Daniel Casarez reports for the Visalia Times-Delta in Visalia, California, where he covers the state’s Central Valley south with a focus on Tulare County. A multimedia journalist, Casarez has reported on evictions during the pandemic for Retro Report, a nonprofit news organization that publishes short-form documentaries. For years he reported for Vida en el Valle, a bilingual publication serving California’s Central Valley. His fellowship at the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism resulted in coverage of the effects of asthma on Latino children living in rural communities, and he was a multimedia contributor to a series on Valley fever, a lung infection. A graduate of Fresno Pacific University, Casarez has earned awards from the California News Publishers Association and the National Association of Hispanic Publications. He grew up in a farm-working family in Calwa, located in Fresno County, part of the Central Valley.
Beat: Tulare County
This reporter covers California's Central Valley South with a focus on Tulare county. Tulare is home to the World Ag Expo, Congressman Devin Nunes and some 70,000 people – and its growth-minded leaders envision it spreading wider across some of the world's most important farmland. Tulare's elites are wealthy and powerful. Deep-rooted ag families have amassed fortunes. Yet more than one in five residents live at or below the poverty line. Just 11 percent of Tulare residents have a college degree. Sixty-one percent are Latino and 45 percent speak a language other than English. This reporter will focus heavily on local government accountability and water availability/issues related to growth, development and farming.