Central Valley Daily

Oct. 31: These Valley Residents Are Keeping ‘Dia De Los Muertos’ Traditions Alive

By Elizabeth Arakelian,

Kerry Klein, Samantha Rangel, Israel Cardona Hernandez, Rachel Livinal, Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado, Jonathan Linden

Published October 31, 2025 at 4:45 AM PDT

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“Dia de los Muertos,” or Day of the Dead, is much more than commercialized imagery of colorful skulls and skeletons adorned with bright flowers. In this episode, the KVPR newsroom sets out to shed light on three of the key ingredients to honor the occasion.

Plus, the latest news headlines: The Tule River Indian Tribe gets thousands of acres of land back from the state; and Fresno County officials explore a light rail to connect towns.

Central Valley Daily

Elizabeth Arakelian

A Valley native, Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree in English Language Literatures from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master's degree in journalism from New York University. She has covered a range of beats. Her agriculture reporting for the Turlock Journal earned her a first place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

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Kerry Klein

Kerry Klein is an award-winning reporter whose coverage of public health, air pollution, drinking water access and wildfires in the San Joaquin Valley has been featured on NPR, KQED, Science Friday and Kaiser Health News. Her work has earned numerous regional Edward R. Murrow and Golden Mike Awards and has been recognized by the Association of Health Care Journalists and Society of Environmental Journalists. Her podcast Escape From Mammoth Pool was named a podcast “listeners couldn’t get enough of in 2021” by the radio aggregator NPR One.

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Samantha Rangel

Samantha Rangel reports on stories for KVPR in the Fresno and Clovis areas. After growing up in the town of Firebaugh, Samantha is now enrolled at California State University, Fresno. There, she is studying to earn her B.A. in Media, Communications, and Journalism. Before joining the KVPR news team, she was a reporter for The Westside Express, where she covered education and other local news in Firebaugh.

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Israel Cardona Hernandez

Israel Cardona Hernández was born in Santa Rosa, California, and raised in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. Now based in Fresno, he is a junior at Fresno State, majoring in Mass Communications and Journalism with a focus on Broadcasting. He previously completed two years at Fresno City College and is currently gaining hands-on experience as an intern for the Fall 2025 semester. Fully bilingual in Spanish and English, Israel brings a multicultural perspective to his work in media and communication.

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Rachel Livinal

Rachel Livinal reports on higher education for KVPR through a partnership with the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative.

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Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado is KVPR's News Director. Prior to joining the station's news department in 2022, he was a reporter for PBS NewsHour and The Fresno Bee.

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Jonathan Linden

Jonathan Linden is a podcast producer at KVPR. Born and raised in Riverside, he's a Southern California native. Jonathan's passion for public radio began at a young age when his brother would play NPR while driving him home from middle school. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Biola University in 2019.

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