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Janette Villafana is an award-winning bilingual multimedia journalist. Her heart lies in community-based reporting, and her work is highly centered on showcasing and uplifting community voices, with a significant focus on the Latino community. She developed her beat at L.A. TACO, covering street vending communities in Los Angeles. Past work has been featured on NBC, LAist, Latino Rebels, and more. She is currently featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington in an exhibit titled “¡De última hora! Latinas Report Breaking News.”

Janette Villafana

Boyle Heights

‘Ya No Somos Criminales:’ Six L.A. Street Food Vendors Reflect on What It Means to Finally Be Given a Chance to Sell Legally

One of L.A. TACO&#8217;s co-founders, Hadley Tomicki is a writer and editor on food, travel, and culture whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, UrbanDaddy, High Times, and many other places.

Hadley Tomicki

Street Vending

We Asked L.A. and Long Beach Mayoral Candidates How They Would Treat Street Vendors if Elected

L.A. TACO STAFF

News

Headlines: Local Punks Allegedly Set Fire to Neo-Nazi Metal Band’s Truck While Playing an ‘Invite-Only’ Show in East L.A.; Jaywalking Decriminalized In California

Los Angeles

BREAKING: Long Beach Food Truck Owners Victorious After Protesting New Street Signs Banning Them From Setting Up at The Pike

Professional punk and Editor-In-Chief for James Beard Award-winning L.A. TACO. Associate Producer for JBA-winning Las Crónicas Del Taco. Former restaurant scout for Jonathan Gold. Co-author of &#8220;Oaxaca: Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico (2019, Abrams) and &#8220;Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling&#8221; (2023, Abrams).

Javier Cabral

Manhattan Beach

Mutilated Birds Found In Manhattan Beach Believed to Be a Santería Ritual

Headlines: Air-Polluting Plant Shut Down in Vernon; How L.A.’s Persian Community Confronts The Killing of Mahsa Amini

Lexis-Olivier Ray is an award-winning staff investigative reporter for L.A. TACO known for holding powerful people in Los Angeles accountable and his reporting on Los Angeles culture. As well as an artist and filmmaker. In 2022, the Society of Professional Journalists&#8217; Los Angeles chapter named Ray one of their &#8220;distinguished journalists.&#8221; In 2023, Ray won a second place Anthem Award in their Health Innovation category for a texting service geared towards the unhoused community and service providers that he launched in 2021 with L.A. TACO and Subtext. Ray was a 2020 USC Center For Health Journalism (CHJ) Data Fellow. As well as a 2022 CHJ Impact Fellow. As a freelancer, Ray has contributed to the L.A. Times, Men&#8217;s Health Magazine, KCET and SFGATE.

Lexis-Olivier Ray

Crime

Family of Three Charged With Murder of PnB Rock

Jack Ross is a reporter and documentary filmmaker from Los Angeles. He is obsessed with covering his hometown.

Jack Ross

A Year Into New Law to Protect L.A. Renters, City Has Taken Zero Landlords to Court

Featured

Headlines: Popular Long Beach Taquero Gets Shut Down By a Police-Assisted Health Department; Dodgers Win 107 Games

Abducted Teen From Amber Alert Fatally Shot During ‘Firefight’ with San Bernardino Sheriff Deputies

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