Today the LA Weekly reports that beloved, above-reproach labor leader Miguel Contreras, who dropped dead unexpectedly at the age of 52 last year, happened to do so at a South LA massage parlor-cum-house-of-ill-repute.
And why didn’t anybody hear about this sooner? Because Los Angeles’ political leaders — including both mayoral candidates, mid-campaign — showed up at the emergency room and did major spin control. There was no autopsy, which can’t quite be explained, and which isn’t quite typical. Chances are there will be, at the very least, further investigation.
Adding kerfluffle to intrigue, today happened to be the last day of Harold Meyerson’s longtime tenure at the paper. Meyerson is an unabashed liberal (hear, hear!) but his predictable, knee-jerk leftism helped make the paper’s political coverage stale and unreadable. Like, for years. So on his last day, he sends a memo to the paper saying that they’ve sunk to a new low. And the new LA Weekly editor shoots back. LA Observed has the whole back and forth. Fascinating.
Despite the fact that Meyerson comes down against tabloidism, I can almost see Danny Devito playing him in LA Confidential: 2010.
