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.
Long Beach man charged with sexually molesting a 9-year-old girl, murdering her and laying down with her body in a church lot pleads not guilty Tuesday.
Half are parents who've given creatively and tirelessly. Half are teachers named by Principal Tom Huff as gifted educators who can make a difference in students' lives. They're Mustang Pride winners.
Department doesn't reference officer being disarmed by suspect, as reported by eyewitness.
Only Patch was on the scene and found an eyewitness who said a Long Beach policeman was arresting a drunk man when the suspect jumped the officer and reached for his gun in the street.
We hear the Queen was phenomenal as part of Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival. Show us your photo or videos of the night.
Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, and the partial phases of total eclipses are never safe to watch without taking precautions, according to NASA.
The honor was conferred Saturday upon a solider from WW II and posthumously upon a Vietnam War veteran.
The latest update is that it was not a bank but a person near one, who was robbed of cash, and a Long Beach Police Department search ended with arrests.
Afternoon theft draws big ground and air response by Long Beach Officers, who closed some streets.
Long Beach suspended officer Noe Yates faces charges ranging from molestation and intercourse to providing alcohol and false imprisonment.
Aquarium of the Pacific staff say the 13 birds are ahead of breeding season, already hatching eggs and raising a chick -- and the public's invited.
City of Long Beach health officials find bacteria levels are within safety standards after sewage spill.
Shooting investigation has yielded few leads but detectives do have a getaway car description: Hyundai.
The long-controversial proposal to build a 9-story hotel, condos and retail-restaurants was denied in December, but property owners had said they'd try again. They've now sought city OK for something already allowed.
Come sample food from Belmont Shore's restaurants and meet the Patch team in green.
The longtime employee of Long Beach Animal Control Services is arraigned. City audit found $253,000 missing, but D.A. Monday tells court she's suspected of taking $500,00 in public funds.
The driver of an Eastbound SUV on PCH turned left and a big rig struck it, with driver and passenger thrown out. The truck then ran over the passenger, who died at the crash, which others survived.
It was not easy with all the great reader nominations (Sealy Dan was funny, if she were a he). But we'll submit all of them for the Aquarium to consider come final naming of the pup born last month.
This morning's quake registered at a slight 2.1 by seismologists and centered 13 miles away in the Catalina (ocean) channel.
A woman walking her dog is attacked by two pit bulls, but primarily one, and left seriously injured after onlookers could not free her and Long Beach police shot the dog to save her.
