Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Self-driving vehicles charge at the Waymo station in Santa Monica. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . Waymo is taking the city of Santa Monica to court after the city ordered the company to cease charging its autonomous vehicles at two facilities overnight, claiming the lights and beeping at the lots were a nuisance to residents.

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Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Santa Monica orders Waymo to stop noisy overnight operations at charging stations. Self-driving vehicles charge at the Waymo station at the corner of Euclid Street and Broadway in Santa Monica. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here .

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. KitKat was friendly with many customers of Randa's Market in San Francisco's Mission District. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . San Francisco has been mourning the death of KitKat, a beloved corner-store cat who died after being struck by a Waymo robotaxi last week.

An arson suspect was arrested on suspicion of starting four separate fires across the city of Santa Monica earlier this month, police said Wednesday. Marco Antonio Rubio, 36, is accused of the spate of fires that began around 1 p.m. on Sunday with the use of a lighter and an aerosol can to set them, Santa Monica police said in a news release. No one was injured in the incidents. Police said Rubio is alleged to have lighted a discarded pillow and some cardboard in the 1000 block of Colorado Avenue, ignited a discarded mattress on 16th Street and Michigan Avenue, set fire to a net on a little league batting cage at Memorial Park and also a parked vehicle in the 1500 block of 18th Street. Investigators located the suspect using aerial drone technology, police said.

Multiple unauthorized drones flew above the Palisades fire Friday afternoon, forcing firefighting aircraft to leave the area for safety and angering those working on the front lines, authorities said. These sightings came just a day after a drone collided with a Super Scooper fixed-wing aircraft, grounding the plane for several days of repairs and reducing the number of aircraft available to fight the fire. "This is not just harmless fun. This is incredibly dangerous," said Chris Thomas, public information officer for the Palisades fire. "Seriously, what if that plane had gone down? It could have taken out a row of homes. It could have taken out a school."

Another California community is raising concerns about plans to unleash the Waymo self-driving vehicle in its jurisdiction, following several incidents involving autonomous ride-hailing cars that resulted in injuries. San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area, has requested more information from state regulators before allowing Google-owned Waymo to operate its driverless vehicles in the county. San Mateo County made the request after Waymo submitted a letter Jan. 19 to the California Public Utilities Commission, asking the agency to approve its proposed expansion of its Automated Vehicle Passenger Services into portions of the San Francisco Peninsula, which includes San Mateo County, as well as the southwest region of Los Angeles County. The company has already been serving a portion of San Francisco, from Lands End to Bernal Heights. The autonomous car began offering rides for a limited time in November in Santa Monica, Century City, West Hollywood, Mid-City Koreatwon and downtown L.A., giving residents a chance at testing the driverless ride.

As Waymo robotaxis plucked up passengers for free this week in Santa Monica and Venice, worry grew among Los Angeles officials about the safety of driverless cars on city streets. Mayor Bass asked regulators Wednesday to increase their scrutiny of automated taxis and said the city should have a say in how they are regulated. The move comes after a Cruise robotaxi dragged a person down a San Francisco street last month and the company allegedly failed to disclose the footage to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV suspended the General Motors-owned company's permits and Cruise has since announced it will suspend U.S. operations. The incident in San Francisco -- where the two driverless fleets were doing business -- was among several that raised red flags among Los Angeles officials, who have begun to see more and more robotaxis being tested on city streets.

The future of driverless cars in America is a promotional booth with a surfboard and a movie director's clapboard. Robotaxis have officially arrived in Los Angeles, and last week, residents lined up in Santa Monica's main promenade to get a smartphone code needed to ride them. For now, the cars, from the Alphabet-owned start-up Waymo, won't leave the tame streets of Santa Monica. But in the coming months, they'll embark on a multi-month "tour" of the city, heading to West Hollywood, downtown L.A., and several other neighborhoods. For the past decade, the two leading robotaxi companies, Waymo and Cruise, have been focused primarily on San Francisco and Phoenix, where they both already take paid passengers.

After months of testing, the Silicon Valley-based driverless car company began offering Waymo One -- its 24/7 robotaxi service -- to the public Wednesday. Those interested can get an activation code that will allow them to ride free for one week at an in-person pop-up event or by signing up online. In November, Waymo One will move on to Century City, then West Hollywood, Mid-City, Koreatown and downtown L.A. Autonomous vehicle enthusiasts, many of whom received emails about the event ahead of time, lined up at the Waymo stand in Santa Monica on Wednesday morning before it opened at 8 a.m., said Waymo product marketing manager Julianne McGoldrick. What happens when autonomous vehicles invade the traffic capital of the country? They collected their "ticket to ride" with an activation code and snagged T-shirts and tote bags.