Government Entities
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – http://www.uscis.gov
The most up-to-date, trustworthy information for all things immigration can be found here.
Los Angeles County – http://lacounty.gov
Reference for county regulations, county wide events, etc.
City of Los Angeles – http://www.lacity.org
Reference site for permits and licenses, city regulations, events and more.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works – http://dpw.lacounty.gov
Resourceful website with lots of information on everyday questions like, ‘how to dispose of household hazardous waste’.
California Department of Motor Vehicles – http://dmv.ca.gov
Website shows DMV locations, driver’s license info, etc. and DMV appointments can be made.
Internal Revenue Service – http://www.irs.gov/
For all tax information.
Los Angeles Unified School District – http://notebook.lausd.net
LA’s public school system.
Classified and other Information Resources
Craigslist – http://losangeles.craigslist.org
The online network featuring classified advertisements, jobs, services, housing, and personals is a US phenomenon that has swept the world. But it is in the USA where practically every man and his dog uses Craigslist to find work and an apartment.
Citysearch – http://losangeles.citysearch.com
Where better to find a real review of a restaurant, bar, or shop than the punters themselves?
LA Weekly – http://www.laweekly.com
LA Weekly lists and reviews the city’s arts, entertainment, events, restaurants, and bars.
LA Mag – http://www.lamag.com
Features the latest trends and trendsetters in LA art, design, film, music, and dining.
Yelp – http://www.yelp.com/la
Reader defined reviews help you pick the right choice from a wide array of services including restaurants, nightclubs, doctors, beauty salons, home services and more.
Open Table – http://www.opentable.com/
You can search for a restaurant by location, type of cuisine, seat availability by number of people and the time, then you can make a reservation right there on the website.
Zagat – http://www.zagat.com
Before all the websites, the most trusted restaurant guidebook for the foodies of all ages was the Zagat. Now we can see all the info plus the photos on their website for free, with some key information put aside for the paid members only.
News
Los Angeles Times – http://www.latimes.com
Packed with international and LA news. As you would expect, the paper is heavy on Hollywood industry news.
National Public Radio – http://www.npr.org
Nation’s most neutral views on world can be found on this radio program website here via news and reports on various topics.
CNN – http://www.cnn.com
Heavily trusted news source for domestic or international news.
BCC – http://www.bbc.co.uk
Of course it is the British Broadcasting Corporation news, but it is widely viewed for its international news.
KTLA – http://www.ktla.com
Los Angeles’s channel 5 – KTLA’s news site for local news and weather.
KABC – http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/index
Los Angeles’s channel 7 – ABC Television Group (owned by Disney) news site for local news and weather.
Useful Tools
International Newspapers Online – http://www.refdesk.com/paper.html
Foreign Exchange Rate – http://www.xe.com/
World Clock – http://www.timeanddate.com/
Unit Converter (Weight, Length, Mass, etc.) – http://www.unitconverters.net/
