Remembering mother and daughter Carolina Tovar and Leticia Ramirez

Two smiling women pose together against a light background. The woman on the left, wearing sunglasses, an orange scarf, and a brown jacket, seems to exude Berkeley Journalism chic. The woman on the right, resting her arm on the other's shoulder, wears a black top and has long, dark hair.

July 16, 2020 Carolina Tovar, 86, and her daughter Leticia Ramirez, 54, lived minutes apart from each other in Rowland Heights, a community in the San Gabriel Valley. Everyone in the family knew Ms. Ramirez was her mother’s go-to: She drove her to dialysis treatments, shopping and any place else she needed to go. They…

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Portraits of Essential California Workers

A worker in a deli shop wearing a face mask holds packaged meats and gestures with his right hand. Behind him, shelves are stocked with hanging sausages, and a glass display case filled with various food items is visible in the foreground. Another person works in the background, capturing scenes for Berkeley Journalism.

Nicholas Mastrelli at his family’s store, Molinari Delicatessen in San Francisco. Stephanie Penn July 2, 2020 With resilience and a sense of duty, these workers in the San Francisco Bay Area are performing vital services even as the pandemic and protests swirl around them. Andreus Oliver, Budtender at Barbary Coast Dispensary As customers walk into…

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How the Pandemic Is Making It Tougher to Study Whales

A person wearing a red cap and yellow gloves uses a large knife to examine a whale carcass on the beach. Several onlookers, some with cameras, stand in the background. An individual in sunglasses holds a clipboard and observes closely, possibly gathering material for Berkeley Journalism.

June 29, 2020 For residents of San Francisco, the sight of gray whales making their way into the bay this spring has been a rare treat. But for local marine scientists, the whale sightings have brought increasing alarm. The coronavirus pandemic is upending their effort to determine why, for the second year in a row,…

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An Asian-American Author Talks About Racism in the Pandemic

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June 24, 2020 By Thess Mostoles Kelly Yang, a young-adult novelist based in San Francisco, was teaching a free writing class for teenagers on Instagram Live in March when she began to talk about how her writing has been affected by surging xenophobia against Asian-Americans in the coronavirus pandemic. As Ms. Yang was talking, one of…

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Wanda DeSelle

An elderly woman with short, curly gray hair and glasses is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a dark cardigan over a light-colored blouse with a floral pattern. The cozy indoor space, resembling the charm of a Berkeley Journalism office, features wood-paneled walls and framed pictures.

June 17, 2020 When talk of retirement came up, Wanda DeSelle, 76, would always laugh it off. “I’ll retire after you do,” Mrs. DeSelle would tell her boss of 40 years, Dr. Mohammad Ashraf, a cardiologist seven years her junior. “She’d say, ‘If you’ll work for another 20 years, then I’ll work for another 20…

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How Paradise High’s Class of 2020 Got Its Graduation

A graduate in a green cap and gown stands through the sunroof of a car decorated with balloons that read "Class of 2020". The car, bearing signs for Berkeley Journalism, is on a track with trees and a field in the background. Another person sits inside the car.

The students and parents pushed and prodded over 10 weeks for an exception to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shelter-in-place order. June 15, 2020 PARADISE, Calif. — When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to fight the coronavirus by closing down the entire state, including schools, the seniors at Paradise High School began peppering local officials with one…

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Why Researchers Hope to Test High-Risk Groups in California

A health worker in full protective gear tends to a person seated in a portable chair at an outdoor camp. Two other people assist, while a fluffy white dog sits nearby. Tents, chairs, and urban buildings are visible in the background, capturing a scene that could easily be covered by Berkeley Journalism students.

  May 18, 2020 OAKLAND — In his 20 years in and out of homelessness, Ollie Harris, 69, has seen a lot of things. But what happened on a recent Friday was new. Sitting outside his tent on a patch of ground he and his wife staked out near Lake Merritt, he watched a white…

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