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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  FEATURED STORY

  Rape Is on the Rise in Los Angeles County

  published Jul 11, 2012

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck held their biannual crime-stats press conference today in typical feel-good fashion: They were proud to announce that for the first half of ... More >>

• Jong Huh, Torrance Real-Estate Agent, Charged With Literally Gambling Clients' Money Away

  published Jul 11, 2012

  A warrant has been out for the arrest of Torrance real-estate agent Jong Hwan Huh since late April, when the L.A. County District Attorney's office filed 17 felony counts against him -- including gran... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  L.A. City Hall's 'Elephant Awareness Day' Apparently Not Enough to Keep Ringling Bros. Out of Staples Center

  published Jul 11, 2012

  Surprise, surprise! Not one month after L.A. politicians wasted time and resources designating August 3 as the city's official "Elephant Awareness Day," the poster corporation for alleged elephant abu... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  You Can No Longer Be Ticketed at Broken Parking Meters in California -- But L.A. Is Expected to Opt Out of State Policy

  published Jul 11, 2012

  Here in Los Angeles, city officials will do everything within their power to indirectly tax us for driving (even though driving is often the only way to traverse the sprawl, and dreams for a full L.A.... More >>

• Enjoy the Heat Wave While You Can: Los Angeles May Be in for a Long, Stormy Winter

  published Jul 09, 2012

  As the mercury rises this week and your commute gets a couple shades sweatier, we don't want to hear you whining to the L.A. Daily News that you're "very tired of it being constantly warm." Seriously... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  New CicLAvia Route to Venture Deeper Into South L.A., East L.A.

  published Jul 09, 2012

  The biannual bicycling event that saved Los Angeles will take some radical new steps toward geographical justice this October: After longtime negotiations with TRUST South L.A., the East Side Riders ... More >>

• Gail Anderson, Ex-Chief at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Sues County for Humiliating Him in the Times

  published Jul 09, 2012

  Well, this is bizarre: The former chief medical officer of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (a giant Torrance hospital run by the county) was paid over $400,000 to sit in his lavish Manhattan Beach home for... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Santa Monica Trying to Push Annoying Flight-School Activity Onto Surrounding Airports

  published Jul 09, 2012

  A rather pompous proposal to alleviate weekend and holiday traffic at the Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is going up before the city's seven councilmembers at tomorrow's meeting. They'll be taking the fat... More >>

• R.I.P. Dennis Tillet, Young Morehouse Grad Killed 'Just Trying to Enjoy the Fourth of July'

  published Jul 06, 2012

  Update, July 9: Beyonce (yes, that Beyonce) posted a beautiful tribute to Tillet on her website yesterday. She calls him "one of my biggest fans and a loyal member of the Beyhive." Much like Oscar Du... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Gordon Solomon, Inglewood Pastor, Allegedly Carried on Two-Year Sexual Relationship With 14-Year-Old

  published Jul 06, 2012

  Update: To be clear, Solomon's victim was a mere 12 years old when the alleged sexting/sexing began. That's CHILD status. More on his charges -- including "oral copulation" -- at the bottom. Original... More >>

• Incredible Fourth of July Time-Lapse Videos Show Flurry of Fireworks Across Los Angeles

  published Jul 06, 2012

  Another perk of the L.A. sprawl: Every Fourth of July, a flurry of fireworks can be seen glinting across the Los Angeles skyline like bioluminescent plankton on a wave. Last year's best time-lapse vi... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Punk Singer 'Casey Chaos' Drunkenly Terrorized Studio City in His SUV Last Night, Says LAPD

  published Jul 06, 2012

  TMZ reported this morning that 46-year-old punk singer Karim Chmielinski -- better known as Casey Chaos, frontman and founder of the hardcore L.A. group Amen -- "allegedly smashed his SUV into as many... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Dennis Herbert Tillet, 25, Killed in Hyde Park Shooting on Fourth of July

  published Jul 06, 2012

  Update: "R.I.P. Dennis Tillet, Young Morehouse Grad Killed 'Just Trying to Enjoy the Fourth of July'." Update: Morehouse College, one of about 100 "historically black colleges and universities" aroun... More >>

• TRUST Act Passes California Senate: Bill Would Override 'Secure Communities,' Protect Illegal Immigrants From Deportation

  published Jul 05, 2012

  The most liberal immigration legislation since California's DREAM Act just passed the state Senate 21-13 -- and it has a good chance of making its way through the Assembly and the governor's office, a... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  VIDEO: These Men Allegedly Murdered 'Hoagies and Wings' Chef Because Their Food Was Taking Too Long

  published Jul 05, 2012

  Thirty-eight-year-old Raul Lopez, a beloved father of five and chef at Hoagies and Wings in Sherman Oaks, got into a deadly altercation last Friday night: After shooing a group of five young men out ... More >>

• Unique Russell, 14, Shot Dead While Watching Fireworks Outside Grandma's L.A. Home

  published Jul 05, 2012

  Two especially tragic shootings pierced through the Fourth of July fireworks last night in South L.A. -- only 10 minutes apart and five miles away. We already reported this morning that 25-year-old D... More >>

• L.A. Activists Claim Fraud in Mexico's Presidential Election: Downtown Rally Planned for Saturday

  published Jul 05, 2012

  Obama may have embraced Enrique Pena Nieto as Mexico's new president-elect this week (even before all the votes had been counted; awkward), but a coalition of immigrants in Los Angeles won't be so eas... More >>

• Raul Lopez, Cook at 'Hoagies and Wings' in Sherman Oaks, Murdered for Trying to Kick Out Customers

  published Jul 02, 2012

  Update: New surveillance video shows two suspects entering the sandwich joint, where they would allegedly spit racist comments at Hoagies and Wings' Latino staff. A scuffle between Hoagies and Wings ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Rick Calamaro, Charlie Sheen's Assistant During 2011 Freakout, Found Dead in L.A. Apartment

  published Jul 02, 2012

  See also: "Rick Calamaro: A Nightlife Visionary Remembered." The man who stood by Mulholland Drive resident Charlie Sheen through his notorious, likely drug-fueled freakout in 2010-11 -- and who many... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  VIDEO: Puppy Thief Steals $1,000 'Puggle' From South Pasadena Pet Store, Returns It One Week Later

  published Jul 02, 2012

  Updated at the bottom: A detective tells us that the thief returned the puppy because his pastor told him to. Worst puppy heist ever. Or at least the most sheepish: South Pasadena cops say that only... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  5 Scariest Shark Attacks in SoCal History

  published Jul 02, 2012

  Now that we're officially in the thick of summer, you'd be a lousy Southern Californian if you didn't take your board down to the beach and get your water-sport on. (Even Lindsay Lohan's trying. Key w... More >>

• MAP: Los Angeles Is Bigger Than These Eight Major U.S. Cities Combined

  published Jun 29, 2012

  Whenever out-of-towners complain about how hard it is to get anywhere in Los Angeles, we try to tell them: It's no more difficult than trying to traverse the entire Bay Area in a single shot. Because ... More >>

• Mila Kunis Says She's Been Campaigning for Obama by Doing 'Illegal' Graffiti in L.A.

  published Jun 29, 2012

  Compared to President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, his second run has been lagging in hip factor. No free "Yes we can" ads from Will.i.am; no Shepard Fairey prints; no hot YouTube chicks with a "Crus... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Mural Ordinance: Read the Final Draft of L.A.'s Long-Awaited Street-Art Legislation

  published Jun 29, 2012

  Thanks to the L.A. mural ordinance -- under construction since last October, and creatively promoted by street-art coverboys like Shepard Fairey and Saber -- attending City Hall meetings became cool a... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Robert and Barbra Egan, Couple Living at Beverly Hilton, Commit 'Double Suicide' in Their Room

  published Jun 29, 2012

  One week after a middle-aged couple died mysteriously in their room at the Beverly Hilton -- the same fancy hotel where Whitney Houston recently OD'ed and drowned, and where President Obama stays when... More >>