Politics, culture and food: La Abeja’s top stories on California’s Latino community in 2024
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As the year comes to a close, La Abeja team is reflecting on some of the top issues that impacted the Latino community in 2024.
Started in 2021, La Abeja — which means ‘The Bee’ in Spanish — is a free, weekly newsletter written by Latino reporters for the Latino community. The newsletter is delivered every Wednesday to readers of The Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, Modesto Bee and Merced Sun-Star. Our diverse team includes a mix of Mexican-American, Salvadoran-American, immigrant and LGBTQ reporters.
From California politics to culture, our goal is to bring you timely, relevant stories that reflect the diversity of the Central Valley Latino community.
Inspired by the Spotify Wrapped tradition, in which the music streaming app summarizes a listener’s music habits for the year, the La Abeja team wanted to share our top stories of 2024.
One of the biggest stories nationwide was the presidential election, the upcoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump and the rightward shift of several California counties, including Fresno, Stanislaus and Merced.
Here are some of the other top stories of the year that impacted the region.
Top-read Abeja team stories of 2024
These were some of the top-read stories of the year that related to the Central Valley Latino community and written by the La Abeja team.
Latinos are growing frustrated and angry about migrants and the border. Here’s why
Fresno police chief resigns after investigation into relationship with officer’s wife
‘All México is in mourning.’ 7 Mexican farmworkers killed in crash eulogized at funeral mass
Corn fungus? Grasshopper tacos? Unique, must-try Mexican dishes at Modesto-area restaurants
Owners of landmark Mexican eatery in Madera to retire after 24 years. What’s next for it?
U.S. citizens can now legalize status of noncitizen spouses or stepchildren. Here’s how*
- Approximately 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens were considered eligible to access President Biden’s Keeping Families Together program, according to the Department of Homeland Security. However in November, a Texas judge overturned the Biden program to regularize half a million undocumented immigrants. - Maria G. Ortiz-Briones
Popular Mexican restaurant offers a taste of home in Fresno. Check out this ‘amazing gem’
Reporter’s choice
Here is a selection of top stories we enjoyed working on with a blurb about why this story mattered to us. A common thread from our selection is that each story shows how policies, politics and workplace conditions impact the Central Valley’s vulnerable immigrant Latino workforce and business owners.
‘All México is in mourning.’ 7 Mexican farmworkers killed in crash eulogized at funeral mass
This story stands out to me because farmworkers continue to be seen as nothing more than field labor that powers the San Joaquín Valley’s agriculture engine that makes billions of dollars for everyone else but those who risk their lives planting, nurturing and harvesting. The visual impact of seven coffins lined up inside a multi-purpose room at Kerman High School and the tearful words by loved ones of what these men meant to them was moving. The entire Mass was celebrated in Spanish. - Juan Esparza Loera
California magician died on Halloween after being buried alive. What went wrong?
I came across the story of the “Amazing Joe” after reading about the Wolfe Manor and immersing myself in Fresno’s paranormal and supernatural stories. I learned that a magician died buried alive on Halloween night, it sounded like a Stephen King book. After learning everything I could about Joe and his family, and watching episodes of the Netflix show “Death by Magic” my article published. My favorite thing about the story was not only writing it but receiving a phone call from Joe’s sister saying she had recently subscribed to the Fresno Bee when she saw her brother in the news. She called it fate, but I’ll say it’s just a little bit of journalism magic. - Fernanda Galan
After claim $36K food truck fees targeted Latinos, Chowchilla leaders reform rules
This story was the third and final one I wrote about the Madera County city of Chowchilla’s Latino lonchera owners battling against the city’s extremely high fees – $100 per day or $36,000 per year – imposed on food truck operators. Chowchilla elected officials decided to get rid of the hefty fees after months of Chowchilla’s Latino immigrants making their voices heard and confronting the city over policies they felt were discriminatory. The first story I wrote about this dates back to the fall of 2023. - Erik Galicia
Viva Supermarket employees speak out against former councilman Sean Loloee, grocery stores
This story took months of reporting to complete and builds on previous coverage by The Sacramento Bee about former Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee, who was indicted by a federal grand jury. The indictment accuses Loloee, owner of a local grocery chain, of maintaining an undocumented workforce because they were “easier to control.” After early mornings and late nights in grocery store parking lots, dozens of phone calls, and door-knocking, four former employees agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. They described a workplace marked by intimidation and favoritism, in which some employees faced repeated threats of deportation and wage theft. - Mathew Miranda
- In early May 2023, Jesus Salazar, a 66-year-old Mexican poultry worker, drowned in a waste pit at the company’s California processing plant. His death prompted The Fresno Bee’s nine-month investigation published in February. Two weeks after our investigation was published, Jose Abrego, a 19-year-old night worker and father-to-be was killed on the job. I think about Salazar and Abrego everyday, and the impact their deaths have had on their families. These workplace fatalities, and others like it, are embedded in our country’s industrial food system. - Melissa Montalvo
Central Valley growers and farmworkers fear mass deportations if Trump wins election
Nearly four million Latinos in California could be affected by President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan, according to FWD.us. Talks of mass deportation have spread anxiety across the fields in the Central Valley, where a majority of farmworkers are undocumented. I had the opportunity to talk to Sandra Garcia, a Central Valley resident who’s worked more than 40 years in the fields and is president and founder of Campesinas Unidas del Valle de San Joaquin. I feel this story was important because it gave farmworkers a voice to share their point of view and worries on a topic that affects them directly. People don’t usually put themselves in their shoes to understand what mass deportations can affect those who put food on their table. - Maria G. Ortiz-Briones
This story was originally published December 25, 2024 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Politics, culture and food: La Abeja’s top stories on California’s Latino community in 2024."
