Lyz Hoffman

BACK IN BUSINESS: The Independent welcomes back Lyz Hoffman to the newsroom. After completing two internships at the paper and studying English and professional editing at UCSB, Hoffman headed to Northwestern U’s Medill School of Journalism last year. “I loved the variety of stuff I got to do [as an intern],” she said. “I loved the freedom.” Now, she’s thrilled to be back in town working at The Indy. An avid reader, vegetarian, dog lover, and Breaking Bad enthusiast from the Sacramento area, Hoffman immediately dove into the challenging world of county and court reporting in the couple weeks she’s been back. “I’m happy to take it on,” she said. While covering global health issues and taking courses in Chicago, Hoffman learned an invaluable lesson: The West Coast — and especially Santa Barbara — is hard to beat.