Steve Sebelius was born and raised in Huntington Beach, Calif. He graduated from Biola University in 1989, and went to work for his hometown newspaper, the weekly Huntington Beach Independent.
Shortly thereafter, he was hired by the Pomona Progress Bulletin to cover the then-newly incorporated city of Diamond Bar, as well as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the nation's largest local government. It was at the Progress-Bulletin that he also began covering politics, a lifetime avocation. (The Progress-Bulletin later merged with its sister paper, the Ontario Daily Report to form the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Sebelius was named bureau chief of the Pomona bureau following that merger.)
In 1990, he was hired by the Sacramento Union, then the oldest continually published daily newspaper west of the Mississippi River. He covered education, and later City Hall and state and federal courts. It was at the Union that he wrote a series of investigative stories on Bill Honig, then the state's superintendent of public instruction, which led to Honig's indictment and removal from office. (The Union ceased publishing in 1994.)
In 1993, he was hired by the Las Vegas Sun to cover police, and later City Hall, where he wrote in-depth reports about a police bond issue and city redevelopment efforts. He left Las Vegas in 1997 to work for the Gannet Co.-owned San Bernardino Sun, but returned to Las Vegas in 1998 as a writer for the alternative weekly newspaper CityLife.
In late 1999, he was hired by the Review-Journal to be that newspaper's political columnist, and also to write a twice-daily e-mail newsletter called the EARLY LINE. In that job, he wrote more than 800 columns and covered three elections and the contentious 2003 session of the Nevada state Legislature.
In 2005, after Review-Journal parent Stephens Media LLC purchased CityLife, Sebelius was named editor. He writes the award-winning weekly column "Coffee & Outrage," and a daily blog, "Various Things & Stuff." Under his tenure, CityLife has twice been recognized for general excellence and once for community service by the Nevada Press Association, and in 2008, the newspaper was accepted for membership in the prestigious Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.
Sebelius was the host of the television show Political Insiders, from 2006 to 2007, on KTNV Channel 13, Las Vegas's ABC affiliate. He has appeared as a regular guest on VegasPBS's Nevada Week in Review since 1995, and also appears frequently on Nevada Public Radio's State of Nevada interview program.
Steve Sebelius on KCRW
More from KCRW
SoCal solar industry’s future may be dimmer due to CA rule changes
Climate changeRooftop solar is about to get more expensive, so local solar installers are busy but expecting tough days ahead. The Imperial Valley is known for agriculture.
How to get homeless count right? LA to try new app and more staff
HomelessnessLA’s annual homeless count determines how resources get distributed to the region’s unhoused residents.
More scammers are targeting job seekers, especially in tech
TechnologyScammers are posing as recruiters and hiring managers, holding interviews, and making offers. Prospective tech workers are the main victims now, but everyone is vulnerable.
Most Californians lack flood insurance. Here’s how to get it
CaliforniaCalifornia is assessing the damage from weeks of severe storms. How many residents have flood insurance, and how do you get it?
In search of paradise—and why travel writer Pico Iyer says it may be within
TravelRenowned travel writer and author Pico Iyer reflects on how different cultures and peoples see life and death and find their own versions of happiness and paradise.
Guillermo del Toro, Janelle Monae, and Jeremy Dauber on The Treat
EntertainmentThis week on The Treatment, Elvis sits down with Academy Award winning director Guillermo del Toro, whose latest project is a new adaptation of “Pinocchio.”
KCRW Open House at The California African American Museum
CultureJoin us for KCRW Open House at The California African American Museum on February 10.
Some unhoused Angelenos are now ‘Inside Safe.’ But will they get permanent homes?
HomelessnessMayor Karen Bass’s “Inside Safe” initiative has brought more than 100 unhoused people into shelters. But how fast permanent housing will materialize?
Lisa Marie Presley’s death is a heart health wake-up call for women
Health & WellnessLisa Marie’s sudden death, at age 54, has more women thinking about heart health. The CDC says heart disease is now the leading cause of death for women in the U.S.