I’m a journalist based out of Los Angeles reporting on education,  homelessness, mental health and more

dailynews • 25th March 2023

School community rejoices as LAUSD, union leaders reach historic deal

The Los Angeles Unified School District finally hammered out a deal with labor leaders on Friday, March 4, after a sprawling three-day strike that shut down America’s second-largest school system and disrupted learning for 420,000 students.

The deal was brokered between the district and SEIU Local 99 — the union representing 30,000 bus drivers, custodians, instructional aides, cafeteria workers and special education assistants — with help from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

According to the sch

dailynews • 4th March 2023

There’s a dire need for male teachers of color. These men are stepping up

Latino males make up less than 6% of California’s public school teachers and Black males make up around 1% — two shockingly low statistics that have prompted a slew of new initiatives to bring more men of color into the classroom.

“There’s just simply not enough educated, Black or Brown men contributing to education,” said Joshua Shuford, a substitute teacher in the Rialto Unified School District. “Us teachers are taking back the power of freedom, unity and equality, from a system that’s not me

sangabrielvalleytribune • 19th February 2023

Man fatally shot in Hacienda Heights identified as prominent Catholic clergyman, reports say

A man who was shot to death Saturday afternoon in Hacienda Heights has been identified as an Auxiliary Bishop in the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, broadcast reports said.

Citing Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators, TV and radio stations reported the shooting victim was 69-year-old Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell.

A suspicious death investigation was underway following the shooting, LASD homicide detective Michael Modica told reporters late Saturday night.

Deputies re

dailynews • 28th January 2023

LA is losing the battle against mental illness among its homeless

Dr. Brian Benjamin, a psychiatrist specializing in serving the homeless, was excited to tell one of his regular clients that a shelter spot had opened up, but unfortunately there were 20 murders in that building every day and the Mafia lived there – or so the client told him.

The client, who Benjamin did not name to respect his privacy, suffered from hallucinations, delusions and paranoia as a result of schizophrenia.

“I do think there’s a lot of times where there’s a direct connection between

pasadenastarnews • 24th January 2023

Monterey Park shooting victim Ming Wei Ma was ‘the heart’ of Star Ballroom Dance Studio

Ming Wei Ma, a dance instructor known as the heart and soul of Star Ballroom Dance Studio, was among the 11 killed in the Monterey Park mass shooting and died trying to protect others, according to friends and reports.

Friends said Ma, 72, was killed at the popular Garvey Avenue studio on Saturday night, Jan. 21, where he and a group of fellow dancers had gathered for a social event on the night of Lunar New Year, which drew thousands to the downtown area. Friends said Ma’s family in China was

dailybreeze • 26th August 2022

Torrance senior mobile home residents seek refuge from rent hikes

When lifelong Torrance resident Sally Ausbourne purchased a retirement home at the Skyline Mobile Home Park more than a decade ago, she never anticipated choosing between paying rent and saving her teeth.

But now, that is the exact predicament she finds herself in. And she is not alone.

The residents in the senior-only 265-lot mobile home park are days away from the second round of rent hikes on their lots – they own their homes but not their land – forcing them to contemplate tough financial

dailynews • 26th August 2022

New racist texts emerge from Torrance police officers

Reigniting a scandal that began last December, new racist texts have emerged from Torrance police officers who joked on their telephones about urinating on a Black child, gassing Jews and beating up a woman.

The state Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation eight months ago into allegations that Torrance officers were engaging in racist conduct, including the painting of a swastika on a suspect’s car and sharing racist and homophobic text messages.

But the latest release of 390 tex

dailybreeze • 6th September 2022

Torrance Tiny Home Village, 2 months in, succeeding so far

The isolation of living in his car for nine years was so severe that when a passerby greeted him one morning, his reply came out as a strained gurgle.

Realizing that he had forgotten how to speak, the now 57-year old, formerly homeless Torrance resident, who requested anonymity for fear that potential employers may shy away from hiring him, started talking to his dog Kenzie for practice. In a decade of homelessness, Kenzie has been his greatest companion – but also a barrier to housing.

That’s

dailynews • 4th August 2022

6 killed, 8 injured in fiery crash in Windsor Hills area of Los Angeles

Six people — including three adults, an infant and an unborn child died — and eight other people were injured Thursday, Aug. 4, in a fiery multi-vehicle crash in the Windsor Hills area of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Fire Department units were called to the area of South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles, just before 1:40 p.m., near Ladera Park.

Initially reported as a fire, officials discovered as many as six vehicles had collided.

A Mercedes-Benz wa

Santa Monica Daily Press • 9th October 2021

Rent control tenants endure 6 years of construction hell at 220 San Vicente

In December 2016 Anastasia Foster was completing her regular rounds of food delivery as a Meals on Wheels volunteer, but when she arrived at 220 San Vicente Boulevard her longtime client Suzette Glickman was nowhere to be found.

Glickman was a rent controlled tenant in her eighties, who had lived in the building for 38 years. She was a partial amputee and had multiple disabilities that prevented her from leaving her unit, so her absence caused Foster immediate alarm.

After contacting the build

SMDP • 11th September 2021

The road to affordable housing is paved with confusion

For decades, the City of Santa Monica has maintained a list of individuals waiting for an affordable housing unit, however, the inner workings of the list have been a mystery to residents, and even to those who administer it.

The alchemy of the list combines income level, household size, current living situation, cultural priorities and personal preference but the magic ingredient that determines when someone on the list will move into an apartment is impossible to identify.

This is due to bot

Santa Monica Daily Press • 16th October 2021

Snapchat takes steps to combat sale of lethal “fentapills” on their platform

On the evening of Feb. 7 Santa Monica teen Sammy Berman Chapman asked his dad for a cheeseburger and went to his bedroom. An hour later his mother found him dead on the floor.

Sammy was killed by a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid 50 times as powerful as heroin. The culprit: a drug dealer on Snapchat and, from the parents’ perspective, the company Snap itself, which they said was not doing enough to protect young users like Sammy.

His story is not an outlier. Accordi