Email Author Simone Wilson

Awards

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

  "Culture of Cruelty"

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2011 Stories by Simone Wilson

• Occupy the Rose Parade's Octopus Float Is 70 Feet of Awesome (PHOTOS)

  published Dec 30, 2011

  Update, January 2: "Occupy the Rose Parade: 5,000 Protesters, Giant Octopus Fail to Make Live TV." Pasadena's annual Rose Parade is on Monday! To pre-party, we were totally planning to write about th... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Best L.A. Twitter Beefs of 2011 (and Who Won)

  published Dec 30, 2011

  Like most news bloggers, we probably spend too much time on Twitter. Tips arrive in real time -- quicker than on news television, or over the wire -- and Twitpics open us up to a world of witnesses. ... More >>

• Gabriel Perez Facio, Pomona Cyclist, Killed in Hit-and-Run; Dragged Half-Block by SUV

  published Dec 30, 2011

  Updated at the bottom: Suspected hit-and-run driver turns himself in -- likely due to "large amount of media coverage" surrounding Facio's death. Originally posted December 29 at 2:15 p.m. In one of... More >>

• Jim Morrison's 'Love Street' House Catches Fire in Hollywood Arson Spree: Balcony That Inspired the Song Burns

  published Dec 30, 2011

  The hills of Hollywood and West Hollywood came under attack last night: A mysterious arsonist (or team of arsonists) started 19 car fires in the wealthy area, some of which spread to nearby homes. Lu... More >>

• Bree'Anna Guzman-Ruiz Is Missing: Young Lincoln Heights Mom Went Out for Cough Syrup, Never Came Home

  published Dec 30, 2011

  Update: "Bree'Anna Guzman's Dead Body Reportedly Found by Side of Freeway in Silver Lake -- on One-Month Anniversary of Her Disappearance." LAPD detectives are trying to track down a 22-year-old moth... More >>

• L.A. Housing Authority Handed Out Over $500K in 'Performance' Bonuses in 2 Years

  published Dec 30, 2011

  Update: "L.A. City Controller Wendy Greuel Finally Gets to Grit of Housing Authority Probe: Its Profitable 'Non-Profits'." The rap sheet for taxpayer-money-hungry execs at the Housing Authority of th... More >>

• L.A. Flash Mob on the Red Line Sings Adorable Rendition of Lil Wayne's 'How to Love'

  published Dec 29, 2011

  Crazy things happening on the subway is not exactly an M.O. of Los Angeles. We admit, New York Shitty usually has us beat in this arena. (Turtles. Surfers. Naked, racist meltdowns. Homeless guys licki... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Kim Kardashian Reportedly Paid $600K to Party in Vegas on NYE

  published Dec 29, 2011

  You know you've done something right, in life, when you find yourself sorting through half-million dollar offers just to show up and do a little V.I.P. shimmy at some cush Vegas hotspot on New Year's ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Redevelopment Agencies Across California, Including L.A. CRA, Abolished: Governor Jerry Brown Victorious

  published Dec 29, 2011

  The struggle between hundreds of California redevelopment agencies and Governor Jerry Brown, who bashed them for stealing millions from schools and essential services, is over. The governor wins this... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  CHP to Crack Down on Eating, Applying Makeup While Driving (Not Just Cellphones)

  published Dec 29, 2011

  The California Highway Patrol has had some trouble, in the past, explaining where the no-texting law ends and dialing a number into your phone (which is technically legal) begins. "When you look for... More >>

• Occupy L.A. Photos by Ted Soqui, Photog Behind Shepard Fairey's TIME Art, to Show at Gallery Where Cover Protester Sarah Mason Works

  published Dec 28, 2011

  The Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica saw the show of the century fall into its lap this winter. Sarah Mason, who works at the gallery, was catapulted into accidental fame when a photo of her at ... More >>

• Adderall Shortage of 2011: Los Angeles Feels the Pain at Year's End

  published Dec 28, 2011

  The media has dubbed this year's dry spell of ADD meds as the Great Adderall Shortage of 2011. And for Angelenos, at least, it looks like the drought may carry over into the new year. (Don't worry, t... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  LA Weekly's Top 11 News Stories of 2011

  published Dec 28, 2011

  And here we thought 2010 was a sexy one for Los Angeles. Our most popular news stories in 2011 make last year's fare -- alleged John Travolta sightings at a gay spa, Vegas broads who sell sex to make... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  VIDEO: Mentally Ill Woman Hops Fence at L.A. Zoo, Pets Elephants

  published Dec 28, 2011

  The L.A. Zoo just spent $42 million on a snazzy new sanctuary to contain its elephants -- but it seems the sanctuary's fencing might not be enough to contain excited onlookers from crossing in the opp... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Is the TSA on a Terror Kick at L.A.'s Union Stationr

  published Dec 27, 2011

  Not any more than it has been for the last four or five years, says Nico Melendez, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesman for Los Angeles. And not any more than at any of L.A.'s ot... More >>

• LACMA Is Having Boulder Problems

  published Dec 27, 2011

  The New York Times finally made a correct assumption about Los Angeles today, in the scathing "340-Ton Sculpture Versus Immovable Bureaucracy." Writer Adam NaGourney blames the Los Angeles County Mus... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  UCLA Scientists Prove Angels Don't Exist

  published Dec 27, 2011

  Consider the Christmas spirit officially crushed -- by a team of Bible-wary researchers from UCLA. They oversaw a recent study by the Out-Of-Body Experience Research Center in Los Angeles. Shockingly... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  L.A. County Drivers Were Extra Drunk This Christmas

  published Dec 27, 2011

  Can't say we didn't warn you! A whopping 100 law-enforcement agencies across L.A. County were out in full force this Christmas weekend -- and for a week or so before, beginning December 16 -- keeping ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  MacArthur Park Hotel Murder on Christmas: Woman Beaten to Death in Suspect's Room

  published Dec 26, 2011

  Maids at the Olympic Hotel near MacArthur Park stumbled across a gruesome scene as the clock struck midnight, bringing Christmas to a close. A woman in her 40s whose name has not yet been released la... More >>

• Reggie Doucet Shooting by LAPD Officers Was 'Justified,' Rules Police Commission

  published Dec 23, 2011

  A year-long investigation into the January 14 shooting of young Hollywood model and former college football star Reginald Doucet, Jr. was officially closed today. The Los Angeles Police Commission, w... More >>

• Occupy L.A. Cost City $1.7 Million: Report

  published Dec 23, 2011

  Updated at the bottom: One councilman wants to counter-sue protesters for the tab they ran up with taxpayers. City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana was fed up earlier this week, waiting on long-... More >>

• 'L.A. Is the Future' of the Tech Revolution, Says NYC Media Guru

  published Dec 23, 2011

  The Neiman Journalism Lab at Harvard is running a nice 2011-ending series on what the next year will look like for journalism, by an esteemed fleet of think-piecers who've braved this rocky field for ... More >>

• George Diller, Marine Vet at 'Occupy Long Beach,' Claims Police Brutality During Smoking Citation

  published Dec 23, 2011

  A brave few campers remain at Occupy Long Beach headquarters in Lincoln Park. Christopher Perkins, an organizer, counts maybe a dozen, tops. Every night at 10 p.m., when the park closes, they drag the... More >>

• Los Angeles Leads Nation in Plastic Surgery, Says New Poll -- But Still Ranks Below D.C. in Superficiality

  published Dec 23, 2011

  The most classic L.A. stereotype, long perpetuated by out-of-touch New York journalism, is that we're the most superficial city in America. But we've always had a sneaking suspicion that the land of ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Tyler, the Creator Arrested for Trashing the Roxy's Sound Equipment; Fans Riot on Sunset Boulevard

  published Dec 23, 2011

  Updated at the bottom with Tyler's mugshot. See also: "Roxy Owner Nic Adler Explains What The Hell Happened." Didn't take long for "FREE TYLER" to become relevant again. Last night, at the tail end ... More >>