Latest news with #CalStateLosAngeles
Eater
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Susanna MacManus, Longtime Owner of LA's Original Taqueria Cielito Lindo, Dies at Age 82
Susanna MacManus, a co-owner of Olvera Street institutions taquería Cielito Lindo and restaurant Las Anitas, died in her sleep at the age of 82 on Wednesday, June 25, due to complications from Alzheimer's disease. For decades, MacManus — a second-generation Angeleno — was the face of Cielito Lindo, a taqueria where most people would order the combination number one — an order of two beef taquitos drowned in a complex avocado salsa and a side of refried beans with melted cheese. Just after the founding of the city of Los Angeles in the 1780s, the area that became known as Olvera Street (Placita Olvera) was a thriving commercial hub until the 1920s, when it began to decline. Los Angeles socialite Christine Sterling led the revival of the area in 1930. It was there that McManus's grandmother Aurora Guerrero eventually opened a small retail shop on Placita Olvera and later sold food out of a neighboring stall. Guerrero, who immigrated from Huanusco, Zacatecas, arrived in Los Angeles with her children to search for her husband, a bracero who had come to the U.S. three years prior. Sterling asked her to come up with a different recipe than what was being served at other restaurants on the street, and Guerrero settled on taquitos covered in her original avocado sauce. The dish earned her the chance to open Cielito Lindo in 1934, named after a Mexican folk song popularized by the great mariachi singers. As for the taquitos, their rise to fame was swift in a segregated Los Angeles, where many white Angelenos and tourists alike got their first taste of Mexican culture. Taco USA author Gustavo Arellano has argued that this was the birthplace of America's interest in tacos, and Los Angeles became an epicenter of Mexican American cuisine. Guerrero's daughter Ana Natalia Guerrero went on to open Las Anitas in Olvera Street and other locations. On June 12, 1943, Ana Natalia gave birth to Susanna MacManus in Lincoln Heights, as Cielito Lindo was celebrating nine years in business. MacManus eventually married Carlos Eduardo MacManus, not too long after his arrival in Los Angeles from Mexico City in the 1970s. Susanna received a bachelor's degree at Cal State Los Angeles and went on to earn a master's degree in Spanish at UCLA. She taught Introduction to Spanish at Occidental College in Eagle Rock in the 1980s and 1990s while completing coursework for her Ph.D. 'She was teaching full time and raising us, and never got around to writing her dissertation,' says Carlos Eduardo Jr. Ana Natalia died in 2000, and the following year Susanna stepped in to run Cielito Lindo along with her sister, Diana, who served as the CFO. Her other sister, Marianna, became a silent partner in the restaurant. Susanna MacManus in her youth. I interviewed Susanna for my 2017 book, LA Mexicano, getting to experience her sharp wit and gregarious nature firsthand over in-person interviews and multiple phone calls. She joined me for some events, including my book release at Vroman's in Pasadena, where her team served Cielito Lindo's iconic taquitos in avocado sauce. To this day, it's difficult to fathom how easily she just shared the recipe for the salsa, something so good that customers slurp it up from their plates and order it to-go. I remember telling her that I knew she couldn't give up the recipe for the salsa, and she just cut me off mid-sentence. 'Why not? I'll give it to you,' said Susanna with one corner of her mouth turned up. That's just the way she was. Susanna continued to come to events to represent Cielito Lindo. 'She loved being on stage, but above all, carrying on the legacy of the family,' says her son Carlos MacManus Jr. 'I loved how she would talk to random people [in line], like this older gentleman with his grandkid and he would say, 'I would come here with my grandfather as a kid and now I'm taking my grandchild,'' says Susunna's daughter Viviana MacManus, 'She was so touched by that importance.' Beyond her profession, MacManus had a thirst for knowledge, and particularly oral histories. According to her children, she had hoped to document the stories of her customers and their connection to Cielito Lindo, and took a keen interest in young people. 'You know, she even tried to be hip with all the lingo with the music, that new music to keep up with the current generation,' says Carlos MacManus Jr. Susanna's outgoing, infectious nature that helped Cielito Lindo stay relevant and help maintain its status as a Mexican American and Los Angeles institution. It may have been Susanna's outgoing, infectious nature that helped Cielito Lindo stay relevant and help maintain its status as a Mexican American and Los Angeles institution. 'I know that for her, the connection to how important Cielito Lindo is in the story of immigrant Los Angeles needed to be preserved,' says Viviana. In 2017, Cielito Lindo was featured on CNN's Parts Unknown, where the late-Anthony Bourdain discussed Mexican culture in Los Angeles with Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano and comedian Al Madrigal over plates of olive green salsa. There's a satisfying comfort and simplicity in dredging crispy taquitos into a tart, fruity salsa alongside refried beans and shards of melted cheese. Cielito Lindo's signature recipe was born out of desperate times. Susanna's grandmother, Aurora, on her own as a single mother, crafted an unforgettable recipe and secured a restaurant space for posterity. 'The women always took care of business, and my mom grew up very independent since her mom, Ana Natalia, always worked,' says Carlos Eduardo MacManus Jr. Carlos Eduardo recounted a story that his mother told him that she would pass out in one of Cielito Lindo's booths to take a nap while her mother served locals and tourists their post-church ritual of crispy taquitos slathered in salsa. It held true for me as well after attending the No Kings protest in Downtown Los Angeles on June 14. Many of those who participated in the march ended up at Cielito Lindo for combination #1. Dragging pro-immigration banners, marchers full of hope sought the timeless comfort of Chicano food. One pair of elderly women commented on how there was no place to sit, so I directed them to Las Anitas restaurant, where they could enjoy their taquitos in air conditioning surrounded by an array of pastels. The rally took place less than two weeks before Susanna's passing, which followed the March 2025 death of her younger sister, Diana Robertson. The restaurant will remain in the family as the fourth generation of Cielito Lindo sorts out the details. Seamlessly, the line keeps moving on Olvera Street as another leader of this storied institution becomes etched into the legacy of an immortal combo plate. 'Mom always thought of the restaurant as a sort of nexus or a gathering place of solidarity and community for the immigrant population in Los Angeles,' says Carlos Eduardo MacManus Jr. Susanna MacManus is survived by her husband, Carlos Eduardo MacManus, sister Mariana Robertson, and children Carlos Eduardo MacManus Jr. and Viviana MacManus. Cielito Lindo's taquitos with avocado salsa. Bill Esparza Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: Some AI models actually are learning how to solve problems like humans do
To the editor: Guest contributor Iddo Gefen not only laments the analogy between the human brain and artificial intelligence, but he also suggests that human minds don't learn or recall like an AI ('The human brain doesn't learn, think or recall like an AI. Embrace the difference,' July 9). In fact, Gefen gets it backwards: Recent large language reasoning models of AI learn, recall and solve problems much in the way humans do. Humans (and other animals) learn most of our important behaviors through reinforcement, the foundational law of learning first suggested by psychologist Edward Thorndike's Law of Effect and later experimentally investigated and confirmed by the behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner and his colleagues. In addition, verbal humans frequently solve problems by talking (and imagining) to ourselves until we find a solution. Reinforcement plays a critical role in learning and engaging in problem-solving behavior. Reasoning LL models of AI that are also programmed to learn through reinforcement mimic such problem-solving behaviors in humans and are now among the most powerful AI machines. Unfortunately, along the way, Gefen ventures beyond his expertise as a neuroscientist and mischaracterizes 'behaviorist psychology.' If he looked deeper, however, he would find that behavioral psychologists have discovered laws of behavior that have revolutionized the treatment of a wide range of behavior disorders, as well as revolutionizing education. They now provide the foundation for a whole new generation of AI machines that think and learn like humans. Henry D. Schlinger Jr., GlendaleThis writer is a professor of psychology at Cal State Los Angeles. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
10-07-2025
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Some AI models actually are learning how to solve problems like humans do
To the editor: Guest contributor Iddo Gefen not only laments the analogy between the human brain and artificial intelligence, but he also suggests that human minds don't learn or recall like an AI ('The human brain doesn't learn, think or recall like an AI. Embrace the difference,' July 9). In fact, Gefen gets it backwards: Recent large language reasoning models of AI learn, recall and solve problems much in the way humans do. Humans (and other animals) learn most of our important behaviors through reinforcement, the foundational law of learning first suggested by psychologist Edward Thorndike's Law of Effect and later experimentally investigated and confirmed by the behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner and his colleagues. In addition, verbal humans frequently solve problems by talking (and imagining) to ourselves until we find a solution. Reinforcement plays a critical role in learning and engaging in problem-solving behavior. Reasoning LL models of AI that are also programmed to learn through reinforcement mimic such problem-solving behaviors in humans and are now among the most powerful AI machines. Unfortunately, along the way, Gefen ventures beyond his expertise as a neuroscientist and mischaracterizes 'behaviorist psychology.' If he looked deeper, however, he would find that behavioral psychologists have discovered laws of behavior that have revolutionized the treatment of a wide range of behavior disorders, as well as revolutionizing education. They now provide the foundation for a whole new generation of AI machines that think and learn like humans. Henry D. Schlinger Jr., GlendaleThis writer is a professor of psychology at Cal State Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Times
09-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Why is the Los Angeles Innocence Project trying to free Scott Peterson?
For the true-crime-loving public, the Innocence Project and Scott Peterson occupy opposite ends of the moral spectrum. The project helps free the wrongly convicted, while Peterson is a philandering Modesto fertilizer salesman convicted two decades ago of murdering his pregnant wife and the child she carried at Christmastime. Which is why one could almost sense the heads of criminal justice aficionados spinning a year and a half ago when an affiliate of the Innocence Project based at Cal State Los Angeles agreed to represent Peterson. That disconnect has only deepened in recent months. The organization asserted in court filings this spring that it had turned up proof of Peterson's innocence, including a bombshell analysis by a Harvard Medical School professor. 'This new evidence undermines the prosecution's entire circumstantial case against [Peterson] and shows that the jury relied on false evidence, including false scientific evidence, to convict him,' a lawyer for the Los Angeles Innocence Project wrote in an April habeas corpus petition seeking to vacate his conviction. The efforts by the small nonprofit, founded three years ago and currently employing a single full-time attorney, have cracked open a story that seems an artifact of the pre-smartphone era when society's attention was not yet fractured and the search for a pretty young woman could captivate the nation. From 2002, when Laci Peterson vanished from her home, to 2004, when a jury sentenced her husband to death, news outlets from the National Enquirer to 'Good Morning America' breathlessly covered every twist and turn. At least part of the story's mass appeal was the almost comically damning circumstantial evidence pointing to Scott Peterson. The bodies of mother and child, a boy to be named Conner, washed up separately about four months after her disappearance on the shores of the San Francisco Bay, a location 90 miles from the couple's home, but within eyeshot of the waters where Peterson made an impromptu Christmas Eve fishing trip. There was also his affair with a Fresno massage therapist named Amber Frey. He told her two weeks before Laci went missing that he had 'lost' his wife and was preparing for his first holiday alone. And as police searched for Laci, Peterson took steps suggesting he knew she was not coming back — trading in her Land Rover for a pickup truck, planning the sale of their home and furnishings, remaking the nursery as a storage area and adding sexually explicit channels to their cable lineup. 'The evidence of his guilt was compelling and undeniable,' prosecutors wrote in a filing last year opposing an L.A. Innocence Project request for additional DNA testing. To fend off Peterson's ongoing attempts at freedom, the Stanislaus County district attorney's office has called two of the original prosecutors out of retirement. Laci's mother, a steadfast presence in the front row of the 2004 trial, also has returned to the courtroom. At a hearing in San Mateo Superior Court last summer, Sharon Rocha bemoaned her son-in-law's continued legal maneuvers, asking the judge, 'When will this end?' The California Supreme Court examined Peterson's case in 2020 in an initial appeal of his conviction. Though there were no eyewitnesses to the murders and no sign of the victims' blood in Peterson's fishing boat or family home, the high court found 'considerable' circumstantial evidence to support his conviction. The justices reversed his death sentence because of the manner in which the trial judge dismissed potential jurors who said on a questionnaire that they opposed capital punishment. The court ruled that the judge should have pressed them on whether they could set aside their views rather than removing them automatically. Prosecutors opted not to retry the penalty phase, saying they wanted to spare the victims' relatives more protracted proceedings. Peterson was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 2021. A lawyer who had worked on a previous Peterson appeal approached the L.A. Innocence Project for help in 2023, the year after it opened its doors. The founding director, Paula Mitchell, a veteran of Loyola Law School's well-respected innocence program, had access to federal grant money for DNA testing in potential wrongful conviction cases, and the appellate lawyer was looking for a way to cover the analysis of a potential piece of evidence — a mattress pulled from a van torched in a Modesto alley the day after Laci was reported missing. Prosecutors had long maintained the vehicle was unrelated to the murders, and previous testing of the mattress fabric detected only male DNA. But Mitchell agreed to look into the case. Before long, she had thrown her young organization into a wholesale reexamination of the Peterson saga. With assistance from several other lawyers then working for the project, she rented an Airbnb in Modesto, reviewed 40,000 pages of case records and interviewed more than 100 witnesses in what she wrote in a court filing was 'an effort to learn the truth about what happened to Laci and Conner.' From his cell at Mule Creek State Prison, Peterson, now 52, praised the work of the Innocence Project, telling The Times, 'They are selfless and take on what others will not to try to make things right for everyone in our society.' Peterson appears to be an active participant in his defense. In a 126-page declaration filed by the L.A. Innocence Project this spring, he gave an almost moment-by-moment account of how he became convinced Modesto police were railroading him. He also apologized for his affair. 'I do not have an acceptable explanation for my infidelity or the lies I told to Amber Frey,' he wrote, adding that he would live with the shame for the rest of his life. 'All of that being said, I was in no way responsible for Laci's disappearance or her death or that of our son, Conner.' *** Taking on a well-known client such as Peterson in a prosecution obsessively scrutinized by the national media departs from the typical work of the national Innocence Project. Founded in New York in 1992 by attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld — later part of the O.J. Simpson defense team — the organization set out to reexamine cases where the then-new tool of DNA testing might clear or implicate a suspect. Its success spawned the Innocence Network, a coalition of about 70 nonprofits across the nation and in other countries. Members such as the L.A. Innocence Project (LAIP) must get approval to belong, but they run their own affairs and choose cases independently. The demand for their work vastly outstrips the supply. In California, for example, thousands of prisoners every year seek representation from a handful of nonprofits and a circle of private lawyers who do exoneration cases for free. 'People's families call us. Inmates write to us. We get text messages, phone calls, emails, letters,' said one of the private attorneys, Deirdre O'Connor, who has a policy of making potential clients take polygraph examinations. 'I've had people who have been after me for years, trying to get me to look at their case.' Most trying to establish their innocence are 'Black, brown gang members from Los Angeles or some other city,' said Ellen Eggers, a retired state public defender who has helped free eight men from prison since 2011. 'You come from a poor neighborhood. You have no resources. You had a public defender or a court-appointed attorney.' Few seeking help enjoyed Peterson's advantages in the courtroom. His La Jolla family hired Mark Geragos, one of the country's most prominent criminal lawyers, to lead a defense team that cost, according to Geragos, 'a seven-figure sum, at least.' Cliff Gardner, a renowned California post-conviction lawyer, handled his appeal. For some dedicated to exoneration work, LAIP's decision to take Peterson's case was baffling. 'It's not anything that I would ever do,' Eggers said of representing Peterson. She said she did not know the facts of the case, but was reluctant to 'prioritize the people that are white and wealthy and have had lots and lots of bites at the apple with the most expensive attorneys that money can buy.' The public backlash against LAIP representing Peterson was so pronounced that other Innocence Network organizations with no involvement in the case received angry messages. 'One donor who I really trust really was concerned about this being problematic for the movement as a whole,' said Jasmin Harris, the director of development and policy at The Innocence Center in San Diego. She said she understood the worry, but 'if an innocence organization believes in someone's innocence enough to agree to take the case, that is all that should matter.' Mitchell, LAIP's only full-time attorney, declined to be interviewed. The group's board chair, nonprofit executive John Sonego, acknowledged in an interview that 'there are thousands of cases that need representation,' but he insisted Peterson's case was worthy. 'We're advocates for truth and justice. It doesn't matter who the defendant is or how controversial the case,' he said, adding that Peterson's profile might end up helping more typical defendants by putting a spotlight on problems common to other cases. His lawyers argue that the district attorney's office in Modesto and the local police rushed to judgment and disregarded or destroyed evidence implicating other suspects. They've pointed to another case in which two Peterson prosecutors, Birgit Fladager and David Harris, were accused of framing a local lawyer and others for murder. A jury acquitted the lawyer, and in April, Stanislaus County agreed to settle a malicious prosecution lawsuit for $22.5 million. Fladager and Harris declined to be interviewed. The district attorney's office has rejected criticism of the Peterson investigation, saying the evidence against him was 'overwhelming.' The L.A. Innocence Project, which had an annual budget of about $700,000 in 2023, represents four other clients, but none of their cases are currently in court. Peterson is 'one of the primary focuses' of the organization's resources, Sonego said. Federal DNA testing grants cover some of the work, though the LAIP declined to say how much it has put toward Peterson. Other funding has come from members of the public with a particular interest in Peterson. 'There has been some great support that has been given to us because of this case specifically,' he said, adding that those donations pale in comparison with philanthropic grants and other types of contributions. One revenue stream the organization has opted not to pursue is a behind-the-scenes documentary, though not for a lack of interest. Producers have inundated LAIP with requests, but Sonego said Mitchell and the board have declined them all. *** Laci Peterson, 27 and about eight months pregnant, was last seen on the evening of Dec. 23, 2002, when she and Peterson, then 30, visited the hair salon where her sister worked. The following evening, according to trial testimony, he phoned her mother and said that he had returned home to find her 'missing.' The truth, prosecutors told the jury, was that Peterson had killed her that morning or the previous night. They said he put her body in a recently purchased boat, drove an hour and a half to the Berkeley Marina, motored into the bay and dumped her body in the frigid waters. The motive, they said, was his extramarital relationship with Frey, a single mother who thought Peterson was single and looking for a committed relationship. Within a few weeks of embarking on the affair, Peterson was online researching currents in the bay and searching for boats to buy. To re-investigate the case, the L.A. Innocence Project's lawyers pored over evidence collected 22 years ago. Prosecutors told the jury Peterson secretly bought a 14-foot Gamefisher for the express purpose of disposing of his wife's body. LAIP zeroed in on notes found in the Petersons' home that seemed to document calls to two marine supply companies to price anchors. The group asked a handwriting analyst to compare the notes to shopping lists recovered from Laci's purse. The analyst concluded that Laci 'probably wrote' the notes about anchors while Peterson 'probably did not,' according to the April filing seeking a new trial. 'This new evidence shows that Laci knew about the boat; it shows the falsity of the prosecution's narrative,' Mitchell added. Prosecutors have not yet responded in court to LAIP's assertions about the boat and did not answer a question submitted by The Times. The most significant development by far in LAIP's re-investigation came from a phone call to a Harvard radiology professor named Peter Doubilet. A fetal biometrics expert who normally spends his days interpreting obstetrical ultrasounds, he had not followed the Peterson case closely. He had a high regard for the Innocence Project, though, and after talking to Mitchell, he agreed to review the scientific evidence about the timing of Conner's death. His remains were found on the bayshore a day before Laci's. Autopsies on their badly decomposed bodies indicated that she had died while still pregnant and that Conner's body had remained in her womb for some time. A prosecution expert had testified at trial that, based on the length of his femur, he likely died inside her on Dec. 23 — the last day Laci was seen alive. Doubilet did the calculations using data sets compiled in the intervening years and concluded that Conner had died five to 13 days later — between Dec. 28 and Jan. 5. To Peterson's defense, the radiologist's finding was 'exonerating,' as Mitchell wrote in the April filing, because Peterson was under law enforcement surveillance in that period and not in a position to have murdered his pregnant wife. Doubilet did not charge LAIP for his work, explaining to The Times, 'If he happens to be inappropriately convicted — I have no idea if he is or not, I focused on one question — but if he is, I shouldn't become richer.' It's unclear if or how prosecutors might challenge Doubilet's finding. They have not yet responded in court to the radiologist's analysis and did not answer a question about it from The Times. While Doubilet's conclusion about the date of death is clear, the alternative scenario it sets up for Laci and Conner's deaths is less so: A perpetrator or perpetrators abducted a pregnant woman, held her captive for between five days and almost two weeks, a period in which people across the country were looking for her, then killed her and disposed of her body in a place rescue crews were already searching. Peterson's current lawyers, like his previous attorneys, have theorized in filings that individuals connected to the burglary of a home across the street from the couple's residence kidnapped her after she interrupted their crime and then put her body in the bay to frame Peterson. The LAIP in a filing this year suggested the possible involvement of a gang called the Modesto Hardcore Skinheads. The project cited an interview with a prisoner, identified only by his initials, who recalled a conversation three years ago in which an imprisoned shot-caller bragged that his 'homeboys did it' and said Peterson was innocent. Hundreds of pages of LAIP filings do not specify a motive for holding Laci in prolonged captivity before murdering her or the means by which her existence remained secret. The filings imply that people who know the truth are too afraid to reveal it. 'There have been a number of occasions where Ms. Mitchell and I made arrangements to meet a witness in-person and the witness apparently got cold feet and did not show up, and then stopped responding to us completely,' wrote Danielle Leaf, LAIP's DNA case coordinator, in a declaration this year. She said one person 'went to the length of deleting their email account after not showing up for our scheduled in-person meeting.' Prosecutors have scoffed at the notion that numerous people were aware of a headline-making crime and stayed silent. They've noted that, at the time unidentified assailants were supposedly imprisoning Laci Peterson, a $500,000 reward for her safe return went unclaimed. 'In comparison,' the prosecutors wrote in a filing last year, a reward of just $1,000 for information about the burglary was enough to entice a tipster to turn in the perpetrators. Asked whether the new analysis of Conner's time of death would have changed his guilty vote, Mike Belmessieri, a juror in the 2004 trial, replied, 'No, not at all.' He said that given the small size and decomposing state of the remains the difference between Dec. 23 and Dec. 28 struck him as 'splitting hairs.' 'If we weigh all the other evidence,' he added, 'It still goes back to Scott.' *** The L.A. Innocence Project has met with only modest success in court thus far. Last year, before the Harvard radiologist's report, Mitchell asked a San Mateo Superior Court judge to order DNA testing on 14 items that LAIP said were 'material to the issue of the identity of the perpetrator(s) of the crimes for which Scott Peterson was convicted.' The requests included items connected to the burglary, debris found on or near the victims' remains, and fabric from the mattress found in a van torched the day after Laci went missing. Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hill denied 13 of LAIP's 14 requests. The one item she permitted to be tested was a 15-inch piece of duct tape adhered to the maternity pants Laci was wearing when her body washed ashore. The results are under seal, but they do not appear to be earth-shattering, as LAIP didn't mention DNA on the duct tape in Peterson's April petition. That petition was dismissed by an appellate court with direction that it be refiled with Hill in San Mateo court. LAIP is expected to do that later this summer. The process that follows — another round of the prosecution filings insisting on Peterson's guilt and defense filings protesting his innocence — will likely push proceedings in a case that once seemed a relic of the past into next year. The man at its center expressed confidence in his lawyers' work. 'I'll let the evidence in the filings stand on its own; it cannot be refuted,' Peterson told The Times.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Los Angeles Times welcomes Class of 2025 summer interns
The Los Angeles Times is excited to introduce the Class of 2025 summer interns, continuing a time-honored tradition of training the next generation of multimedia journalists. The 26 college students and recent graduates arrive to the El Segundo newsroom, starting Tuesday, armed with ideas and vigor. They join The Times from colleges and university across the nation and from here in California. Among the cohort, some have told stories abroad and others have applied their talent to tackle coverage in closer arenas, including in the arts, education, innovation and migration. They are diverse thinkers and doers. Their background showcases work with policymakers, cancer researchers, entrepreneurs and illustrators. Their assignments now will bring them to all corners of our newsroom, from breaking news to data reporting, from design and photography to arts and entertainment writing. The interns were selected from nearly 1,000 applications and through partnerships with Cal State Los Angeles, the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, the NAACP, the Dow Jones News Fund, the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, and the Asian American Journalists Assn. Journalism is what binds them. Storytelling in its many forms is what drives them. Please meet them below: Annie Goodykoontz was born and raised in Phoenix. She is a rising junior at the University of Missouri-Columbia, studying journalism. This past year, she was the editor-in-chief of the school's student newspaper, the Maneater. Last summer, she worked as a breaking news intern at the Arizona Republic, where she discovered her love for community journalism, along with writing about fires, rattlesnake bites, drowning deaths, the monitor lizard and whether it's OK to pick fruit off a neighbor's tree. She's excited to continue this passion as a Fast Break intern this summer at the Los Angeles Times. In her free time, Annie loves to make random playlists, doodle in her reporter's notebook and go antiquing. Aspen Anderson recently graduated from the University of Washington, where she studied journalism and psychology. In college, she was a news reporter for the Daily and served as a legislative reporter during the 2024 Washington session, contributing stories to newspapers across the state. She spent last summer reporting for the Bangkok Post, covering same-sex marriage legalization and related policy gaps. Last fall, she interned at the Vashon Beachcomber — one of her hometown papers — covering everything from a thrift store's role in the global supply chain to a paddleboarding witch parade. Aspen is now a freelancer for the Seattle Times features section, where she writes the How-to-Seattle beat. She's thrilled to join the features desk on June 24, doing what she loves most: human-centered, impactful reporting. Avery Fox is a spring 2025 design graduate at the University of Texas at Austin and grew up in Arlington, Texas, as the daughter of two journalists. She has worked previously with the Dallas Morning News as a summer mentee and freelance illustrator, and more recently with Texas Monthly magazine as an art intern. In school, she pursued editorial layout design and printmaking, as well as minors in sociology and arts management and administration. In her free time, she enjoys crafting, exploring nature and escaping into reality TV. She is passionate about enlisting the style and structure of magazine design to better engage and communicate with the reader and is excited to explore this at The Times as a design intern. Cate Burtner is a recent graduate of Stanford University, where she studied English literature and fell in love with books and storytelling. She wrote and edited for the Stanford Daily and Stanford's literary magazine, and tutored high school students in humanities classrooms across the bay. Cate has previously interned at San Francisco's literary festival and a policy nonprofit in Chicago. She is from the Pacific Northwest and is excited to find the best hikes in the L.A. area. In her free time, Cate loves reading, drawing and listening to music. She will be joining the L.A. Times as the entertainment and arts intern in June. @cateburtner Christopher Buchanan is a recent graduate of UCLA, where he studied English literature. While in college, he worked as a senior reporter for the Daily Bruin where he covered national and state politics, protests and university bureaucracy. Buchanan most recently served as a special projects intern at NBC, following stints at CalMatters and American Banker; the latter as a member of the Dow Jones News Fund. His work has also been featured in Politico and NPR-affiliate stations. He co-founded and serves as editor-in-chief of an online magazine, Bum Diary, which covers a range of mainstream and alternative topics and has been featured in the Riverside Art Museum. He will join The Times as a Fast Break intern. Diamy Wang is a San Gabriel Valley native and rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania. She is pursuing majors in political science and gender, sexuality and women's studies, and a minor in Asian American studies. At Penn, she is the executive editor of the Daily Pennsylvanian, the university's independent student media organization where she worked as a deputy copy editor and the politics desk editor — reporting on the 2024 election, campus activism and federal scrutiny on the school. She was previously an audience engagement intern at the Detroit Free Press through the Dow Jones News Fund. When she's not in the DP office, she enjoys browsing through stationery stores or looking for a new iced latte flavor. She is excited to join The Times, her hometown paper, as a homepage intern on June 9. @diamywang Elisha Williams, a natural-born storyteller, is a media enthusiast majoring in digital journalism and communication at the University of Southern Mississippi. Known as "Big Lish," she is the charismatic host of Southern Miss Says, a man-on-the-street interview show that spotlights student voices with humor and heart. Elisha also writes for the Student Printz, covering campus culture and student life, and serves as chairman of the communications committee within the Student Government Assn., where she advocates for student engagement and campus initiatives. With a passion for audience engagement and creating impactful content, Elisha is thrilled to bring her creativity to The Times' audience team. @elisha__williams Fazlur Rahman was a business journalist at the Daily Star, the most widely circulated English-language daily in Bangladesh, before moving to Nevada in fall 2024 to pursue a master's degree in journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is expected to graduate in May 2026. He spent a decade covering topics such as macroeconomy, finance, telecommunications, energy, and small and medium-sized enterprises. Between 2021, when he became deputy business editor, and 2024, he edited major stories for both online and print editions, wrote breaking news, and produced news analysis pieces. He enjoys playing cricket and soccer. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to intern with the business desk at The Times. Hailey Wang was born and raised in Taiwan and recently earned her master's degree from UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Before graduate school, she worked as a reporter for a financial magazine in Taiwan for three years, earning two reporting awards. Her beats included business, politics, climate change and culture. She has interned with Bloomberg News and Lookout Santa Cruz, where she told stories through data and interactive maps. Hailey is passionate about uncovering hidden narratives in data sets, especially those tied to underrepresented communities. When she's not in front of her laptop, you can find her at a local coffee shop or catching the latest film. She is excited to join the data and graphics team on July 7. Ira Gorawara is a junior at UCLA double majoring in economics and communication with a minor in professional writing. She helmed the Daily Bruin's award-winning sports section, and reported across Asia for outlets including the South China Morning Post, NDTV, Cricket Hong Kong and Emerging Cricket. She is also the author of "The ABCs of Life," a short story collection, and is an author for UCLA Blueprint, where she writes on regional and societal issues in Los Angeles. As an Indian born and raised in Hong Kong, she brings a global lens to her storytelling and is thrilled to continue growing her craft with The Times' sports department starting June 23. Isabelle Nunes is a rising senior at UC Berkeley, where they study media studies and political science. At the Daily Californian, they served as a deputy news editor and social media editor before being elected as the 2025-2026 staff representative. Last summer, they worked at the Public Policy Institute of California as a digital marketing intern and are now completing their term as an audience development intern for KQED. Outside of the newsroom, Nunes enjoys taking public transportation, reading and scrolling through Pinterest for design inspiration. They are excited to continue their journey in the journalism industry as an audience intern for The Times. June Hsu is a recent graduate of Pomona College, where she studied public policy analysis and politics. Originally from Kauai, Hawaii, she served as editor-in-chief of the Student Life, the oldest college newspaper in Southern California, after holding roles as managing editor, news editor and news writer. She is a fellow with CalMatters' College Journalism Network and has interned with Voice of America. June also participated in the Politico Journalism Institute in Washington, D.C. When she's not editing, you can find her working in a coffee shop, rewatching "Friends" for the 10th time or exploring California beaches — trying not to miss home too much. She's thrilled to join The Times' copy desk as a multiplatform editing intern with the Dow Jones News Fund. Kara Alexander is a rising senior majoring in journalism at Cal State L.A. She works as a multimedia reporter for the University Times, uncovering budget cuts affecting the CSU system — particularly at her campus — analyzing data on food deserts in South Los Angeles and building sources across the city. She has covered Cal State L.A. sports teams during the regular season and postseason, focusing on women's tennis, men's baseball and men's basketball. Most recently, she participated in the news conference for the LAFC game against the San Jose Earthquakes. Kara's work reflects a strong passion for telling impactful, community-driven stories. In her free time, she enjoys going to the gym, hiking, roller skating and thrifting. Originally from Hawthorne, she's excited to stay local — and even more thrilled to sharpen her skills as a sports intern at The Times. Katerina Portela, raised in Florida and Hawaii, recently graduated from San Diego State University where she was honored as the school's top journalism undergraduate. She contributed award-winning features coverage to her university newspaper and led the creation of a student-made mini-magazine named Dead Air for the campus radio station. Portela also worked as an investigative news assistant at KPBS, a PBS and NPR affiliate, where she edited audio, researched public databases, handled social media content and wrote investigative articles on regional issues. She enjoys exploring museums, hearing live music, and finding new favorite restaurants. She can't wait to join The Times as the Image intern and looks forward to diving into L.A.'s vibrant city culture (and its street tacos, of course). Lauren Harvey is a graduate student at USC studying communication data science. Born and raised in Huntington Beach, she graduated from UC Berkeley in 2024 with degrees in English and public health. Her work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, uDiscover Music and Fifty Grande magazine. When she's not writing, she's teaching yoga sculpt and strength training classes at CorePower Yoga or taking care of her dogs, Odin and Hash Brown. She's excited to join The Times on the Entertainment and Arts team. Lauren Ng is a Torrance native and rising junior at New York University studying journalism, food studies, public policy and data science. She's thrilled to join the Food section at The Times, where she hopes to explore the intersections between food, culture and politics. This fall, Lauren will be the managing editor at the Washington Square News, NYU's independent student-run newspaper, where she formerly served as the culture editor and dining editor. Lauren has also worked as an editorial assistant at Food Fix, a biweekly newsletter that covers American food policy. When she isn't writing about good eats, you can find her trying new restaurants around L.A., cooking with her family or shopping at her local Whole Foods. Luke Johnson is a documentary photojournalist originally from San Diego currently based in Washington, D.C., while he pursues his M.A. in new media and photojournalism at George Washington University. In 2023, he graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in journalism, a B.A. in cinema and television arts and minors in photography and psychology. Previously he has interned for the Gillette News Record, the Seattle Times, the Indianapolis Star, the Kansas City Star and San Diego Magazine. His work has been featured in the Washington Post, the Associated Press, the New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated, among others. He is excited to be back home in Southern California, joining the team as a photojournalism intern. Lupita Fernandez Garcia is a rising senior at UCLA completing her bachelor's degree in English while minoring in professional writing. From the Bay Area, her passion for journalism and community representation was unraveled in high school through Mosaic Journalism, where she would go on to publish articles for the Mercury News. Her passion for community building is showcased through her commitment to her Latina-based sorority, Phi Lambda Rho Sorority Inc., aiming to preserve the retention of Latinas in higher education. Her love for creative and communal spaces has manifested into joining The Times as a community engagement intern. Also a fashion and music enthusiast, she is likely to be spotted at any local thrift store listening to rock en Español. Marcos Magaña was born and raised in the eastern Coachella Valley, a predominantly agricultural desert region in Southern California. He holds a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees from UCLA in urban and regional planning and geospatial information systems, where he focused on issues closely affecting his home community, including environmental justice, spatial inequality and climate vulnerability. He is now pursuing a PhD in environment and sustainability at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, where he investigates the biosocial dimensions of extreme heat exposure in low-income and racialized communities, with a focus on desert geographies. By interning with the environment and health desk, he aims to develop the skills to effectively communicate his research to broader audiences, to make his work more accessible and impactful beyond academic settings. Niamh Ordner is a senior at Rice University majoring in integrative biology, with research experience in plant molecular biology and computational cancer genomics. She currently works as a science writing intern for Rice's School of Natural Sciences and serves as a writer and editor for Catalyst, the university's undergraduate research journal. Whether she's explaining the purpose of peroxisomal targeting signals or the science behind her favorite sci-fi novels, she is always the happiest when she using her knowledge to spark curiosity in others. This summer, she's beyond excited to join the Los Angeles Times as a mass media fellow through the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, sponsored by the American Statistical Assn. Nicole Macias Garibay is a transborder storyteller and bilingual journalist from the U.S.-Mexico border. She is a recent graduate of Arizona State University in her home state, where she studied journalism. Nicole grew up crossing the border every day to attend school in the U.S. — an experience that fuels her drive to report on migration, Latino culture and the Hispanic community. She wrote for La Voz — The Arizona Republic, interned at Telemundo Arizona and launched VOCES, a bilingual magazine dedicated to telling stories para la comunidad, por la comunidad. The first time she drove into L.A., Nicole told her parents she would work at The Times one day. She's excited to begin that chapter on June 23 as a De Los intern. Piper Heath is a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, completing dual degrees in journalism and political science. Currently a lobbying intern at the Nevada Legislature, she previously worked at the Nevadan where she developed expertise in social media strategy and community-focused reporting. She contributed to the New York Times as an election stringer during the 2024 presidential election and reported on culture and politics at the Paris Olympics. Her work includes publishing in the North American Congress on Latin America and interviewing acclaimed author George Saunders. A cold brew connoisseur in her own right, she is beyond excited to start as a business intern on June 9 through a partnership with her university. Quinae Austin is a first-generation college student and mother from South Central Los Angeles. She holds an associate degree in journalism from Cerritos College and is pursuing a broadcast journalism degree at Cal State L.A. Her experience includes writing for the University Times, the campus student-run newspaper and working at the campus radio station. Passionate about amplifying marginalized voices through various media, Quinae recently self-published a poetry book, 'Welcome to my Naeborhood,' exploring themes of identity, resilience and transformation. Her love for writing has also taken her abroad, where she wrote about her time at the University of Durham in England. Through her journalism and creative writing, Quinae aims to elevate underrepresented voices and create meaningful connections. She is excited to join The Times as a community engagement intern on July 7. Quincy Bowie Jr. is a passionate multimedia journalist and creative nonfiction artist who most often explores the intersections of identity, culture and media in his work. A proud Alabama native, he recently graduated from USC, where he studied journalism and documentary. In his time there, he contributed to the Daily Trojan, USC Annenberg Media and produced multiple documentaries and short films. You can find his previous work at CNN, Spectrum News and Memorías de Nomada. Outside of work, he spends his time looking for good books, honing his craft, and searching for L.A.'s best soul food spot. Samantha H. Chung is an Angeleno and a recent graduate of Harvard College, where she studied English and East Asian studies. She served as the books executive and editor-at-large for the arts section of the Harvard Crimson, where she developed a passion for cultural criticism and arts reporting. She is also an avid fiction writer and her work has been published in magazines such as Strange Horizons, F&SF and Fusion Fragment. When not writing, Chung can be found figure skating, watching horror movies, or looking at pictures of weird fish. She is thrilled to join The Times as a multiplatform editing intern starting June 9. @samhchung Zurie Pope was born and raised in southwest Ohio. A former student of the University of Cincinnati, Zurie studied journalism and political science. Zurie's journalism career started with writing for his high school newspaper. Since then, he has worked for the Nation magazine, the Washington Blade, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Ohio Capital Journal and the university's student newspaper, the News Record. Throughout his experiences, he has maintained an interest in long-form investigative journalism, focused on money in politics, LGBTQ+ rights and extremism. When he's not working, Zurie likes to go on long walks, memorize poetry and discover new bookstores. Zurie will be joining The Times on June 9 as an Ida B. Wells Society intern. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
