Blacks, Latinos pray together at traditionally African American Pentecostal church in changing LA neighborhood By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES – The black choir clapped and swayed, propelled by the organ’s groove and drums’ beat as gospel music filled the tiny New Life in Christ Church on Compton Avenue. The rhythm […]
VIDEO: City chickens in the shadow of downtown LA Urban farmers fight nationwide to sow green biz By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Tara Kolla fancied herself a green thumb-turned-green businesswoman when she planted an organic flower plot in her yard and sold poppies, sweet peas and zinnias at […]
I shot and edited the video, then I woke up ungodly early on New Year’s morning to cover the parade and write the story below. ‘Real hero’ Sullenberger leads 2010 Rose Parade By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON | Associated Press Writer PASADENA, Calif. – After a run of celebrity grand marshals, a real American hero led […]
I helped out the Entertainment vertical in the AP’s LA bureau when I could. Scroll down for a story I wrote for the Spanish-language wire. I covered the Latin Grammys for an English-speaking audience, focusing on acts that would interest someone who prefers to read in English but still follows rock en español, reggaeton, cantautores, […]
‘All hell broke loose’: 30,000 flee Santa Barbara wildfire By Raquel Maria Dillon | ASSOCIATED PRESS SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) _ Turning the horizon a lurid orange and raining embers on roofs as it advanced, a wildfire that has destroyed scores of homes in the hills menaced the celebrity enclave of Santa Barbara and other […]
Octuplets’ grandma: Unmarried mom conceived all 14 babies in vitro, ‘obsessed’ with having kids (Nadya Suleman’s mother sounded exhausted and exasperated when I reached her on the phone only days after the octuplets were born, but she shared a few emotional details before hanging up abruptly. This story went unmatched and kept my byline throughout […]
Culinary tourist eats his way around the world in Los Angeles By Raquel Maria Dillon | ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Noah Galuten spent the past three months eating his way around the world – all within a day’s drive of his Santa Monica apartment. The 25-year-old playwright was broke and unemployed when […]
Train collision rocks quiet L.A. neighborhood (I reported from the crash site until the sun rose with help from colleagues back at the office.) By Raquel Maria Dillon | ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A quiet neighborhood on the city’s northwest tip was transformed Friday into a scene of incredible devastation when a commuter […]
As recent picket lines suggest, female writers are still relatively scarce in Hollywood By Raquel Maria Dillon | ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES (AP) _ As Hollywood’s striking scribes ventured out to their picket lines over the last two months, it’s been plain to see – female writers are outnumbered by their male colleagues. “I’m surprised […]