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.
Marijuana-laced brownies were sold to several students by a 15-year-old, and when two of them got sick, Long Beach Unified brought in police, which led to a search of classrooms.
If you take kosher seriously and want even dog diners to observe, we have a store for you.
Long Beach police say speeding and rain may have factored into driver losing control of the truck.
The largest operation of its kind, it involved 1,900 officers and agents and arrests that included Long Beach man.
With a female rider who wore no helmet, the driver went from the Valley through L.A. and Long Beach before stopping near Camp Pendleton, CHP says.
This week's Reader's Choice: Where's the best place to go for that all-important meal of the day in Culver City? Best eggs? Hashbrowns? Coffee? Chorizo? Stack 'o cakes? Vibe? Tell us!
9 a.m. closing for this week's Reader's Choice: Where should we go for that all-important meal of the day?
Customs officers at the ports of Long Beach and L.A. will show the vehicles that were bought with fake names to get loans or leases but were bound for Asia, presumably for their $1.5M value.
Millions in rebates and incentives are available this year to local businesses serviced by Southern California Gas Co.
Kinde Durkee pleads to mail fraud, says she stole funds from Democrat Sen. Feinstein and Southland Congresswomen Loretta and Linda Sanchez to spend on business, Long Beach home.
Yon Chreng, a young Cambodian-American who tried to flag down a dangerous driver and was dragged to his death, will be honored this weekend.
Friday to Sunday, the hip clothing and shoe store that stocks black uniform pants will donate back to the middle school. A shoe artist will be customizing shoes Saturday.
The tiny female, left motherless and unable to learn survival skills in the wild, has a new home at Long Beach's nonprofit waterfront aquarium.
'It's not been a good week for migrating gray whales,' notes blogger Pete Thomas Outdoors, who also reported a tangled mother and calf tracked by Coast Guard toward Huntington Beach.
State appeals court vacates his 433-year sentence after finding Nevada conviction wasn't a 'strike.'
Goods movement to DWP's Haynes Generating Station may clog intersections.
City Manager announces a veteran deputy chief to take the helm during replacement search.
A relative of the man run down by a hit-run driver said the man they call Eley was part of a close Cambodian-American family in Long Beach.
Police seek public help in the case of gang members who confronted a Long Beach man who was gunned down in 2009.
The advocate for arts, education and stem cell research will be fondly honored. She was key in the success and legacy of late husband Steve Horn, congressman and Cal State Long Beach president.
