Mari's the Weekly's new staff writer. She started last Wednesday (Sept. 19) and has already been meeting with potential sources and connections in the community. She'll be the go-to writer regarding university-related issues and most matters involving the county.
Her Southern Arizona roots run deep. She's a fifth-generation Tucsonan and a graduate of the UA; she returned to Tucson this summer with her husband and son after living in Los Angeles and Washington state. Her journalism experience is varied; she was a theater critic for the now-defunct L.A. Reader (it's not her fault that the paper's defunct ... at least we don't think it is) and a news writer for The Stranger in Seattle, so she has alt-weekly cred. Most recently, she wrote for the Wenatchee Business Journal, a monthly publication.
Here are some fun facts about Ms. Herreras:
· Favorite food: "I love all food."
· Favorite Tucson restaurant: Mi Nidito (with Sushi King a close second).
Most embarrassing moment she's willing to share with almost 200,000 readers: "I came out of the Grill bathroom with my skirt stuck in my underwear and gave the people at the bar a good laugh. But they were pretty nice about it."
· Favorite thing about returning to Tucson: The sunsets; feeling like she's "in a perpetual sweat lodge."
· Biggest change she's noticed in Tucson after living elsewhere for a decade and a half: The lack of change, actually. "I was hoping that we would be addressing the fact that we're not a small town anymore."
· What she wants to accomplish here at the Weekly: "To tell good stories, and at the same time keep readers informed."
Welcome, Mari. If you have a story idea for her, she can be reached at 295-4256 or mherreras@tucsonweekly.com.
