L.A. Times hires five new staffers

The following excerpt note was sent on behalf of Los Angeles Times deputy managing editor Shelby Grad:

I am pleased to announce the hiring of new staffers for Metro in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Northern California.

Hannah Wiley has joined the Sacramento bureau as a state government reporter who will cover California criminal justice and housing issues. Wiley came from the Sacramento Bee, where she served as lead legislative reporter. Prior to the Bee, Wiley was a reporting fellow at the Texas Tribune covering immigration and criminal justice issues. She graduated from St. Louis University and earned a master’s degree in investigative reporting from Northwestern.

Mackenzie Mays has joined the Sacramento bureau as a state government reporter who will lead a new focus on issues of inequality and how Californians in need are, or are not, being served by their state government. She comes from Politico, where she had covered California education issues since early 2019. Before that, she was a reporter at her hometown newspaper, the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail. Mays is a graduate of West Virginia University.

Jeong Park has joined The Times as an Asian American communities reporter, based in Los Angeles. Park comes from the Sacramento Bee, where he covered economic inequity and other labor issues. Before that, he worked as a cities and general assignment reporter at the Orange County Register.

Rachel Uranga has joined Metro as transportation and mobility writer. Uranga is a veteran reporter and editor with deep experience covering Los Angeles institutions. She covered the Los Angeles Police Department for the Daily News. Along the way, she served as a foreign correspondent in Mexico for Reuters and also freelanced there for numerous publications. Most recently, she served as managing editor of Dot.LA, a start-up tech and media news site. She graduated from Cal State Northridge with degrees in urban studies and journalism and from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism in political reporting with a focus on Latin America.

Jessica Garrison is joining The Times as our Northern California correspondent. Garrison comes from BuzzFeed News, where she was an investigative reporter and editor. Many of you know Garrison from her years at The Times, where she covered education, City Hall, the courts and served as an investigative reporter. A graduate of UC Berkeley, she starts Feb. 7.