Email Author Simone Wilson

Awards

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

  "Culture of Cruelty"

More

2012 Stories by Simone Wilson

• The Manny Pacquiao Misquote: A Timeline

  published May 16, 2012

  Salon's sometimes media critic Mary Elizabeth Williams just wagged her mighty finger at the rumor mill that has become online journalism -- a system that allowed Manny Pacquiao to be misquoted as sayi... More >>

• Denise Hunter: The Really Good Wife

  published May 16, 2012

  One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2012 issue. Check out our entire People 2012 issue here. Everywhere Denise Hunter goes, she's mistaken for Michelle Obama. "I was in... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Manny Pacquiao Barred From 'Extra' Interview at the Grove After Bashing Gay Marriage

  published May 15, 2012

  [Update, May 16, 10:30 a.m.: Pacquiao's original interviewer, Granville Ampong, is now saying that he himself quoted Leviticus 20:13 in his article -- so the words "put to death" never came out of Pac... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Confirmed: Google Will Take Over Gold's Gym in Venice, Plus 170,000 Square Feet of Surrounding Real Estate

  published May 15, 2012

  Updated at the bottom: Google may work out some sort of sublet deal with Gold's, allowing it to stay in its historic location. And the jocks beat the nerds again! Originally posted May 14 at 5:30 p.m... More >>

• Damian Frausto, El Sereno Dad, Murdered in Possible Road-Rage Shooting on Mother's Day

  published May 15, 2012

  The timing of 41-year-old Damian Frausto's cold-blooded murder on Mother's Day could not have been more tragic. He was reportedly parking his car at his home around 7:25 p.m., his wife Katrina in the... More >>

• VIDEO: Laurel Canyon Residents 'Mad as Hell' at Hillside House-Flipper, Department of Building and Safety

  published May 15, 2012

  The fuming neighbors along Grand View Drive should really give the rest of L.A.'s neighborhood activists a lesson in how to sway the city to your cause. They just put together this super-impressive Y... More >>

• Michelle Rhee, 'Parent Trigger' Supporters Are Behind Huge L.A. Lawsuit to Strip Teachers of Job Protection

  published May 15, 2012

  Update: Rhee herself and Parent Revolution didn't file the lawsuit -- they're just on the plaintiff's advisory board. Clarifications throughout. California's teachers have long been protected by a se... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  John Anthony Borell III, 'Anonymous' Hacker Charged With Police Leaks in Utah, Also Suspected of Posting L.A. Cops' Info, Nude Pics

  published May 15, 2012

  Some young hacktivist in Ohio apparently gives a damn about police accountability in far-off Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles Times, the FBI suspects 21-year-old Ohio resident John An... More >>

• 'Grand Theft Auto' Comes to Life at LAPD Gun Buyback: Dude Turns in Military Rocket Launcher

  published May 14, 2012

  Confronting the cops via rocket launcher isn't just for gamers anymore. At the annual LAPD Gun Buyback over the weekend, someone actually turned in a military "anti-tank" rocket launcher, reports City... More >>

• 'Sons of Anarchy' Pisses off L.A. Street Artists by Allegedly Painting Over New Downtown Mural

  published May 14, 2012

  Updated at the bottom: Sons of Anarchy producer Kurt Sutter says his show had nothing to do with the take-down. Our headline has been revised to reflect this claim. Someone just painted over a mural ... More >>

• WeHo Deputies Save German Pointer From Hot Car -- Along With Duffle Bag of Weed, Cash

  published May 14, 2012

  Yesterday afternoon, West Hollywood Sheriff's deputies responded to a routine call from a lady who had noticed a German Pointer locked in a car parked along her street. The windows were all rolled up,... More >>

• Skid Row's Growing Homeless Population Treated to Free Mother's Day Makeovers (PHOTOS)

  published May 14, 2012

  Mother's Day is the best day of the year -- besides maybe Thanksgiving -- for the homeless ladies of L.A.'s notorious Skid Row. Local charities are practically fighting over the chance to hand out f... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  DUI Suspect Drives Lexus Through Wall of Cinder Block, Into La Puente Swimming Pool

  published May 14, 2012

  The stop sign on Delvale Street and Orange Avenue wasn't enough to keep Modesto Cabral, a 40-year-old La Puente resident, from giving his 2006 Lexus GS430 a nice Sunday-morning bath in the Diaz family... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Katie Wilkins, Malibu 25-Year-Old, May Have Overdosed on Heroin With Chris Benton, Pepperdine President's Son

  published May 10, 2012

  Updated on Page 2: We speak with sheriff's detectives about Benton's role in all of this. Originally posted at 10 a.m. The young graphic designer found dead in her parents' Malibu mansion on the eve... More >>

• L.A. Artist Plants Cardboard Cutouts of Migrant Workers Around Beverly Hills; Nobody Notices

  published May 10, 2012

  OK, we're sort of kidding about nobody noticing. But in a video for ColorLines.com, L.A. painter Ramiro Gomez' new immigration-themed project on the Westside -- in which he plants cardboard cutouts o... More >>

• Jason Loose of Thousand Oaks Worshipped in China for Sharing French Fries With Bum (PHOTOS)

  published May 10, 2012

  A recent Arizona State University graduate who grew up in Thousand Oaks -- and is now working abroad in the Jiangsu province of China -- has been dubbed "Brother Fries" by the locals. Jason Loose, in... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Jamie Lynne Grumet, L.A. MILF Breastfeeding on Cover of TIME, Sees Her Blog Crash Amid Controversy

  published May 10, 2012

  Updated on Page 2: Think the TIME cover is badr Grumet has photos of herself nursing both her 3-year-old and 5-year-old at the same time. Updated on Page 3: Jamie Lynne Grumet on the Today show on Fr... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Obama Traffic, the Valley Edition! Starring George Clooney's Studio City Mansion

  published May 10, 2012

  Updated at the bottom with all known street closures. (See also: "Obama Totally Screws Up Gay Activists' Plans to Protest His L.A. Visit Tomorrow.") Originally posted May 9 at 9:15 a.m. We might as ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Obama Totally Screws Up Gay Activists' Plans to Protest His L.A. Visit Tomorrow

  published May 09, 2012

  The best part about President Obama's frequent ATM stops in L.A. are the myriad protesters who storm Beverly Hills and try to seek out his motorcade. Among them, always, are the LGBT activists, angry... More >>

• Frankie Velasquez, Boyle Heights 20-Year-Old, Murdered While Walking to Liquor Store With Cousin

  published May 09, 2012

  LAPD detectives at the Hollenbeck Station have had no luck tracking down the shooter in a May 5 murder that downed 20-year-old Boyle Heights resident Frankie Valesquez. "He was walking to the liquor ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Guillermo Pino, Missing Anza-Borrego Hiker, Found Dead in 60-Foot Crevice; L.A. Sheriff's Detail Helps Pull Him Out

  published May 09, 2012

  After a long, frantic month of combing hundreds of caves throughout Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for any signs of missing UC San Diego graduate Guillermo Pino, Jr., 25, he was discovered dead last S... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Dogs, Cats Less Likely to Be Adopted From L.A. Shelters if They're Black

  published May 09, 2012

  Hipster racism we can handle. But cuddly kitten racismr There is no god! L.A. animal shelters went public with this disturbing trend (sometimes called Black Dog Syndrome) last year, revealing to Time... More >>

• Is Google Buying Gold's Gym, Expanding Venice Digs Into Mountain View-Style Compoundr

  published May 08, 2012

  For months, rumors have been rippling through the Venice real-estate crowd that Google might be buying up the iconic Gold's Gym on Hampton Drive, and possibly the Digital Domain building next door. A... More >>

• Murder at Pasadena Old-Folks Home: George Shatford Apparently Strangled to Death by Fellow Patient

  published May 08, 2012

  George Shatford, a 61-year-old resident at the Pasadena Residential Care Center, was apparently strangled to death on Monday evening, just around dinnertime. Pasadena Police Department spokeswoman Tr... More >>

• L.A. Parking Tickets Would Cost Between $80 and $100 Under Mayor's New Proposal

  published May 08, 2012

  Let's see. What's the most unpopular budget solution that L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa could possibly propose during his city's disastrous $238 million shortfallr Aside from reinstate that evil fl... More >>