Nevada

Isabella Aldrete

Isabella Aldrete

Isabella Aldrete is a bilingual journalist for The Nevada Independent. She covers political races up and down the ticket, as well as the Legislature and how policies affect Latinos. Prior to joining Report for America, Aldrete interned for NBC News. There, she covered everything from Sam Altman’s investments to the CHIPs Act. Aldrete also worked at the Dow Jones News Fund, covering workplace benefits for Employee Benefit News. She’s a 2024 graduate of Barnard College.

The Nevada Independent

The Nevada Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, statewide news and opinion website founded in 2017 by veteran political journalist and commentator Jon Ralston. Our team of nearly two dozen produces ethical, unbiased and transparent journalism focused on politics, policy, education, business and the environment. The Indy also produces events, podcasts, videos and Spanish-language content. All our content is paywall-free. We disclose our donors, and are supported by readers, grants, corporations and event sponsorships.

Gabe Stern

Gabe Stern covers state legislature and midterm elections in Nevada for The Associated Press. Before joining the AP, he reported for the Tampa Bay Times and ABC News as an intern. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, where he spent much of 2020 and 2021 covering COVID-19 in New York prisons for The Daily Orange, the student-run newspaper. His investigative reporting won first place in the Hearst Journalism Awards. Stern has also interned at Florida’s Naples Daily News and the News-Press in Fort Myers. In his free time he loves exploring new cities and trails.

Jose Davila

Jose Davila IV covers K-12 education with a focus on Latino students and families across northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe region for KUNR, an NPR affiliate in Reno, Nevada. Prior to joining KUNR, Davila interned for The Blade in Toledo, Ohio, reporting on local businesses during the pandemic. He graduated from Yale University in 2022, where he majored in global affairs, obtained a Certificate of Advanced Language Study in Spanish, and was named a Yale Journalism Scholar. Davila was a beat reporter, a managing editor and a public editor for the Yale Daily News. He hails from Mill Valley, California, just north of San Francisco, where La Taqueria makes his favorite burrito.

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate and unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

KUNR Public Radio

KUNR Public Radio, an NPR affiliate and news site, covers the Reno-Sparks metro area, several rural towns across northern Nevada and a handful of California cities near Lake Tahoe. As an early adopter of Spanish-language digital content, KUNR is addressing language-access gaps in the community. KUNR is a member station of the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaborative of several public radio stations that cover Western issues.

McKenna Ross

McKenna Ross is a business reporter covering the nonprofit and charity sector for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Previously, she reported for MLive, a Michigan news site, where she focused on local government, community and health news in Jackson and Washtenaw counties. A Miami native, McKenna moved to Michigan in high school and got her start in local news as an apprentice at the Detroit Free Press. She has interned at The Oregonian, Gongwer News Service and The Palm Beach Post. McKenna graduated from Michigan State University in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and political science. While there, she interned at WKAR, a public radio station at MSU, and spent most of her time at the campus paper, The State News, where she led reporters as managing editor through coverage of the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal and fallout at MSU.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is the dominant news organization in Southern Nevada. We cover the state of Nevada as well as major news in eastern California, southern Utah and northwest Arizona. Our mission is to tell the most important stories in Las Vegas, to hold institutions and leaders accountable, and to fight for the public's right to know.  

Lucia Starbuck

Lucia Starbuck reports for KUNR Public Radio, where she focuses on community reporting and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in Reno, Nevada. Starbuck knows the area well. She is from Reno and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, along with a minor in cinema and media studies. Local community issues are her passion, including the affordable housing crisis, access to oral healthcare and the challenges voters with disabilities face while participating in the election process. Along with radio, Starbuck reports in various formats, including digital storytelling and live reporting on social media. She has also directed and filmed two documentaries about homelessness. Starbuck contributed to KUNR’s coverage of hateful expressions at the University of Nevada, Reno, produced in 2019, which won a regional Edward R. Murrow award in the Best Continuing Coverage category and first place in the Associated Press Television and Radio Association (APTRA) broadcast contest for Continuing Coverage. Starbuck co-created and contributed to the series Spurs & Mud: A Century of Rodeo, which won first place from APTRA in 2019 for Best Sports Coverage.

Sam Metz

Sam Metz covers the Nevada Legislature for The Associated Press with a special emphasis on water, education and health care. Metz most recently covered California politics for The Desert Sun and USA TODAY Network in Palm Springs, Calif. His work on wildfires, criminal justice and agriculture has won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association and IRE. He previously spent two years in Morocco researching and reporting on migration in the Mediterranean as a Fulbright Scholar and his work has also appeared in VICE News, Quartz and The New Republic. He grew up in Illinois, swam at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and graduated from UC Berkeley, where he was part of the Men’s Swimming team that won two NCAA championships.