Kansas City Star makes 11 new hires

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J.M. BANKS

Banks is The Star’s new culture and identity reporter, a role envisioned to shine light on underserved communities. He grew up in Kansas City and is an alumnus of the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Most recently, he wrote for The Pitch and produced the podcast Urban Alchemy.

LILA BROMBERG

Based in Columbia, Bromberg covers University of Missouri athletics for The Star. She came to The Star after graduating in May from the University of Maryland’s journalism school. She was the editor of the Testudo Times for four years, covering Maryland athletics. Bromberg also has written for USA Today sports, Yahoo Sports and Sports Illustrated and her work garnered first-place honors in this year’s Associated Press Sports Editors student contest.

EMILY CURIEL

Curiel is a member of The Star’s visuals team that tells community stories through photos and videos. She grew up in the Los Angeles area and is a recent graduate of San Francisco State University. Curiel previously worked for several Bay Area publications.

DANIEL DESROCHERS

Desrochers is The Star’s new Washington, D.C., correspondent. Previously, he was a political reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky and the Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia. In his most recent role in Kentucky, Desrochers led coverage of statewide and federal elections

ALLISON DIKANOVIC

Dikanovic is The Star’s new service journalism editor. She most recently worked as an engagement reporter at THE CITY, a local nonprofit newsroom serving New York City where she led the Civic Newsroom, an initiative that addressed reader questions to make it easier to participate in the city’s local election. She is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

MATTI LEE GELLMAN

Gellman is a reporter on The Star’s breaking news team. She comes to The Star after reporting on politics and policy for Modern Healthcare in Washington, D.C., where she explored how the pandemic magnified existing disparities in healthcare access. Previously, she worked on projects with the Associated Press and the Toronto Star.

JOSEPH HERNANDEZ

Hernandez is a member of The Star’s new service journalism team. A native of Kansas City, Hernandez graduated from Cristo Rey Kansas City High School and the University of Missouri-Columbia. He previously wrote for the Columbia Missourian and The Pitch.

DAVID HUDNALL

David Hudnall will join The Star in November as a narrative writer. Hudnall grew up in Kansas City and is an alumnus of Rockhurst High School, the University of Missouri and DePaul University. He previously held a variety of positions at The Pitch, including editor, and was most recently editor-in-chief of the Phoenix New Times in Arizona.

ED TIMMS

Timms is a new editor working on The Star’s opinion team. He has decades of journalism experience, working for more than 25 years at the Dallas Morning News as a reporter and editor. He most recently worked as the investigative editor at CQ Roll Call in Washington, D.C.

AARÓN TORRES

Torres is a breaking news and race/equity reporter who comes to The Star from The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee. He studied journalism at the University of Texas and previously wrote for the Austin American-Statesman, the Tampa Bay Times and The Washington Post.

NATALIE WALLINGTON

Wallington is a member of The Star’s new service journalism team. She most recently wrote for Popular Science, where she focused on wildlife and sustainability. Wallington’s freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Guardian, VICE News and Audubon Magazine. She studied political science at Johns Hopkins University.