Dennis Romero's vintage features


  • The Rainbow Collision (Ciudad magazine, Oct./Nov., 2005): Tensions erupt between African-Americans and Latinos on Los Angeles streets.
  • Dead of Night (Ciudad magazine, June/July, 2007): A look back at the Night Stalker's murderous reign of terror in the summer of 1985.
  • Pop's Living Dead (LA CityBeat, 2003): An argument for the end of rock and an embrace of electronic dance music.
  • The Other Side (Ciudad magazine, Feb./March, 2006): An examination of Latinos who vociferously oppose illegal immigration.
  • The Gentle Beast (Ciudad magazine, Aug., 2007): A profile of Ultimate Fighter Tito Ortiz, who overcame a hardscrabble childhood to become a champion in a controversial sport.
  • Desolation Boulevard (LA CityBeat, Feb. 5, 2004): A pre-Steve Lopez feature about the intractable conditions for the homeless people living on L.A.'s Skid Row.
  • A Turbocharged Obsession (Los Angeles Times, Jan. 22, 1997): The first mainstream look at the import-racing scene that would inspire the Fast and the Furious movie franchise.
  • Gangster's Paradise Lost (LA CityBeat, Nov. 6, 2003): A different angle on the gentrification of L.A.'s urban Westside; decades-old gangs face extinction.
  • A Shadow on the Waves (Los Angeles Times, Sept. 26, 1994): The rarely-told story of a mythic wave-charger who changed the sport of surfing by inventing the modern board.
  • Boomtown (LA CityBeat, Nov. 18, 2004): The gleaming resurrection of downtown represents a new era for Los Angeles, but leaves working-class residents in the dust.
  • Sample This! (LA CityBeat, Oct. 14, 2004): A little-known court ruling outlaws most sampled music in hip-hop, dance and beyond, but artists find creative loopholes.
Above: Dennis Romero interviews electronic musician Felix Da Housecat in Miami in March, 2003. Photo by Eddie Lin.

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Gangster's Paradise Lost

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LA CityBeat Nov. 6, 2003 By Dennis Romero Cover photo by Steve Appleford Losing the mural, it seems, was a sign of the times. In 2002, when the city renovated the recreation center at Stoner Park in West L.A., the last remnants of the Westside's Latino gang culture were told that the building's big Chicano-era mural would be temporarily removed to accommodate construction, but then returned. The big tableaux from the side of the building was an homage to the Mexican flavor of the neighborhood, and a point of homeboy pride. But when Mayor James K. Hahn presided over ribbon-cutting ceremonies celebrating the completed makeover last summer, the mural was absent, and the homies still haven't seen it. (A council district field deputy who keeps his eye on parks in the area said he has no idea what happened to the artwork.) Today, a few survivors of the Sotel 13 gang, which has claimed the park since the early 1950s, still congregate at the rec center each weekday at 3 p.m.
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