Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA. team.
Published November 30, 2023 5:00 AM
Former San Jose chapter stalwarts (left to right): Marcos Breton, who now oversees the Sacramento Bee editorial board, with the late Teatro Campesino performer Andres Gutierrez and former TV journalist Daniel Garza, now the director of marketing and communications for San Jose City College.
(
Courtesy of CCNMA website
)
Topline:
USC said it’s acquired the archives of California Chicano News Media Association–California Latino Journalists, a longtime advocacy group for Latino journalists.
Why it matters: The group played a big role in getting more Latinos in news media. The group’s influence is waning, but Latino media representation is still an important issue, other advocates say.
What comes next: Archiving Latino history is critical — as is making the documents accessible to the general public. The archive contains boxes and boxes of photos, reports, and other documents that don't just tell a history, but could serve as an inspiration to a new generation.
Listen
1:04
USC Acquires A Half Century Of Archives From Premiere Latino Journalist Advocacy Group
For more than 50 years, the California Chicano News Media Association-California Latino Journalists participated in the rise of Latinos in journalism in California and the United States.
That gave the organization a lot of time to collect things: Photos, documents, reports. Boxes and boxes of them.
As the organization moved offices in L.A. in recent years, leaders realized something had to be done.
“We have to really seriously think how do we keep them from vanishing or being thrown in the trash,” said Justino Aguila, vice president ofCCNMA-CLJ and a freelancer who’s written about arts and culture for Billboard, the Seattle Times and other publications.
The group helped Aguila launch his career. He wrote for the Garfield High School newspaper, The Log, and said he’s wanted to be a reporter as long as he can remember. A campus visit by L.A. Times reporter George Ramos, a CCNMA member, was key.
Justino Aguila's high school ID card, at about the time that Latino journalist George Ramos visited his class and encouraged him to be a journalist.
(
Courtesy Justino Aguila
)
And now, as the group’s vice president and with decades of reporting experience, seeing photos of past young mentees in the boxes made him feel like this was history worth preserving and making accessible.
The University of Southern California’s library announced this week it acquired the group’s archives and has begun the process of making them available.
“It's important to have these archives for future generations to see where we have been, how we started,” and where the group succeeded and may have fallen short, Aguila said.
It's important to have these archives for future generations to see where we have been, how we started.
— Justino Aguila, CCNMA-CLJ vice president
The shortcomings, he said, came to mind when he and others came across the group’s 1972 founding document that listed the group’s name as the California Chicano Newsmen’s Association, a reflection of a time when the gates to journalism were closed to most women. But that changed at CCNMA, and reporters such asMaría Elena Salinas at KMEX and Los Angeles Times reporter Marita Hernandez, among others, contributed to the group in the years after its founding.
The acquisition comes at a time when Latino representation is opening in industries such as news media but still falls short.
What’s in all those boxes?
There are 47 linear feet of documents and material, USC says. That’s how archives measure holdings. The university wouldn’t disclose payment information for the material.
Information about scholarship recipients over the years
High school journalism conference details
Annual reports
Collaborations on immigration and first amendment issues
Access The Archives
The California Chicano News Media Association archive at USC includes "correspondence, reports, administrative records, photographs, subject files, clippings, audiovisual material, event programs, and other material."
People can request to see the holdings by appointment through the special collections reference desk (specol@usc.edu or 213-740-5900). Registration is required to request materials online.
In its heyday CCNMA-CLJ organized a Job Opportunities Conference at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A. The multi-day event gave aspiring journalists a chance to sit down with recruiters and representatives from large, national media such as the Washington Post and local broadcast news outlets.
The group continues to give out scholarships to help beginning reporters and producers.
The CCNMA-CLJ budget and membership is not what it used to be in its first decades, before digital platforms decimated news media budgets.
Liberate the archives!
Observers say it’s not enough to get these documents to a university with the resources to digitize them and make sure they don’t deteriorate.
“While it is very important to preserve and store information relating to all communities' pasts, it is equally important to make that information accessible to people,” said Marissa López, professor of English and Chicano and Central American studies at UCLA.
While it is very important to preserve and store information relating to all communities' pasts, it is equally important to make that information accessible to people.
— Marissa López, professor of English and Chicano and Central American studies, UCLA
She praised USC for making the commitment to acquire the archives.
Her own project, Picturing Mexican America, is focused on liberating archival information about 19th century Mexican and Mexican American Californians to bring their stories to life for modern audiences on modern platforms.
She said her students are in awe of the information about Latinos they find in archives, and added that the CCNMA-CLJ archives hold the same potential if the archives are open to people with adventurous, explorer mindsets, regardless of whether they have university credentials.
“And that is really important, especially when it comes to historically marginalized communities,” López said.
She also said USC has a strong track record with Latino journalism archiving. The university digitized the Huntington Library’s holdings of El Clamor Publico, a Spanish language newspaper published in LA from 1855–59 that became a critical voice against the stripping of rights of Mexican residents and violence toward that population.
“The initially moderate paper evolved into an activist tabloid and espoused strong political views generally in support of the Mexicanos,” according to USC’s description of the holdings on its website.
Archives as advocacy
“These archives are not about the past. They're about the present and the future,” said Félix Gutiérrez, professor emeritus of journalism at USC, and a longtime CCNMA-CLJ supporter.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez's 2001 membership card for CCNMA
(
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist
)
The increase in Latinos working in newsrooms since the group’s founding in 1972 is the product of a push by advocates, he said.
“I think people need to understand that what we see and what we've seen is not progress that happened by itself accidentally driven by demographics or good hearted people,” Gutiérrez said.
The group’s advocacy legacy, one that is not widely known by younger generations, he said, is that it called on news media organizations to hire more staff with Latin American backgrounds to better tell the stories of those populations. And it followed up its training of younger journalists by circling back to the outlets to hold them accountable for change.
First artifacts installed in LA museum's expansion
Makenna Sievertson
has been covering space shuttle Endeavour's journey at the California Science Center since December 2023.
Published November 18, 2025 4:08 PM
The first of many artifacts have been installed in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery, including a space shuttle main engine (right) and a solid rocket booster segment.
(
Makenna Sievertson
/
LAist
)
Topline:
The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum’s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.
Why it matters: Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California’s biggest “endeavor” yet that will inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
Why now: The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.
The backstory: It’ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its “Go for Stack” position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.
What's next: Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.
Read on ... for a peak inside the expansion coming to Exposition Park.
The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum’s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.
Once complete, the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will include multi-level galleries built around a towering centerpiece — the space shuttle Endeavour — displayed in its 20-story vertical launch position.
It’ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its “Go for Stack” position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.
Museum admission will be free.
Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California’s biggest “endeavor” yet to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
“The enthusiasm that people have when they come in and see this stuff and get excited about it will hopefully lead to many more people, young and old, but particularly young people wanting to pursue more education in science,” Rudolph told LAist.
Museum officials expect to announce next year an opening date, according to Rudolph.
A look inside the center
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will feature three main galleries: the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
Guests will be guided through hundreds of exhibits and authentic artifacts focused on the exploration of the universe — including rocket ships that carried humans into space and telescopes used to view stars and galaxies beyond our reach.
A real Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach spans several stories tall in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
(
Makenna Sievertson
/
LAist
)
The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.
Adam Spice, chief financial officer of Rocket Lab, told LAist the Electron helped lower the cost of getting to space by sending satellites in smaller, cheaper rockets. The new center is an opportunity to get up close and personal with an Electron for the first time outside of a factory.
Spice said he hopes it’ll show visitors their dreams can become a reality.
“They can be part of something much bigger than probably they ever thought they could,” he said.
The first artifacts installed in the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center include a solid rocket booster segment. Kenneth Phillips, aerospace curator, shows the scale of the piece, which has flown into space several times.
(
Makenna Sievertson
/
LAist
)
The solid rocket booster segment will become a walk-through interactive experience in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
(
Makenna Sievertson
/
LAist
)
A segment of a solid rocket booster that flew into space several times is laid on its side on the second floor of the gallery.
Kenneth Phillips, the California Science Center’s aerospace curator, told LAist it’ll be turned into an interactive exhibit with audio, video and educational graphics.
“It's 12 feet in diameter, so people can actually walk through it and learn about the function of it from the inside out literally,” Phillips said.
Visitors will be able to get up close and personal with a space shuttle main engine.
(
Makenna Sievertson
/
LAist
)
A detailed model of a space shuttle main engine is set up next to the solid rocket booster. Three of those main engines helped boost space shuttles into orbit by providing about 20% of their power, Phillips said.
What's next
Construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center started more than three years ago and is on track to be completed in the coming weeks, according to museum officials.
With construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center weeks away from completion, crews have started to put in landscaping around the outside of the expansion.
(
Makenna Sievertson
/
LAist
)
The exterior of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center as of Tuesday.
(
Makenna Sievertson
/
LAist
)
The remaining exhibits and artifacts will then be installed over "many months," Rudolph said. Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.
The California Science Center also is looking to raise about $70 million more for the $450 million project before it opens. You can learn more about its “EndeavourLA” fundraising campaign here.
Matt Dangelantonio
directs production of LAist's daily newscasts, shaping the radio stories that connect you to SoCal.
Published November 18, 2025 3:58 PM
The Westwood Village Theater will be operated and programmed by American Cinematheque when it opens
(
George Rose
/
Getty Images
)
Topline:
The group of directors restoring the Village Theater in Westwood are tapping film nonprofit American Cinematheque to program and run the venue when it opens.
Why it matters: American Cinematheque also programs the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Los Feliz Theater, making it a visible and active film arts nonprofit in the industry.
The backstory: The nearly century-old movie palace went up for sale in 2024 before Village Directors Circle bought it in February. The group is comprised of more than 30 notable filmmakers. They're led by director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno) and their ranks include Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Lulu Wang, Chloé Zhao, Christopher Nolan and Ryan Coogler.
What's next: VDC says it's eyeing a 2027 opening for the Village Theater, and is currently in the quiet phase of a capital campaign to raise $25 million to restore and remodel the Village Theater into a more than 1,000-seat venue.
For January fire survivors looking for fresh start
Gillian Morán Pérez
is an associate producer for LAist’s early All Things Considered show.
Published November 18, 2025 3:46 PM
Residents embrace in front of a fire-ravaged property after the Palisades Fire swept through in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 8.
(
Etienne Laurent
/
AP
)
Topline:
The city of Long Beach has launched a new jobs program to help people affected by January’s fires.
Who is it for? The initiative will provide paid career opportunities and financial assistance to people looking for a fresh start in Long Beach.
To start, 10 people will get up to 300 hours of paid work experience with local employers. Another five people also will get training scholarships of up to $7,500 in high-demand fields like health care and information technology.
Who's paying for it? The initiative is funded by a $130,000 federal act called the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
How to apply: Anyone interested in applying can contact Nakawa Shepherd, Career Center manager, Economic Development and Opportunity, at Nakawa.Shepherd@longbeach.gov or visit the LBWIN Adult Career Services Center.
How to participate: Long Beach’s Economic Development and Opportunity office also is looking for local employers to provide on-the-job training for applicants.
Jacob Margolis
covers science, with a focus on environmental stories and disasters.
Published November 18, 2025 2:51 PM
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office shows Jonathan Rinderknecht, who has been accused of setting a fire that led to the Palisades Fire.
(
U.S. Attorney's Office
)
Topline:
The man accused of igniting a fire that led to the deadly and destructive Palisades Fire in January will remain in custody without bond, U.S. Judge Rozella Oliver decided Tuesday in Los Angeles. Jonathan Rinderknecht has been in custody since his arrest in Florida on Oct. 7.
Where things stand: Rinderknecht was indicted by a federal grand jury in October and is charged with one count of arson, one count of timber set afire and one count of destruction of property by means of fire. Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty in mid-October and faces anywhere from five to 45 years in federal prison if convicted. His trial is set to begin April 21, 2026. His lawyers recently asked the court to allow him out of custody as he awaits trial.
Argument against release: In a filing on Monday, prosecutors said Rinderknecht is a flight risk because of his familial ties to France, as well as a danger to the community. The filing states that Rinderknecht threatened to burn down his sister’s home and that he purchased a gun and threatened to kill his brother-in-law. Prosecutors also raised the fact that a judge determined in October that the suspect’s mental health had declined.
The allegations: Authorities allege Rinderknecht set fire to brush near the Skull Rock Trailhead in the Santa Monica Mountains at around midnight Jan. 1, starting the Lachman Fire. Though the fire was held to just 8 acres and was believed to have been extinguished, authorities say it flared up once again amid strong, dry winds a week later. That fire grew into the Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures.
