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Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country.

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Roxana Salcedo

Media professional experience in various areas of news and entertainment production and media relations. Skilled in Microsoft programs, communications, relationship building, project management, research, and pitching.

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Nicole R. Zimmerman

Reporter | Copywriter | Editor | Author | Educator

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Emily is a journalist with bylines in the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Inverse, Vanity Fair, io9, and more. She has been writing professionally since 2011, and …

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Latest Articles

Where the Sikh American 'Peach King' thrived and seeded a legacy

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Friday, Sept. 23. I’m Jeong Park, a reporter covering Asian American communities for The Times, coming to you from Mid-City in Los Angeles. In a little over a month, the largest celebration for the Sikh American community will take place in Yuba City. It’s a town of 70,000 souls in Sutter County, about 40 miles north of Sacramento. But on the first weekend of every November, the population more than doubles as some 100,000 S
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

New laws address anti-Asian hate in the long-term, but what about feeling safe right now?

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California . It’s Thursday, Sept. 21. I’m Jeong Park, coming to you from Mid-City in Los Angeles. I cover Asian American communities. Last week, two stories about anti-Asian hate grabbed my attention. On Sept. 13, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills seeking to address harassment — often based on race — on public transit and in businesses. The new laws will create a model survey for transit agencies to help them gather data about the harassme
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Candidates for L.A. mayor and L.A. County sheriff face off tonight

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Wednesday, Sept. 21. I’m Jeong Park, a reporter covering Asian American communities. Believe it or not, we are less than three weeks out from ballots being mailed out to California voters for the November election. To help you make informed decisions, The Times along with other media partners and civic groups tonight are hosting back-to-back debates with the candidates in the races for L.A. mayor and L.A. County sheriff. I
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Hindu nationalism in India ratchets up tensions among immigrants in the U.S.

In a park in Anaheim last month, hundreds gathered to celebrate Indian Independence Day. They bought Indian food from booths and settled on the grass to watch traditional song and dance performances. The holiday had special significance this year: Aug. 15 was the 75th anniversary of the end of British rule. Then, about a dozen people, most of whom were Indian American, marched silently past the crowd, carrying signs that read “Abolish caste” and “Protect India’s Muslim lives.” A few men from
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

How college football helped this 'parachute kid' understand America

Nine months after arriving in the U.S. from South Korea, I watched my first college football game. I was 12 and living in a suburban house with a host family I barely knew. On a small TV in my bedroom, I watched Rutgers upset Louisville. Coach Greg Schiano got drenched in Gatorade. Thousands stormed onto the field, dressed in scarlet and white. The joy I witnessed that night was like nothing I had ever seen. From that moment, I was hooked. As I navigated a new country without my parents, as
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

From O.C. church shooting to Pelosi's visit — what it's like to be Taiwanese American right now

At the Miss Taiwanese American pageant, contestants usually answer questions like, “Describe yourself in three words.” This year, with the competition taking place days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan, organizers prodded the young women to share their thoughts about the island. One contestant, Tiffany Chang, highlighted Taiwan’s vaunted semiconductor industry and a democratic government that provides universal healthcare and has legalized same-sex marriage. Ch
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

L.A. County sheriff's deputy arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, crashing patrol vehicle

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk and crashing his patrol vehicle Friday night in the Santa Clarita area, the department said in a statement Saturday afternoon. Deputy Carlos Lopez went missing for nearly an hour following the crash at Pico Canyon Road and Southern Oaks Drive in Stevenson Ranch, triggering a major law enforcement response, according to sources who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The Santa Clarita Valley Signal reported the de
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Three dead, including a bicyclist, after shootings and crash in Oakland

Three men, including a bicyclist, were killed Friday night in west Oakland in multiple shootings and a crash that authorities said were related. The shooting happened just after 7:15 p.m. in the 2800 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Police officers were sent to the scene after an alert from ShotSpotter, which uses acoustic sensors to detect gunshots, the Oakland Police Department said in a statement. There, officers found two men with multiple gunshot wounds as well as a bicyclist hit by a
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Op-Ed: How an antitrust trial could reshape the books we read — and who writes them

The outcome of an antitrust trial currently underway in Washington could reshape the kind of books Americans read — and who writes them. Last November, the Department of Justice sued to stop the proposed merger of two of the country’s largest publishers, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. At the time, U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland said: “If the world’s largest book publisher is permitted to acquire one of its biggest rivals, it will have unprecedented control over this important indus
By Sandi Sonnenfeld
• Los Angeles Times

Suspect arrested on suspicion of robbing man of $60,000 Rolex at 99 Ranch

A suspect has been arrested in connection with robbing a man of a $60,000 Rolex in the parking lot of a 99 Ranch Market in Rowland Heights. Dramatic video of the July 9 robbery, which showed two suspects pistol-whipping a man and a woman before fleeing with the watch, shocked customers who didn’t think such a crime could happen at the popular Asian grocery store in a prosperous part of the San Gabriel Valley. Demoryie Watts, 21, was arrested Friday at his home in Lancaster on a parole violatio
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Funding problems threaten L.A. Cityride program that helps pay seniors' cab fare

When events like Mothers’ Day celebrations at the Korean Senior and Community Center stretch late into the night, or the heat gets unbearable, 76-year old Soon Im Lee jumps into an air-conditioned taxi to get to her South Los Angeles home. For Lee and many other seniors on fixed budgets, it helps that L.A.’s Cityride program pays part of the fare. “We can’t afford to walk blocks in 90-degree weather to visit our friends,” she said. But the service that each year provides about 67,700 taxi trip
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

The Dodgers lost their voice when Vin Scully died. Angelenos lost a family member

For legions of Dodgers fans, Vin Scully was the voice of their beloved baseball team. But for many Angelenos, the ginger-haired broadcaster was more like a family member. A grandfather, a tío — someone whom they welcomed into their homes on game day. As heartbroken fans mourned Scully’s passing at age 94, it felt, they said Wednesday, like a death in the family. “It almost felt like I lost my father again,” said Desiree Jackson, who took the bus from skid row to Dodger Stadium to lay flowers a
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

A Korean BBQ restaurant now has a union. Supermarkets may be next

At the Korean barbecue restaurant Genwa, a plate of beef short ribs, or galbi, costs around $75. Kylie Jenner has been spotted there having lunch with her then-boyfriend Tyga. But workers say that until a year or two ago, they were not paid for all the hours they put in, were not given all the tips they earned and were not permitted to take rest breaks. Last year, they formed a union. And last month, they signed a contract that included minimum pay of at least $20 an hour and reimbursement fo
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Brazen robbery of $60,000 Rolex in 99 Ranch parking lot shocks Asian Americans

A man and woman were loading groceries into their car Saturday after shopping at 99 Ranch Market in Rowland Heights when two strangers approached. The woman screamed as the strangers pistol-whipped them before fleeing with the man’s $60,000 Rolex. A video of the attack and its aftermath, capturing the woman’s terror and the pair squatting in the parking lot as she tried to stanch the bleeding from her companion’s head, quickly spread through the local Chinese community. Robberies of expensive
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Essential California: The landing of the first Asians in California

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California . It’s Tuesday, July 5. I’m Jeong Park, a reporter covering Asian American communities. An important piece of Asian American history is commemorated in a parking lot by Morro Rock, across from the iconic three smokestacks of the Morro Bay Power Plant. Here, a plaque on a rock marks the first landing of Filipinos — and Asians — in what we now call the continental United States of America. Although the exact location of the landing is in dis
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Seeking higher office, WeHo councilwoman scrubs WeHo from her bio

As she seeks higher office, Lindsey Horvath might be expected to tout her nine years on the West Hollywood City Council. But her campaign website for Los Angeles County supervisor leaves out one thing: West Hollywood. The flashy little town — the famed mecca of LGBTQ culture and home of the Sunset Strip, where there are rainbow-colored crosswalks and more TMZ tour buses than school buses — is referred to, simply, as “the city.” The lack of a geographic identifier makes for strange reading. “
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

L.A. Times Earns Sigma Delta Chi Awards from the SPJ for Cultural Criticism and Foreign Correspondence

The Los Angeles Times has received two Sigma Delta Chi Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. The awards, which recognize outstanding work in categories covering print/online, radio, television and more, were presented in a virtual ceremony on June 23. Columnist Carolina A. Miranda received the award for cultural criticism, a new category this year, while Foreign Correspondent David Pierson, along with contributors Kyaw Hsan Hlaing, Hsiuwen Liu and Aie Balagtas See, were recognize
By Kyaw Hsan Hlaing
• Los Angeles Times

L.A.’s last Japanese boardinghouse is safe, for now. Elderly tenants still worry

For nearly a century, Japanese immigrants have lived in the boardinghouse in East Hollywood. In the house’s heyday, about 30 men left each day for jobs as gardeners or laborers, returning for communal meals during which they could converse in their native language. Now, only seven are left, renting spartan rooms furnished with a single bed and a small desk as they worry about their future under a new owner in a gentrifying neighborhood, with Sqirl and other hipster eateries a couple of blocks
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

No deportation protection. No work permit. On DACA's 10th anniversary, thousands left behind

At 13, Reyna received her first planner. Since then, she’s rigorously scheduled nearly every day of her life: showers, meals, study time, university applications. If she planned carefully, she believed, she’d go to college and someday become a civil rights attorney. But Reyna, who was 2 when her mother carried her across the border from Mexico for the United States in 2006, is in the country without legal status. Perhaps most importantly, she was cut off from Deferred Action for Childhood arriv
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Three candidates jump to an early lead in the race to replace L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl

In the race to replace Sheila Kuehl on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, early returns Tuesday night showed three candidates in the lead. State Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath and state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Malibu) were significantly ahead of the rest of the field for the 3rd District seat, which covers much of the San Fernando Valley and the Westside. Unless a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will move
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

A week after a gunman opened fire, worshipers return to Taiwanese church

It could have been any Sunday morning at the Taiwanese church. Elderly couples held hands and shuffled into the chapel. Pastor Albany Lee led the Lord’s Prayer, illuminated by blue light from the stained-glass window behind him. But a week earlier, the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church had been shaken by an unimaginable act. A man opened fire at a luncheon after the morning service, killing one person and injuring five others. The suspect, 68-year-old David Wenwei Chou of Las Vegas, has
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Taiwanese church shooter mailed seven-volume diary to Chinese-language newspaper

A man charged with fatally shooting one person and injuring five others at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods mailed seven volumes titled “Diary of an Independence-Destroying Angel” to the Los Angeles offices of the World Journal, the Chinese-language newspaper reported Wednesday. The newspaper said it had sent the documents to law enforcement and would not be printing their contents. A photo included with the World Journal article showed eight stacks of paper that appeared to be handwritten i
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Church where shooting took place was home away from home for Taiwanese immigrants

The Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church has never had a home. It started in 1994 in borrowed space in another church in its namesake city. It eventually moved to another borrowed space in a Tustin church before settling at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods in 2012. On Sundays, the Taiwanese group worships at 10 a.m., while the Geneva group gathers separately at 10:30. The 100 or so church members, most of whom are senior citizens, worship in their native language — not Mandarin but
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

A church shooting met with 'exceptional heroism': What unfolded in Laguna Woods

Details are beginning to emerge about what happened inside a Laguna Woods church Sunday after 1 p.m., when a gunman opened fire and some parishioners were able to subdue him and recover two handguns. Authorities said the actions of churchgoers likely saved lives. As of Sunday night, federal and local authorities were still piecing together what happened. A suspect is in custody, but authorities are not sure of a motive. One person died, and five others were injured. Here is a rundown of what w
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Doctor killed in Laguna Woods shooting was trying to disarm suspect, save others

The churchgoer killed when a gunman opened fire at a Laguna Woods church Sunday was a sports medicine doctor and master of martial arts who was slain while trying to stop the shooting, authorities said Monday. Orange County sheriff’s officials said that when the suspect began shooting, Dr. John Cheng put himself in the line of fire and tried to prevent others from being shot. According to the visiting pastor, Cheng, 52, of Laguna Niguel, was not a regular at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian C
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Laguna Woods shooting was a hate crime targeting Taiwanese people, sheriff says

The suspect in a shooting that killed one person and injured five at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods appeared to be motivated by political hatred of Taiwan, officials said Monday. David Wenwei Chou, 68, of Las Vegas, left notes in Chinese in his car stating he did not believe Taiwan should be independent from China, said Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes. “We believe, based on what we’ve discovered so far, that he specifically targeted the Taiwanese community, and this is one representation
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Churchgoers tackled, hogtied gunman after deadly Laguna Woods church shooting

A gunman attacked a lunch banquet at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, killing one person and wounding five others Sunday before congregants tackled him, hogtied him with an extension cord and grabbed his two weapons, authorities said. “That group of churchgoers displayed what we believe is exceptional heroism and bravery,” Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said, later adding, “It’s safe to say that had they not intervened this situation could have been much worse.” The violence left the south Orang
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Millennials vs. boomer. Who will succeed L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl?

After Sheila Kuehl announced she was not seeking reelection to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, the political maneuvering began. The jockeying for the open seat intensified after district lines were redrawn in December in a once-in-a-decade process, bringing some conservative-leaning parts of the San Fernando Valley into Kuehl’s 3rd District. That set the stage for Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and Henry Stern (D-Malibu), state senators who represent parts of the Valley, to mount campaigns.
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

Man faces charges for driving through a 'Stop Asian Hate' rally and yelling racial slurs

A Diamond Bar man who drove his car through a “Stop Asian Hate” rally and yelled racial slurs has been indicted by federal prosecutors. Steve Lee Dominguez, 56, cut off several protesters in a crosswalk, including a 9-year-old, almost hitting them with his black Honda at the March 2021 rally in Diamond Bar, according to prosecutors. Dominguez yelled racial slurs, including “Go back to China” and “F— China,” to protesters, some of whom were Black or Asian American, the indictment said. The ind
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times

After stealing $19,000 worth of watches, suspects flee West Hollywood in a Rolls-Royce

Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators are searching for at least four suspects who are believed to have stolen $19,000 worth of luxury watches from two people in West Hollywood early Sunday before fleeing in a black Rolls-Royce. Deputies responded to a battery call in the 8800 block of Sunset Boulevard about 12:52 a.m., the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. At the scene, the deputies heard from the female victim, who said the suspects approached her and the male
By Jeong Park
• Los Angeles Times