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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It’s not the first time school employees were accused of racism. Some alumni said accountability is long overdue.
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Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs urged female graduates to embrace the title of "homemaker" in a controversial commencement speech. The NFL says he was speaking "in his personal capacity."
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The rapper slipped free from the legal mess that swallowed his label and his mentor Young Thug — but on his new album, he's still in the grip of an unending image crisis.
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Once an ally of the former president, now Cohen has spent a third day of testifying against him. He alleges Trump knew about the deal with an adult film star to keep quiet about an alleged affair.
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Wallace is known for his celebrity profiles, but his new memoir, Another Word For Love, is about his own life, growing up unhoused, Black and queer, and getting his start as a writer at the age of 40.
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People who live near the areas where nuclear weapons were tested say their communities still suffer harm and are pressing Congress to renew funding to help them.
- News watchdogs alarmed by proliferation of ‘pink slime’ sites in San Diego and elsewhere
- Water contact closures, advisories listed for San Diego County beaches
- Minimum wage violations rise in major California cities, including San Diego
- Translucent zooplankton 'sail' to San Diego shores
- 'Peace in Israel' week continues on UC San Diego campus along with protests