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

• Smart Meter Resistance Spreads to SoCal: Are New Wireless Meters Spying on You, Making You Sickr

  published Nov 11, 2011

  Over 100 worried residents packed into the disco-themed ballroom of Moose Lodge in Glendale last night -- summoned by a growing base of health, privacy and consumer advocates lashing out against Calif... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Sasha Grey Reads to Compton Kids; Failing School District Embarrasses Itself Again

  published Nov 11, 2011

  Updated at the bottom: Grey refuses to stop reading to schoolchildren. District still silent. Yeah, so former L.A. porn star Sasha Grey is not the first person we'd pick to read children's books to o... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  11-11-11: Mayan Elders, Crystal Skulls to Reveal Secret to Humanity's Survival at LAX Sheraton

  published Nov 11, 2011

  Why waste a perfectly freaky-deaky aligning of days/months/years like 11-11-11 on something that's not a weekend-long paranormal bash at the Sheraton by the airport, teaming with around 600 hippie equ... More >>

• Devin 'Thor' Dickey, Young Valley Tagger, Arrested by Burbank Police for Vandalism -- 'Just the Start' of Crackdown on Graffiti Crew

  published Nov 09, 2011

  Burbank police announce today that two young taggers they arrested on November 3 -- Devin Dickey, 20, and an unnamed 16-year-old girl -- are possibly facing felony charges after they allegedly vandali... More >>

• USC Student Knocked off Motorcycle by Hit-and-Run Driver 'in Critical Condition'

  published Nov 09, 2011

  A 21-year-old motorcycle rider who attended USC was run over by a burgundy GMC Safari van from 1993 yesterday, just after the sun went down. After crashing into the bike at Vermont and Lexington near ... More >>

• Occupy Chick-Fil-A: Over 100 Campers Wait Outside Northridge Location for Year's Supply of Free Chicken

  published Nov 09, 2011

  Something about fast-food chicken shop Chick-fil-A inspires a strange devotion in Americans. Maybe even more than for In 'N' Out or Sonic, hardcore fans will travel miles (and brave cold winter campou... More >>

• L.A. Fire Department's Stone-Age Payroll System Allowed Captain Eric Vasquez to Collect an Extra $77K Last Year

  published Nov 09, 2011

  What year is this, againr Last month, the L.A. City Fire Department made the kind of upgrade to its payroll system that might have been admirable about a decade ago. In late 2011, it's just embarrass... More >>

• 'Occupy the Rose Parade' Plans to Form Human Float, Slip Into Parade Lineup

  published Nov 09, 2011

  Ah, the Rose Parade. That fresh, floral, ferociously American march of Girl Scouts and City Councilmembers and high-school tuba nerds -- who, every New Year's, make Pasadena's main drag into a 1950s-e... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  UCLA Scientists Invent HIV-Blocking Anal Gel

  published Nov 08, 2011

  In the worldwide race to cure HIV, researchers out of Los Angeles have made some of the biggest recent breakthroughs. By late 2009, UCLA had discovered human blood stem cells could be used to fight HI... More >>

• DWP Fail: Studio City Water Mains Rupture, Flood Ventura Boulevard

  published Nov 08, 2011

  Traffic along Ventura Boulevard (in an already trafficky part of Studio City) was completely halted last night and this morning, while city workers scrambled to repair two giant, ruptured water mains ... More >>

• Occupy Wall Street Considers Moving to L.A. for Cold Winter Months

  published Nov 08, 2011

  Update: And while they're here, they might as well "Occupy the Rose Parade," rightr SoCal's famously bland winter weather is looking mighty appealing to the frozen campers at Occupy Wall Street right... More >>

• Porsche Beverly Hills Moves to Los Angeles; Mayor Calls for Auto-Dealer Tax Breaks

  published Nov 08, 2011

  Two simultaneous announcements this morning from L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signal that city leaders might finally be in Great Recession panic mode. The first and flashiest: Villaraigosa stood w... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  SoCal Residents Sue L.A. Sheriff for Seizing Their Cars, Jewelry in $7M Raid of 'Criminal Ring'

  published Nov 08, 2011

  It was one of the finest raids in the history of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station. In January 2010, the sheriff's LoJack vehicle-recovery system located a Bobcat that had been stolen from a... More >>

• Fishermen, Tidepoolers Beware: New 'Marine Protected Areas' Go Into Effect This January

  published Nov 07, 2011

  About 11 percent of the Southern California coastline is about to go on lockdown, thanks to somewhat controversial new Marine Protected Areas drafted by the state Department of Fish and Game. (Map of ... More >>

• Pomona Police Brutality, Racismr Family of Andres Avila, Beaten and Shot Dead by Cops, Calls for Federal Investigation (VIDEO)

  published Nov 07, 2011

  Looks as if the murder and manslaughter charges against Fullerton police officers for the fatal beating of homeless man Kelly Thomas may have inspired the family of another officer-involved-shooting v... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Sharon Bialek and L.A. Attorney Gloria Allred Accuse Herman Cain of Sexual Harassment

  published Nov 07, 2011

  Sharon Bialek, a Chicago resident (pictured, far right), announced at a New York press conference hosted by L.A. attorney Gloria Allred this morning that presidential candidate Herman Cain sexually ha... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  PHOTOS: Kitten Rescued From L.A. River

  published Nov 07, 2011

  Cigarette butts and fake fingernails weren't the only human run-off that last Friday's rain tried to sweep out to sea. The Small Animal Rescue Team Los Angeles (SmART) responded late Friday night to ... More >>

• Douglas Zerby Ruling: D.A. Clears Long Beach Police, Says They Killed Troubled Man in Self-Defense

  published Nov 03, 2011

  Friends and family of Long Beach resident Douglas Derby were outraged last December, when two Long Beach police officers (identified today as Victor Ortiz and Jeffrey Shurtleff, veterans on the force)... More >>

• 'Stop AB 131': Long Beach Council Candidate Robert Wideman Runs on Anti-DREAM Act Platform

  published Nov 03, 2011

  Updated at the bottom: Wideman says illegal immigration is the single "greatest threat to African-Americans." (Really. And there's more where that came from.) Even in the weird, weird world of final-... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Jomo Zambia, Convicted L.A. Pimp, Crashes Into Inglewood Police Car After Being Murdered in Red BMW

  published Nov 03, 2011

  Updated at the bottom: VIDEO of Zambia, nickname "RoseMo," beating up local L.A. rapper Boskoe1 just a few days back. The crew drives off in a red BMW. (Also, rapper Waka Flocka Flame denies affiliati... More >>

• South Pasadena's Ancient Sewer Pipes Have Leaked 120,000 Gallons of Waste Into L.A. County Waterways

  published Nov 02, 2011

  Awesome. The Pasadena Star-News has released a two-part expose on South Pasadena's almost incomprehensibly crappy sewage system (complete with violation maps and damning documents). Turns out the co... More >>

• Rashad Varma, Young Aspiring Comic, Jumps to Death off Historic Pasadena 'Suicide Bridge'

  published Nov 02, 2011

  A bridge in Pasadena infamous for hosting over 100 suicides saw another jumper last Saturday. The L.A. County Coroner's Office identifies him today as 25-year-old Rashad Varma of Montrose, originally... More >>

• Report: Over 1,000 Kids in L.A. County Foster Care Have Capable Parents Who've Been Detained/Deported

  published Nov 02, 2011

  Arguably two of California's most controversy-plagued government factions -- immigration enforcement and child protection -- team up for double the incompetency in today's "Shattered Families" report ... More >>

• Lindsay Lohan Court Sentence: 1 Month in Jail, 2 Months at Morgue (and Please, Stop Tweeting)

  published Nov 02, 2011

  And Lindsay Lohan's love affair with the L.A. County morgue rages on. Judge Stephanie Saunter waxed somewhat soft at the young blonde train wreck's much-anticipated sentencing today, demanding she se... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  No Rape at Montage Beverly Hills: Police Drop Hotel Investigation After Learning Victim Was 'Entertaining' Men in Her Room

  published Nov 02, 2011

  The Internet went up in flames this morning (damn you, Santa Ana winds!) over accusations of rape at the glittering Montage Beverly Hills, a favorite hideout of movie stars and other 1 percenters look... More >>