Alina Hartounian

Phoenix

Supervising Editor, Newshub at NPR

Supervising Editor at NPR. @AP alum. Graduate of @columbiajourn and @UCIrvine

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Articles

Button-sized eggs and teapot cities: A peek into the big, wide world of miniatures

2 weeks ago | mprnews.org | Alina Hartounian

Miniatures are huge right now. Social media feeds are chock-full of people painstakingly re-creating tiny kitchens where they may cook button-size eggs over the heat of a tealight. Creators give tours of carefully crafted homes decorated with handsewn, postage-stamp-sized pillows. Some will swatch lipstick and eyeshadow from palettes too small for even Barbie dolls to use.
After nearly 50 years cooped up inside, Rockalina the turtle finds the great outdoors

1 month ago | opb.org | Alina Hartounian

Rockalina the eastern box turtle enjoys the outdoors for the first time in nearly 50 years. Garden State Tortoise founder Chris Leone gets plenty of requests to take in turtles people can no longer care for. Rockalina’s case was different. “Like we do in any rescue, we ask to see the photos ... And they sent us the photos, and my wife and I, our jaws hit the ground,” he told NPR. A young boy found Rockalina, a wild eastern box turtle, while playing near his New York home in 1977.
Stick with us: Why the internet is obsessed with one of the simplest tools known to man

Jan 23, 2025 | mprnews.org | Alina Hartounian

For those who have ever found a cool stick and felt the impulse to show it off, there is an internet community of millions that wants to see it. "Stick Nation" is a worldwide movement that thrives on irreverent, fantastical and downright wholesome descriptions of sticks and the people who rank them. An account posting videos of people and their sticks has nearly 3 million followers on Instagram. On TikTok, it's known, appropriately, as StickTok.
Pacific Palisades' celebrity tortoise, Tiptoe, is among fire evacuees : NPR

Jan 15, 2025 | npr.org | Alina Hartounian

For years, Tiptoe has been a beloved sight in Pacific Palisades, quietly tromping along sidewalks and growing a major social media following. But last week, he lost his home to wildfires.
Tiptoe's survival tale: How the beloved tortoise escaped the Palisades Fire

Jan 14, 2025 | laist.com | Alina Hartounian

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Tiptoe the tortoise

Jan 14, 2025 | laist.com | Alina Hartounian

Topline: For years, Tiptoe has been a beloved sight in Pacific Palisades, quietly tromping along sidewalks and growing a major social media following. But last week, he lost his home to wildfires. Tiptoe was a Christmas gift for Caitlin Doran when she was just 7 years old. Back then, he was the size of a credit card. Since then he has lived in the backyard of Doran's childhood home in Pacific Palisades.
A tortoise survival tale: How Tiptoe escaped Southern California's wildfires

Jan 14, 2025 | mprnews.org | Alina Hartounian

This is a developing story. For the latest local updates head to LAist.com and sign up for breaking news alerts. Dark gray smoke puffed into the sky behind him as Tiptoe the African sulcata tortoise crunched on the green lawn beneath him. Flames were visible down the street, cars sped past, and Tiptoe's owner, Caitlin Doran, realized it was time to go.
Fire hydrants ran dry in Pacific Palisades as a major wildfire raged

Jan 9, 2025 | wgbh.org | Alina Hartounian

January 09, 2025 Hydrants ran dry overnight Tuesday in Pacific Palisades, California, because of the enormous demand for water to battle the destructive wildfire there and low water pressure. That wildfire and others have engulfed thousands of acres in Southern California, leaving two dead and many others injured while chasing tens of thousands from their homes and destroying countless buildings.
Fire hydrants ran dry in Pacific Palisades as a major wildfire raged : NPR

Jan 9, 2025 | npr.org | Alina Hartounian

Janisse Quiñones, CEO of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said the fight to contain the flames has put immense strain on the system.
Fire hydrants ran dry in Pacific Palisades as a major wildfire raged

Jan 8, 2025 | boisestatepublicradio.org | Alina Hartounian

Hydrants ran dry overnight Tuesday in Pacific Palisades, California, because of the enormous demand for water to battle the destructive wildfire there and low water pressure. That wildfire and others have engulfed thousands of acres in Southern California, leaving two dead and many others injured while chasing tens of thousands from their homes and destroying countless buildings.