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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The author of the YA novel Holes and the Wayside School series has written his first novel for adults. It's a fairy tale involving a princess and potions – but one focused squarely on growing old. -
Dan Fesperman's spy caper Pariah follows a disgraced comic-politician who's recruited by the CIA. The Dancing Face, by Mike Phillips, is a crime caper that confronts the spoils of colonialism. -
Conservative Christian leader James Dobson, who founded Focus on the Family and was once called "the nation's most influential evangelical leader," died Thursday. -
One of the goals of controversial wolf hunts in the Western U.S. is to help reduce the burden on ranchers, who lose livestock to wolves every year. A new study finds that those hunts have had a measurable, but small effect on livestock depredations. -
An extreme heat warning will remain in effect until at least 8 p.m. Saturday for county deserts. In addition, heat advisories will remain in effect until at least 8 p.m. Friday for the mountains and valleys. -
Erik and Lyle Menendez were both denied parole eligibility for three years. The brothers, now in their 50s, have spent more than three decades in prison for their parents' murders.
- San Diego Navy doctor fired after right-wing activists find pronouns on social media
- People are losing jobs due to social media posts about Charlie Kirk
- Charlie Kirk's widow: 'You have no idea what you have just unleashed'
- From Old Town to Escondido, how San Diegans are marking Mexico’s Independence Day this weekend
- Fletcher breaks silence, rules out return to public office after lawsuit dismissal