Melissa Gomez is an enterprise reporter on the State Team who joined the Los Angeles Times in 2018. She reports on a range of news and issues, with a special focus on the Central Valley. She previously covered education and the 2020 presidential campaign at The Times. A native Floridian, she graduated from the University of Florida.
Latest From This Author
The Borel fire in Kern County incinerated the historic mining town of Havilah and nearly 60,000 acres. Residents are trying to plot a path forward.
Aug. 20, 2024
When Althea Alexander arrived at USC as a faculty member in 1968, it had one Black and one Latino medical student. Today, nearly 800 alumni of color credit her with mentoring them.
Aug. 11, 2024
Police were called not long after midnight about a man suffering from a puncture wound in the 800 block of Venice Boulevard.
Aug. 10, 2024
Inglewood High’s marching band was one of the best around, but during the pandemic it cratered. Here’s how school officials and a new band leader brought it back.
July 23, 2024
Order doesn’t end dispute over ‘card-check’ in United Farm Workers’ bid to represent employees of Wonderful Nurseries, part of the Resnick agricultural empire in California.
July 19, 2024
In Bakersfield, a 2-year-old died from acute fentanyl toxicity, and his father has been charged with murder. In California, there were 11 fentanyl-related deaths for children younger than 5 in 2023, according to preliminary data.
July 10, 2024
Fresno police chief Paco Balderrama issued a statement through the city, saying that serving as chief “has truly been the privilege of a lifetime.”
June 25, 2024
Don’t call Odilia Romero Latina, or Mexican, or Hispanic. She is Zapotec and her mission has been making sure Indigenous people are not stifled or stereotyped.
June 23, 2024
The cougar, which was not wearing a monitoring collar, was killed near the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a passageway that crosses over the freeway.
June 15, 2024
When officers arrived at the scene, they instructed the woman to drop the knife and surrender, but she did not comply, police said.
June 15, 2024