Meet the Team

Leon Messenie

Director of Engineering

Leon Messenie is a former KPBS staff member.

Leon Messenie has worked in the engineering department at KPBS for 32 years and currently serves as the Director of Engineering. Leon has also worked as a freelance engineer for several media networks, specializing in sports audio engineering. Leon Messenie started his career in the commercial broadcasting industry at KREX Grand Junction, Colorado. He then moved on to KTNV and KVBC in Las Vegas, Nevada before moving to San Diego and joining KPBS. Leon is a past member of the PBS Enterprise Technology Advisory Committee where he served as Chairman for four years.

RECENT STORIES ON KPBS

Health

Corn tortillas in California now must contain folic acid. More states are looking at it

Jonel Aleccia, Amy Taxin

California is the first state to require food makers to add folic acid, a crucial vitamin, to corn masa flour used to make tortillas and other foods. It's a move aimed at reducing Hispanic infants' disproportionately high rates of rare and severe birth defects.
Health

San Diego County offers tips following CalFresh benefits change

City News Service

Those affected include certain asylees, refugees, parolees, individuals with deportation or removal withheld, conditional entrants and victims of trafficking, according to the agency.
International

After Israel's invasion, many in southern Lebanon worry they'll never go home

Lauren Frayer

Jawad Rizkallah

Claire Harbage

Israel says it's creating a "security zone" inside Lebanon, where homes will be demolished, and residents won't be allowed to return home until people in northern Israel feel safe.
Border & Immigration

San Diego Sheriff’s inmate transfers to ICE spiked in 2025

Gustavo Solis

The nearly threefold jump is almost entirely due to an increase in federal warrants for jailed immigrants from ICE. Advocates renewed calls for Sheriff Kelly Martinez to end the practice.
State auditor will review law enforcement fusion centers in California

Scott Rodd

Fusion centers allow law enforcement agencies to share intelligence and investigation leads, but some state lawmakers worry there’s a lack of oversight.
International

Greetings from London, where a big COVID memorial holds vigil over the halls of power

Vincent Ni

Britain's 1,640-foot-long National Covid Memorial Wall stretches along the River Thames, with over a quarter million hearts representing the lives lost during the pandemic — across from Parliament.