Lexis-Olivier Ray

Lexis-Olivier Ray is an award-winning staff investigative reporter for L.A. TACO known for holding powerful people in Los Angeles accountable and his reporting on Los Angeles culture. As well as an artist and filmmaker. In 2022, the Society of Professional Journalists’ Los Angeles chapter named Ray one of their “distinguished journalists.” In 2023, Ray won a second place Anthem Award in their Health Innovation category for a texting service geared towards the unhoused community and service providers that he launched in 2021 with L.A. TACO and Subtext. Ray was a 2020 USC Center For Health Journalism (CHJ) Data Fellow. As well as a 2022 CHJ Impact Fellow. As a freelancer, Ray has contributed to the L.A. Times, Men’s Health Magazine, KCET and SFGATE.
California DOJ Finally Begins Reviewing Wrongful Convictions, Following L.A. TACO Report
This comes four months after L.A. TACO first reported that the PCJU had not begun accepting applications from defendants who say they were wrongfully convicted, nearly two years after Attorney General Rob Bonta made headlines for launching the DOJ’s first-ever post-conviction review unit.
City of L.A. Quietly Abandons Plans To Expand Electric Car Share Program To South L.A.
BlueLA shut down last month after the city received a multi-million dollar grant to expand the car share service into South Los Angeles.
Iconic Virgil Village Pink Trumpet Trees Illegally Trimmed ‘Beyond Recovery’
The trumpet trees were picked by a coalition of Mexican, Salvadoran, Filipino, Japanese, Black, and Ukrainian residents for their sturdiness and colorfulness. Some of the trees were even given names.
L.A. Dispensary Owners Say Excessive Permit Fees Are Pushing Them Out Of Legal Market
Speaking in solidarity with social equity licensees, Catalyst Cannabis CEO Elliot Lewis said the Department of Cannabis Regulation has “done nothing to earn the tax money of this industry. The [social equity] program is an abject failure.”
Westlake’s Oldest Gay Bar Launches GoFundMe to Raise Funds For Relocation Costs
This unforeseen situation has put us in a precarious position, and we urgently need your help to relocate and continue our mission of serving the community that has supported us for so many years,” Vasquez wrote.
Ozempic Sponsoring the L.A. Olympics? Who’s Behind This Billboard In Echo Park?
And what does it mean?
Cop’s Daughter Seeks Justice For Fatal LAPD Shooting of Her Husband Holding a Plastic Fork
“The same institution that he was murdered by is the same institution that he was married into,” Alex Smith said. “If this is something that can happen to a cop's daughter, this can happen to anyone.”
A Mother Called Police To Help Her Suicidal Mentally Ill Son, Then LAPD Shot Him
A 2024 analysis of LAPD data since 2017 found that nearly a third of people shot at by police were struggling with some kind of mental illness.
Erewhon’s Santa Monica Location Closes Cafe Due To ‘Major Vermin Infestation’
Looks like even the vermin aren't sticking around for $20 smoothies.
City of L.A. ‘Beautifies’ Chinatown Park, Then Fences It Off And Keeps It Closed For A Year
Today, more than 12 months after the area was cleared of unhoused people, Alameda Triangle remains fenced off. And it doesn’t appear that the area has been maintained for months.