There was a man staring out of the window, sitting alone, miles away from anything. Occasionally, he smiled, or spoke, and his words drifted out to the world without an ear to hear them. His dark eyes were bloodshot. His limbs twitched. Every few minutes he would close his eyes and succumb to the feeling, [...]

While reporting for KPCC’s Town Hall Journal, I had the pleasure of visiting Homeboy Industries and talking to staff - and participants - at the tattoo removal clinic. It’s a free program, thanks to donations and doctors willing to sacrifice their time. And for many ex-gang members looking to start anew, it’s an essential [...]

The 333 is a rapid route bus that travels down Venice Boulevard from the West Side, the ocean, the hippies and the medical marijuana stores to downtown Los Angeles. I get on around midday at Centinela, and pay the $1.25 with a moist note and coins hot from my 10 minute wait in the sunshine. [...]

The summer is over, and while the bickering inspired by the LAUSD’s messy finances continues among teachers, administrators and politicians, many students in the district are occupying classroom desks once again. If they’re lucky, they might even have chairs. If not, it’ll be a fight for a comfy spot leaning against the supply cupboard.

You might say I’m a moody foodie.

I love eating out, and I love eating in. It all depends on what’s happening inside the bowl of spaghetti that is my brain. Sometimes I’m in stale, frustrated knots and need to get out of the house, sip a frou-frou cocktail and eat warm chips with fresh pico-de-gallo [...]

Today, Education Week featured my series on the children of immigrants in California. “Breaking Through” tells the stories of a number of naturalized immigrant children who are fighting for social ascension against a number of barriers. The stories are based in Los Angeles and the farm-worker city of Delano in the San Joaquin [...]

Yesenia Zamarripas is about to enter her sophomore year at Crenshaw High School. Her Mexican parents speak very little English, and so it’s been hard for Yesenia to keep up with her peers. Now, the pressure is mounting, and there’s no time to fall behind.

OPINION: An overwhelming number of second generation immigrants are trapped under a low glass ceiling. We can either raise the roof, or bring it down on them, and take cover as California falls apart.

This article originally appeared on OJR: the Online Journalism Review.

While the newspaper industry struggles to find new definition in an Internet age, the population most at risk of being left behind is low-income communities. Local newspapers are suffering significant losses in the industry, and yet the medium is still heavily relied upon as a [...]