Kelly Thornton
Investigative Newsource ReporterKelly Thornton is an investigative reporter with Investigative Newsource, a nonprofit journalistic enterprise embedded within the KPBS newsroom. Together they produce investigations and data analysis. Prior to joining the Institute in the fall of 2010, Thornton spent almost two decades at The San Diego Union-Tribune, where she covered everything from city government, military and law enforcement to transportation, politics and business. Ultimately she specialized in criminal justice and legal affairs, winning numerous awards for breaking some of the region’s biggest stories, including the exclusive details of the lives of San Diego-based Sept. 11 terrorists and their associates, the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide, the San Diego killer of fashion designer Gianni Versace, the firing of U.S. Attorney Carol Lam, and many others. In one investigation, Thornton exposed how the city’s most influential and well-connected lobbyists were skirting laws requiring them to publicly disclose their activities. The story prompted a crackdown on lobbyists. In another, she reported the plight of four Iranian brothers, who at the time were the nation’s longest-held post-Sept. 11 detainees. They remained in custody without charges for more than three years, and were eventually released. Thornton is a San Diego native. She is a graduate of Westmont College in Santa Barbara and lives with her husband, son, and Chesapeake Bay Retriever “Dude” in Ocean Beach. She is a 25-time marathoner and a singer in a band.
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Coming Soon! Premieres Mondays, May 6 - June 3, 2024 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS App. Told in present tense and full of unexpected bombshells, this is the story of a family that has lived under intense public scrutiny their entire lives. Prince Harry recently described it as akin to living in "The Truman Show." Like most families, the royal family has had to deal with crises – feuds, heartbreak, sibling rivalries, affairs, divorces and deaths. But they also have had to face assassination attempts, kidnappings, tabloid scandals and terrorist bombs.
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Canada has one of the world's lowest rates of tuberculosis. Yet this deadly disease is surging among Indigenous people in this icy, remote part of the country.
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A new documentary, Hip-Hop and the White House, considers rap's association with presidential politics — and in so doing, reveals a persistent misunderstanding of how both operate.
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This weekend in local arts and culture: Poetic Justice's self-portraiture and poetry exhibit; free museums; a play about cooking; AAPI fashion; Puerto Rican LGBTQ+ theater; ballet meets the stock market crash and more.
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Dean's family says he quickly fell into critical condition after being diagnosed with a MRSA bacterial infection. He is the second aviation whistleblower to die in the past three months.
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Monday, May 6, 2024 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS App. Get wowed by treasures at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, including a 1953 Marilyn Monroe pin-up poster, a diamond & platinum ring, ca.1960 and a 1910 - 1911 Philadelphia Athletics trophy, card & pin. One has a value of $65,300 to $125,000!
- UCSD students establish pro-Palestine encampment on campus
- Trump dice que utilizaría a la Guardia Nacional para deportar inmigrantes si vuelve a la presidencia
- San Diego's senior population to increase in coming years, raising concerns for elder orphans
- San Diego's Big Exchange returns: 10 places to visit with a museum membership
- Island life for these unhoused San Diegans means few police — and many hazards