I was just 19, and still at Golden West College, when I was hired by the Los Angeles Times Orange County edition for the lowliest job in the newsroom: clerk. Apart from being asked to get a fake ID so I could buy the night copy desk beer and pizza, and to keep wives and girlfriends on different phone lines, I was ecstatic: A college sophomore, actually working at one of the three great newspapers in the country as a teenager. I did my homework in the newsroom on weekends in the event big news broke and they'd need a reporter so bad that they'd send the college newspaper student to pinch hit. And I did.
I cut my teeth on the police beat and still love breaking news, but also grew into a better writer by learning from some of the best in the country. After two decades at a newspaper, and having to commute three hours daily to L.A., I opted to reinvent myself as a more focused mom and wife and learn more about online writing. I also had more time to volunteer, and enjoy the outdoors around me.
I am a native Southern Californian, born in Whittier, where I grew up swimming in pools, building go-karts and playing kick-the-can. One thing I love about Belmont Shore is that I can be outdoors and have so many places to be. I love to swim and do laps at the Belmont Plaza Pool, float on Alamitos Bay or cycle down the bike path to the Long Beach Museum of Art. Movies are something my son and I love to do together, followed by an hour or more reading at a bookstore. I also try to meet a minimum weekly quota of one double-double, no cheese.
Your Beliefs
At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know.
Politics
Knowledge is power, and people need to understand how decisions are made in their community and how they can participate.
I believe in government for the people and by the people, and that public officials should do what they promise. I also believe that citizens have to work harder to ensure that they do. This is where Patch journalism will be key.
Religion
I believe in God. When I hear Gospel music in church or in concert, I feel God.
Local Hot-Button Issues
Balancing the rights of residents, visitors and businesses. Public safety. Traffic, particularly along Second Street into the intersection with Pacific Coast Highway. The future of the Los Cerritos Wetlands.
Police said the pedestrian was walking outside of a cross-walk Friday night when she was struck by a car driven by a Long Beach man, who was not arrested pending an investigation.
The worker pleaded guilty Friday to charges she stole more than half a mill of taxpayer money over time from city's Animal Control Services department. Her plea deal requires her to pay it back.
Baby daughter was unharmed in the heinous 1977 attack two days after Christmas. The suspect, an Antioch man, was allegedly linked by "cold case" detectives and new technology.
Several alleged Second Street shoplifters were caught on store surveillance cameras that are now in the hands of the Long Beach Police Department. Recognize any suspects?
A resident with Alzheimer's Disease wandered from his Long Beach home Monday night and was located shortly after police sought the public's help.
Watch as the public got a first look at a 4-month-old harbor seal newly named Bixby after a city father.
She's been nursed and taught the ropes by Mom Shelby since her April birth. Now the only seal born at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific can be seen by visitors starting Tuesday.
Long Beach City Prosecutor's first case in new approach to deterring Belmont Shore's alcohol-related nuisances and repeat offenders earns Los Altos man three-year banishment from 2nd Street.
Long Beach police say a man who held up a 99 Cent Store at gunpoint was taken into custody hours later by a SWAT team.
Check to see if you won tickets from Patch to see the new Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones movie, 'Hope Springs.'
An alleged armed robbery at a 99 Cent store progresses into a residential neighborhood.
The commercial satellite Intelsat 21 aunched Sunday from the oceanic platform partly owned by Boeing. The satellite is designed to 'refresh capacity' for a Latin American media distributor.
From the mellow music and vibrant island dancers at the Tiki Festival to the annual tradition of water polo along Bay Shore Avenue, Belmont Shore was host to thousands with Aloha spirit.
Missing since Saturday morning, the man has early stage Alzheimer's and needs medicine, and the Long Beach Police Department is asking for the public's help to find him.
Nationally known wildlife expert will hold free seminars this week on coexisting with the wild animals.
Nationally known wildlife expert will hold free seminars this week on coexisting with the wild animals.
Nationally known wildlife expert will hold free seminars this week on coexisting with the wild animals.
Belmont Shore and Naples school students need to ride or scooter across busy Second Street and sometimes short-cut through alleys that spill onto bustling residential areas. Here are some tips.
Afternoon gridlock is not unusual at the intersection but Long Beach police help clear it fast.
Long Beach police say they jailed the Long Beach resident on suspicion of murder after his arrest in Compton.
