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Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

L.A. TACO

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

Los Angeles

Update: Lincoln Heights Avenue 34 Residents Fear the Health Impacts of Demolishing Toxic Site Next Door

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

News

FBI Whistleblower Found Dead At El Sereno High School

L.A. TACO STAFF

Featured

Headlines: L.A. Sheriff Alarms Free Press Advocates; Meet The Developer Gentrifying West Adams

Headlines: Princess Bride Star Bitten By Rattlesnake in Malibu; L.A. County Median Home Prices Hit New High

Pico Rivera Mom Stabs and Kills Pet Pit Bull After Unprovoked Attack On One-Year-Old Daughter

Headlines: Megan Thee Stallion Recounts Shooting; Beverly Hills Installing 900 More Surveillance Cameras (and 50 Plate Readers)

$9 Million Settlement After 15-Year-Old Dies During Football Practice In Jurupa Valley

Headlines: Mountain Lion Struck and Killed on the 405; New Cannabis Consumption Lounge Opens In West Hollywood

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

Street Vending

BREAKING: L.A. Street Vendors Victorious In Sacramento. Senate Votes In Favor of Bill That Will Modernize Food Code and Stop Criminalizing Street Vending

Headlines: A$AP Rocky Arrested at LAX; Mexican Activist Rosario Ibarra Dies at 95