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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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. -
A local university has been a decades-long dream for officials in San Diego County’s second-largest city. -
Critics said the proposals are part of an ongoing effort by the board’s conservative majority to inject partisan politics into the district’s business. -
The lack of consistent Spanish translation at local government meetings has locked many residents out of the democratic process. -
Imperial County immigrants’ rights groups are calling for an investigation into the death of Huabing Xie, an immigrant from China. -
San Diego County's second-largest city is embracing AI tools for policing as California considers new regulations.
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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.
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