dennis Hathaway of Billboard Blight spotted another urban atrocity sullying L.A.'s pastoral coastline a couple days back: A "Medal of Honor" billboard promoting the video game's latest traips ... More >>

L.A. Advertisers And Anti-Billboard Activists Pissed Over City Council's Bright Idea To Slap Billboards With A 12 Percent Tax

PHOTO BY TED SOQUI​The Weekly has long had an eye on sketchy billboard deals throughout Los Angeles. In 2008, we reported that 4,000 of the city's 11,000 billboards were illegal, built without permits or earthquake regulations. Then came the Westside "Mad Men," fat-cat entrepreneurs who were ... More >>

West Los Angeles Locals Say 100 Remaining Digital Billboards Gotta' Go!

Are drivers watching the road or the digital sign?​ Environmental advocates are ramping up their efforts to combat the proliferation of what they call "weapons of mass distraction," by urging local lawmakers to

Carmen Trutanich, L.A. City Attorney, Wins Billboard Crackdown Ruling From U.S. Judge Audrey Collins: They Ain't Free Speech

Don't stand here during a quake​Reason to cheer the departure of Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo: Carmen Trutanich, his replacement, won another courtroom victory against the 11,000 billboards slathered all over sad-sack L.A -- up to 4,000 of them illegally installed without an eart ... More >>

Runaway Teens

The Mad Men of Los Angeles

Living the good life, thanks to the big profits from illegal outdoor advertising

Hollywood Businessman Agrees to Take Down Giant Supergraphic across from Kodak Theatre

Kayvan Setareh, the businessman arrested February 26 for allegedly draping a gargantuan supergraphic on a historic 1927 Hollywood bank building near the site of the upcoming Oscars, has agreed to take it down. Ban Billboard Blight​ In exchange, he had his $1 million bail reduced to $100,000 d ... More >>

Les Moonves Begs Villaraigosa: Let CBS Keep its Digital Billboards

In a weird twist, powerful CBS president Les Moonves is asking Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to oppose a possible vote by the Los Angeles City Council that Moonves sees as a threat to 101 digital billboards flashing ads all over L.A. -- close to 20 of which are bringing in revenue to CBS O ... More >>

Poor, Ultrarich Tim Leiweke

L.A. City Hall genuflects to AEG. Somebody forgot to tell Carmen Trutanich

"Shady stories” Come Out

Mushroom Season in Poisonous Sacramento

Assemblyman John Perez wants to make Phil Anschutz richer with a favor to Nokia Live

City Council Votes for Permanent Ban on Digital Billboards

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously today to ban all digital billboards in the city, an action brought before them by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who feared that an existing "Interim Control Ordinance" that temporarily bans digital billboards and super-graphics may soon be found inval ... More >>

MICHAEL JACKSON: THE POST-MORTEM SPENDING SPREE

The blame and the buck fly furiously after the pop icon's burial

City Council Postpones Controversial Billboard Vote

The Los Angeles City Council postponed a vote on a sweeping billboard law that would ban digital billboards and giant supergraphics, but allow them in specially designated "sign districts." Facing a barrage of criticism from anti-clutter activists and business leaders, council members agreed to hol ... More >>

L.A.'s Newest McSupergraphic?

Anti-clutter activists are irked again by the billboard industry's latest affront to good taste. Over the weekend, an office building on Overland Avenue in West Los Angeles put up a five-story supergraphic of a giant frosty coffee beverage as part of McDonald's advertising campaign to break into th ... More >>

Anti-Clutter Activists Enraged By Councilman Reyes' Plan for More Sign Districts

Anti-clutter activists are fuming over City Councilman Ed Reyes' potential plan to "grandfather" eight additional sign districts into the city's proposed sign ordinance. The move could potentially allow massive supergraphic signs and digital billboards in North Hollywood, Koreatown, City West and Pa ... More >>

City Council Extends Billboard Moratorium

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously yesterday to extend its citywide billboard moratorium until June 24. The council's 12-0 vote (members Weiss, Wesson and Reyes were absent) came one day after a federal judge issued a temporary injunction barring the city from taking action against 18 un ... More >>

L.A. Planning Commission Approves New Sign Law

The Los Angeles Planning Commission voted today to adopt a new sign ordinance that would prohibit brightly-lit digital billboards and giant vinyl supergraphics citywide but allow them in 21 potential sign districts. The commission also voted to establish a city task force to annually review the im ... More >>

Billboard Ordinance Delayed . . . Again!

The Los Angeles Planning Commission today put off voting for a plan that would regulate all new billboards and commercial signs in the city. The decision was made after a four-hour City Hall meeting in which dozens of anti-clutter activists, sign companies, business owners and lawyers complained tha ... More >>

Jack Weiss Took Dough from Outdoor Ad Pushers

The Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight reports that outgoing Los Angeles City Council Member  Jack Weiss, who is the leading candidate for City Attorney, received a $1,000 campaign contribution in 2007 from Barry Rush, the president of Worldwide Rush. Rush is the owner of the huge, controversial ... More >>

Is Tokyo the Future for Los Angeles?

A new "ban" would allow 20 areas citywide thick with billboards

Back to the Drawing Board for Billboard Ordinance

A packed room of angry anti-billboard and pro-billboard residents, lobbyists and business owners practically shouted down City Hall's rushed efforts to reign in outdoor advertising Thursday, with the City Planning Commission tabling the entire mess for a month. About 100 people attended the early-mo ... More >>

Is City Hall Bending on Billboard Ban?

After yesterday's packed and contentious planning commission meeting that was held to argue proposed changes to Los Angeles' exception-filled outdoor sign regulations, questions remain about the fate of 11 "sign districts" to be considered by City Hall. A long-awaited report by the Planning Departme ... More >>

Laurence Tribe Tangles with Los Angeles -- and Loses!

A federal appellate court dealt legendary litigator Laurence Tribe a bitter blow today when it ruled that Los Angeles' outdoor advertising and billboard ban did not violate an  advertising company's First Amendment right to free speech.Tribe was representing Metro Lights, whose federal lawsuit ... More >>

City Blights, City Flights, City License

Plus, the fight for public-access TV

Troubling Signs

Comments on billboards gone wild

Will L.A. Finally Zero in on Forest of Illegal Billboards?

Almost seven long years after the Los Angeles City Council vowed to find the exact locations and determine the physical condition of the city's virtually unregulated forest of legal and illegal 10,000 billboards, the city's Building and Safety Department says they will begin the long-awaited program ... More >>

Digital Billboards Become a Bohemian Blasphemy

Silver Lake, Hollywood, the Valley and Westside take on City Hall's anti-green transformation of LA

Los Angeles City Planning Commission Adopts Preliminary Motion to Ban all New Electronic Billboards

Taking aim at digital billboards in the wake of intense opposition from community groups in Hollywood, Venice, Encino, Silver Lake and other areas, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission adopted a preliminary motion to ban all new electronic billboards for a year. The Interim Control Ordinance w ... More >>

Silver Lake Residents Protest Against Digital Billboard Blight

Dozens of Silver Lake residents gathered yesterday at City Hall to protest against a pulsating digital billboard that recently popped up along Silver Lake Boulevard throwing lights into neighborhood homes. “Silver Lake is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Los Angeles,” said Suzanne Fe ... More >>

Advocacy Group Criticizes Plan to Advertise on Amber Alerts

Planning Commission Votes to Tighten Sign District Laws

Last week, the City's planning commission voted on a proposal that would tighten up the city's "specialty billboard district" laws. The plan to revamp the sign district ordinance came about after concerns that the city was frivolously granting too many sign districts to billboard companies. The pl ... More >>

State Considers Advertising on Amber Alerts

The Schwarzenegger administration is considering advertisements on freeway signs used for Amber Alerts and other emergencies. The advertisements would be posted on 674 electronic roadside message boards according to the LA Times. The funds raised – estimated at millions - would go towards the fin ... More >>

Los Angeles Convention Center Before and After

Last week, the Los Angeles City Council approved a deal that could lead to dozens of monster-size billboards and video displays to be mounted on the outer walls of the Los Angeles Convention Center – aimed at tens of thousands of motorists driving by one of the most congested intersections in Amer ... More >>

Mega-Billboard for Billionaire Anschutz: What's Next, Preparation H Pavilion?

City Council rolls over for tycoon, ignoring its own anti-billboard law

City Council Will Consider Selling Rights for Electronic Billboards

The Los Angeles City Council will consider a proposal today to allow massive electronic signs along the 10 and 110 freeways next to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The proposal by Anschutz Entertainment Group reportedly calls for 50,000 square feet of advertising signs. Last week, the Trade, Co ... More >>

Anti-Billboard Activists Gear Up for Fight

Anti-clutter, anti-billboard activists are gearing up for a fight tomorrow when a hearing will be held on a proposed, hyper-bright electronic billboard on Ventura Boulevard in Encino. The Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight has been fighting to stop the bright billboard on Ventura Boulevard since l ... More >>

Billboard Coalition Elects New President

Los Angeles activist Dennis Hathaway has been elected president of the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight. Hathaway says he is putting together an action plan “to make a concerted effort to effectively fight the city and billboard companies.” In addition, Hathaway says he hopes to educate the pu ... More >>

New Foe Against Digital Billboards?

“Billboards Gone Wild” Again and Again; L.A. Media Just Can’t Get Enough of our Headline

In April, LA Weekly published a cover story about the city’s 4,000 illegal billboards and the newspaper’s legal struggle to get a simple list of billboards owned by Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor. It seems that our “Billboards Gone Wild” headline made quite the impression on other med ... More >>

Billboards Gone Wild: 4,000 Illegal Billboards Choke L.A.'s Neighborhoods

Is City Hall corrupt, or just inept?

Crackdown on Gigantic Ads

Companies that put up huge “supergraphics” on buildings and the building owners who allow the gigantic illegal signs could be fined $2,500 a day under a new plan announced today by Los Angeles City Council Member Jack Weiss. “These monster signs turn buildings into billboards,” said Weiss ... More >>