The UCLA Special Collection has made thousands of old news photos available under a Creative Commons license. We now bring some of our favorites to you, and encourage you to check out the entire collection and share your favorites in the comments. 1950, Los Angeles. Suspect Arthur Hall being interviewed by police, as officer displays…

Fun With Archives ~ UCLA Library

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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

Julianne Le is a recent grad from UCLA where she majored in English and minored in Asian American Studies. Maybe it&#8217;s because she isn&#8217;t jaded yet, but she is super eager to peek into the overlooked corners of L.A. and write about them. Le is the former editor-in-chief of UCLA&#8217;s Pacific Ties Newsmagazine and was a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press&#8217; &#8220;Podcast of the Year&#8221; award in 2024.

Julianne Le

An Illustration of Fox Theater in Westwood with its tall tower and marquee

L.A. TACO Neighborhood Guides: Westwood

Marina Watanabe is director of video and a reporter at L.A. TACO based in Koreatown. Previously, she worked as a video reporter for 404 by Los Angeles Times and a video producer at Condé Nast publications Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Them.

Marina Watanabe

Rows of burned cars in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire that destroyed much of Altadena in January, 2025. Photo by Maks Ksenjak for L.A. TACO.

Books

We Don’t Need to Imagine Octavia Butler’s Post-Apocalyptic L.A. It’s Already Here.

Héctor Zaldívar is the head of a print magazine and art/music publication titled Dead Relatives. Completely written and designed by Zaldívar, every month subscribers are mailed in-depth stories on different subcultures from graffiti in Latin America to hardcore punk to lowrider culture and back.

Héctor Zaldívar

Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Ojibwe) Great-Grandmother, Ojibwe Elder, spiritual advisor, storyteller and wisdom keeper.

History

Native Community Bands Together In San Pedro, Fighting Trump’s ‘Columbus Day’ Reinstatement

Kamren Curiel is a fourth-generation Chicana born in East L.A. and raised in South San Gabriel. She&#8217;s written for the L.A.Times, Latina, LAist, KCET, Huffington Post, and was the L.A. Editor for Remezcla.com.

Kamren Curiel

Los Angeles

A ‘Concrete Eyesore’ Replaces Native Trees: Landowner Builds Tax-Break Garden on Protected El Sereno Hillside

Abraham Marquez is a freelance writer from Inglewood and a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). He is a 2021 USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism Fellow. He writes about social movements, sports, politics, and immigration. Instagram: @abemarquez02

Abraham Marquez

Trump’s Immigration Policy Falls in Line with Racist U.S. History Towards Immigrants

L.A. TACO STAFF

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

Laura is a desmadrosa, a product of East Los, an educator, and a hood establishment connoisseur.

Laura Tejeda

Food

The 34 Best ‘Hood Burgers In Los Angeles

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Memo Torres is the Director of Engagement and multimedia journalist for the James Beard award-winning L.A. Taco. He is also the host of the Daily Memo and writes for Apple Maps’ ‘Where Memo Torres Eats in L.A.’ You can see him on Netflix&#8217;s Taco Chronicles and Pressure Cooker.  You can hear him on KCRW’s ‘Good Food’ occasionally. He was a finalist for the Ruben Salazar Award for Latino journalists and a former third-generation landscaper.

Memo Torres

Izzy Ramirez is a Los Angeles-based staff reporter with L.A. TACO, documenting immigration enforcement and state power as it unfolds on the ground. Their work centers real-time alerts and long-term public archiving throughout the Southern California region.

Izzy Ramirez

Erwin Recinos is a seasoned visual artist with an eye for capturing life as a working commuter aboard public transportation in and around Los Angeles. For 20 years now, Recinos has been documenting the urban landscape, street culture, and Hispanic communities of Los Angeles utilizing his daily routine and the city of Los Angeles as an inspiration. Recinos also works with popular food and event websites such as LATACO.com and Eater LA to capture the cuisine and culture that is so important to the city of Los Angeles and across Southern California.

Erwin Recinos

DAILY MEMO

Daily Memo: ICE Unveils Plan To Detain Children In “Toxic” Louisiana Military Site

Michelle Zacarias is a Los Angeles-based journalist and two-time cancer survivor. As a 2023-25 UC Berkeley California Local News Fellow, she covered politics, immigration, civic engagement, and health inequity. Michelle is the host of The Latino Newsletter Podcast, where she brings bold, necessary conversations to life through the Latino perspective. Michelle&#8217;s reporting has been featured in the Los Angeles Times (De Los), Prism, Truthout, Teen Vogue, CALÓ News, City Bureau, LA Public Press, and more. In 2025, Michelle was awarded First Place at the LA Press Club SoCal Journalism Awards for “Race and Society” reporting.

Michelle Zacarias

Fátima Rodriguez-Ortiz sits outside in front of some green plants.

News

USC Graduate Student at Center of Arturo Flores Sexual Assault Scandal Speaks Out

Blending her time in the kitchen as a line cook with her passion for storytelling, Lauren Bethke writes about community, inclusivity and the city she loves the most—Los Angeles.

a woman sits outside wearing a black long sleeve outfit

Lauren Bethke

a domme wears a mask and holds a spray gun

Diners, Dommes, and Dives: The 13 Best Restaurants in L.A., According to Dominatrixes

<div>Ivan Ehlers is an Ecuadorian-American cartoonist and writer. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, MAD Magazine and the Los Angeles Times.</div>
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<div>IG: <a id="m_-8957504711371111195plusReplyChip-0" class="gmail_plusreply"></a>@ivan_ehlers</div>

Ivan Ehlers

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Aisha Wallace-Palomares

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A.k.a. Afroxander; Weekend Editor at L.A. Taco and a lecturer at San Diego State University. He has covered arts, culture, history, politics, and sports with an emphasis on Latin America and its U.S. diaspora for over two decades.

Fun With Archives ~ UCLA Library

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