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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See how a power play by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev backfired, sparking a dangerous confrontation with the U.S. — the Cuban Missile Crisis. Over fifty years later, we still don’t know everything about what happened; many Soviet records are still secret. But this much is clear: October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to thermonuclear war.
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In 1946, fear and faith in science collide. For the first time, Americans begin to learn more about the bomb. One in-depth essay about the experiences of the people in Hiroshima creates a sensation and has enormous impact, causing many to rethink nuclear weapons. At the same time, the new Atomic Age is promising miraculous progress in all areas of life, thanks to the wonders of the atom.
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To create the bomb, a vast industrial complex is built with cities appearing out of nowhere. Thousands of workers are recruited, but are told only enough to do their own job, nothing more. Yet despite the urgency of the crisis, a huge pool of potential talent is virtually ignored. Women are typists and secretaries, and run schools and libraries. But scarcely any scientists or engineers are women.
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Democrats in the California legislature met over the weekend to negotiate new congressional maps that could potentially play a large role in deciding control of the U.S. House during the midterms. -
The Aalborg Zoo in Denmark said it would take certain surplus pets such as chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs to be "gently euthanized" and fed to its captive predators. -
Texas Republican Tom Oliverson about what's next in the redistricting fight that is going down in the Lone Star state.
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- Animal shelter supervisor ‘out of the office’ after revelation of profane recording