Kori Suzuki
South Bay and Imperial Valley ReporterKori Suzuki covers South San Diego County and the Imperial Valley for KPBS. He reports on the decisions of local government officials with a particular focus on environmental issues, housing affordability, and race and identity. He is especially drawn to stories that show how we are all complicated and multidimensional.
Kori first joined KPBS in 2023 as part of the inaugural California Local News Fellowship and was hired as a staff reporter in 2025. Previously, he worked as an associate producer for Reveal and as a visual journalist at The Seattle Times and KQED. Before that, he worked for The Washington Post’s audio team, the weekly environmental public radio Living on Earth, and KALW. As an editor at his college newspaper in St. Paul, Minnesota, he helped lead a team covering the murder of George Floyd and the yearlong Black Lives Matter uprising that followed.
He has a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley and bachelor’s degrees in environmental studies and media studies from Macalester College. He is a member of Diversify Photo.
Kori was born and raised in Berkeley and Richmond in Northern California, across the bay from San Francisco. He is a proud, fourth-generation Japanese American and loves foggy mornings and cooking with the radio on.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is hiring more health workers across the country amid growing outcry over in-custody deaths. -
The project faced fiery opposition from residents and environmental groups, who warned it would bring more pollution to the city’s industrialized west side. -
The library’s new tool lending program is the first of its kind in San Diego County and features everything from jackhammers to sewing machines. -
This month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it was slashing $18 million for the Imperial Irrigation District as it moves to revoke funding for clean energy projects nationwide. -
The vast desert landscape near the Salton Sea faces an uncertain future as the Trump administration weighs rolling back its new environmental protections. -
Developers have already built hundreds of new homes that are affordable for working-class families, but the city still has to add thousands more to meet its goals by the end of the decade.
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Two techies launched the app in 2021 to fill a glaring information gap. Watch Duty centralizes fire and evacuation updates from various agencies, as paid staff reporters and an army of volunteers provide real-time updates based on radio traffic. -
Eighty years ago next month, a rock 'n' roll legend was born: Rosie Hamlin, an icon to the Chicano community. She got her start right here in National City. -
Reddit users in r/sandiego asked about a few of the state propositions, the San Diego mayoral race and the several local sales tax measures.
- Trump targets legal immigrants in proposed green card policy
- UC San Diego medical workers begin 2-day strike
- San Diego City Council approves Balboa Park parking passes, event rates
- Trump administration policy change would further limit green cards for travel ban country migrants
- More stormy weather and rain forecasted for San Diego County