Meet the Team

Dara Joan Dela Cruz

Accounting & Finance Assistant

Dara Joan Dela Cruz formerly worked in the KPBS newsroom as an assistant and call screener for Friday's Midday Edition. Dara attends San Diego State University where she plans to graduate with a business degree in accounting. She is a current member of the University Honors Program, which has encouraged her to also pursue a minor in interdisciplinary studies. After graduation, she later hopes to obtain an MBA, become a certified public accountant, and eventually manage her own firm. Before coming to San Diego, Dara lived in the Silicon Valley, where she grew up and graduated from Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California. In her spare time, Dara likes to explore the city, watch films, and play the flute, as she is also a member of the university's wind symphony.

RECENT STORIES ON KPBS

Education

Today is the last day for many Education Department workers. Here's what they did

Cory Turner

Employees across multiple divisions agree: They can't imagine how the department will fulfill its legal obligations with roughly half its staff gone.
Economy

Trump calls for firing of senior Labor official after job market weakens in July

Scott Horsley

Trump called for the firing of the Labor statistics official after data earlier showed employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, while job gains for the previous two months were largely erased.
Health

To speak or not to speak: Why many aid groups are silent about the Trump cuts

Fatma Tanis

Gabrielle Emanuel

Charities usually like to talk to the public about their good works. In the wake of the Trump aid cuts, there's a new approach: "anticipatory silence." It's controversial.
Health

An FDA panel spread misinformation about SSRI use in pregnancy, alarming doctors

Rhitu Chatterjee

A panel organized by the FDA cast doubts on the safety of antidepressants during pregnancy — drawing ire from doctors who say SSRIs are a crucial treatment option for women with perinatal depression.
National

What is the U.S. destroying $9.7 million worth of? Find out in the quiz

Holly J. Morris

This week was full of mysteries. If you're a super sleuth who followed the news, you'll be well on your way to a perfect score.
Education

Alaska ignored budget crisis signs. Now, it doesn't have money to fix schools

Emily Schwing

Alaska has long ignored warning signs of a budget crisis. Now, it has no money to fix something that is posing serious health and safety risks to students and staff: crumbling rural schools.