Email Author Simone Wilson

Awards

• 2011 - Southern California Journalism Awards/LA Press Club, published December 16, 2010

  "Culture of Cruelty"

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2012 Stories by Simone Wilson

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  COVER STORY

  L.A.'s Bloody Hit-and-Run Epidemic

  published December 6, 2012

  The last thing Marie Hardwick remembers from the morning of Sunday, March 25, as she legally crossed Wilshire Boulevard is glancing through the... More >>

• SWATting, a Deadly Political Game

  published November 8, 2012

  Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Frey has an unusual night job. After returning to his cliffside Rancho Palos Verdes... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  The 7 Most Disgusting L.A. Beaches

  published Sep 26, 2012

  See also: "Dirty Beachesr Not in L.A. (Well, for the Most Part)" Were you chin-deep in scary ocean bacteria all summer long, without ever realizing itr Now, thanks to local environmental org Heal the... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Patrick Caruthers, Special-Needs Teen and Summer Night Lights Volunteer, Murdered on South L.A. Park Bench

  published Sep 26, 2012

  [Update: Detective Chris Barling, lead homicide investigator for the LAPD's 77th Street Division (the deadliest division in L.A. so far this year, with a staggering 42 homicides), told LA Weekly freel... More >>

• L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca Spent Over One Month Outside L.A. Amid Horrific 2012 Jail Scandal

  published Sep 24, 2012

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa isn't the only local politician leaving his municipal duties in the dust, these days, in pursuit of a higher political calling. A records request run by diligen... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Survey: New York Now Beats Los Angeles as 'America's Dirtiest City'

  published Sep 24, 2012

  New York and Los Angeles, the nation's two largest cities, are notoriously filthy in their own special ways. New York packs its residents in extra tight for that one-of-a-kind human-density stench, bu... More >>

• 'Farmers Field' Plans Pushed Forward by L.A. City Council, Despite AEG Sale

  published Sep 24, 2012

  See also: "Farmers Field or Blade Runner Stadiumr" and "Farmers Field's Fanciful Green Promise." There was never a doubt in anyone's mind that the L.A. City Council, completely obsessed with the idea... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  La Puente High Horrors: Soccer Players Claim to Have Been Hazed, Sodomized With Poles

  published Sep 24, 2012

  The same lawyer currently suing LAUSD for keeping parents and students at Miramonte Elementary in the dark about Mark Berndt -- a third-grade teacher allegedly caught spoon-feeding his own semen to ki... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  D.C. Declares Laughable 'Transit Revolution' in Los Angeles While Metro Hacks Bus System

  published Sep 20, 2012

  'Tis the season for local and national politicians to co-opt the media into singing their praises. November 6 is right around the corner -- making one positive article by a respected journalist the (f... More >>

• David Viens, L.A. County Chef, Admits to Slow-Cooking Wife's Corpse

  published Sep 18, 2012

  David Viens -- the infamous 49-year-old Lomita chef currently on trial for killing his wife, 39-year-old Dawn Viens, in 2009 -- may have done so in an unexpected fit of violence, as he told L.A. Count... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Eric Yee, Yale Dropout, Allegedly Threatened to Shoot Valencia Schoolkids, Aurora Style, in ESPN Chatroom

  published Sep 18, 2012

  Updated at the bottom with personal details on Eric Yee, and the comments that may have triggered his arrest. (Headline has been changed to reflect the suspect's identity.) Originally posted at 9:30 ... More >>

• Human Sperm Can Swim in Perfect 3-D Spirals, UCLA Reveals

  published Sep 18, 2012

  One more reason for dudes to walk around like they're hoarding the Eighth World Wonder in their boxer-briefs: UCLA has revealed that human sperm can swim in a gorgeous, nature-perfect, three-dimensio... More >>

• Ryan Koyama, Rancho Palos Verdes Optometrist, Killed When Benz Collides With Escaped Horse

  published Sep 18, 2012

  A 69-year-old man driving south on Crenshaw Boulevard just after 2 a.m. this morning crashed into a horse that was weaving through lanes near Palos Verdes Drive North, says the California Highway Patr... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Space Shuttle Endeavour: Why Isn't the California Science Center Conducting an EIR Before Cutting Down 265 Treesr

  published Sep 17, 2012

  The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that any project which "may have a significant effect on the environment" be prefaced by an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) -- an often lengt... More >>

• Death Valley Now Officially Hotter Than Libya, Former Record-Holder for Hottest Place on Earth

  published Sep 13, 2012

  Southern California is giving the Middle East a run for its money this week, in the arena of hottest sociopolitical scandal: In case you missed it, a group of L.A.-area filmmakers and apparent anti-Mu... More >>

• Anthony Jefferson, Alias 'DJ Tone,' Wanted for Sexing and Defrauding L.A. Models by Posing as Talent Agent

  published Sep 13, 2012

  ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  'Leatherface' Actor Andrew Bryniarski Arrested for Hoarding Pomeranians in Santa Monica RV

  published Sep 13, 2012

  We've seen a lot of shady shit go down in the legendary RV community of Venice Beach. But Santa Monica -- its cleaner, more stuck-up neighbor to the north -- has taken pains to ensure that mobile-home... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Beverly Hills Enforcing Ban on Lost-Dog Flyers

  published Sep 13, 2012

  So apparently Beverly Hills has this super OCD ban on putting up any "notice, placard, bill, card, poster, sticker, banner, sign, [or] ad" in a public place. But it's not like Department of Building... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  published Sep 12, 2012

  Congratulations, corporate Hollywood! You finally got the hang of 21st-century guerilla marketing. Over the past few days, foot soldiers for CBS Films have apparently been hanging up ads for its late... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  L.A. May Turn Library Cards Into IDs, Bank Cards for Illegal Immigrants

  published Sep 11, 2012

  LAPD Chief Charlie Beck's dream of granting special drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants -- which would largely clear up the impound debate, by giving illegals a fighting chance of making it throug... More >>

• Jamie Lynne Grumet, TIME's Breastfeeding Covergirl, Can't Stop Posing for Creepy Magazine Covers

  published Sep 10, 2012

  We love breastfeeding. We especially loved breastfeeding when we were small, bald and toothless. It's a beautiful thing, and no woman should ever be told when or where she can or can't breastfeed. Bec... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  14 Lifeguards Fired for Filming 'Gangnam Style' Spoof Video at El Monte City Pool

  published Sep 10, 2012

  El Monte city officials got more bad press this past weekend for firing 14 fun-lovin' lifeguards from their posts at the local Aquatic Center than for any other scandal in the city's history -- includ... More >>

• Did L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Invent the Story About His 'Abusive, Alcoholic' Fatherr

  published Sep 10, 2012

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, hailed nationally as a rising Latino Democrat but ridiculed locally for ignoring L.A.'s long list of street-level problems, could be heard re-telling the chilli... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Ervin McKiness, or SoCal Rapper Jew'elz, Tweets 'YOLO' Before Dying in Suspected DUI Crash

  published Sep 10, 2012

  A young Southern California rapper who went by the names of "Jew'elz" and "Inkyy" has been identified as one of five men in their early 20s who died in a suspected drunk-driving crash on Labor Day wee... More >>

• Carlos Salas, O.C. Skateboarder, Killed and Dragged Through Street by Hit-and-Run Driver

  published Sep 07, 2012

  Tragedy struck the seaside town of Laguna Niguel in the wee hours this morning, when friends tell the local Patch that 20-year-old Carlos Salas was killed just 400 feet from his house. Orange County ... More >>