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Clips

Since 2002, I have been reporting my way through life.

As journalists, we capture the sights, smells and sounds of this world with a scribbling pen and a sloppy scrawl. Helped by unhealthy doses of caffeine, our flying fingers turn notes and thoughts into words, words into sentences, and sentences into articles that are placed on your morning doorstep, in your inbox, and all around the World Wide Web.

Daily newspaper journalists are always busy, always on the job and always learning. Most of us are pretty smart. The best of us are aggressive and relentless with the powerful and compassionate with the weak. Many of us got into this business because we want to make a difference, we believe in freedom of the press, or quite simply -- we just want to write and couldn't find another way to get paid.

Me, I'm just curious. About everything.

Some of our stories get real results -- my story on a shrimper's woes with government red tape garnered calls from a Congressional representative who wanted to help, another time, calls to an insurance company about a man whose policy was cancelled got it reinstated. Some articles don't deserve to be remembered beyond their daily news shelf lives of one day. Still others capture a moment or tell a story that is timeless.

The words of billionaires and beggars, ministers and atheists, senators and ship welders have found their way into my notebook. As a business reporter who's held several jobs and internships, my byline has appeared in weekly journals, tiny community dailies and in some of the largest newspapers in the country.

Below are some of my best.

Mahogany imports from Peru via docks questioned
A wood importer in sleepy Evergreen, Ala. finds himself and his lumber yard at the center of an international controversy.

'Normal' is very different along the Mississippi Coast
The Thanksgiving following Hurricane Katrina was full of pain and hope for residents of the hardest-hit towns on the Gulf Coast.

Battered Bayou's blessed holiday
A glimpse into the private Christmas celebrations of a hurricane-battered shrimping village on the Gulf Coast.

Old-world repair store hanging on by a shoelace
Raymond Angel is a Jewish cobbler. His story is one thread in the beautiful tapestry of Seattle. Click the link. Read the story. And step into another place.

Home on the Holiday
An inside look at life and love aboard a Carnival cruise ship that served as a floating shelter following Hurricane Katrina.

A high life in Mobile
A day in the life of a tower crane operator on the construction of a skyscraper. And accompanying Q&A about what it's like up there. I donned a hard hat and boots and climbed the crane to write this story. My newspaper signed a legal agreement to not sue the construction company if the reporter and photographer fell (ie, died.)

Fighting the new fight
The man who served as an aide to Martin Luther King Jr., and led the children's march in Birmingham, Ala. is still fighting for civil rights in Chicago. Only today, he says, change has to come from within black men.

Politics and religion mingle at the Christian Inaugural Eve Gala
On the eve of George Bush Jr.'s second inaugural, high-profile members of the Christian right gathered at a ball to celebrate the Republican win. Here's a glimpse of what went on. Among the attendees: election mastermind Karl Rove and Republican party chairman Ken Mehlman.

Execs get down and dirty
Some white-collar corporate executives toil in the sewers for a week to take on some of the grimiest blue-collar jobs in their company.

Hurricane bond funds are widely distributed
An investigative look at how the governor of Alabama allocated bond money intended for hurricane relief.

A trip around the world: From war-torn Somalia to Chicago
A Mogadishu-born immigrant tries to make it as a taxi driver in the United States. The story takes the reader through the story of Somalia's government collapse as seen through the eyes of a little boy.

Danger present as ships ply bay
Using a freedom of information request of the U.S. Coast Guard and a lot of Excel sorting, I examined investigations of hits and near-misses on Mobile Bay. Story opens with a nightmare scenario that actually almost happened.

Big crowd raises Cain
Mardi Gras on the Gulf Coast is a crazy month-long celebration that culminates on Fat Tuesday, when offices, schools and banks close. This story captures the celebration in Mobile, Ala. on the Sunday before Mardi Gras, which is known as being one of the wackier - if you can imagine that's possible - celebrations.

Unions need shake-up
I sat down with Andy Stern, a prominent labor union leader, to talk about the future of America's working class and organized labor.

Ex-Microsoft exec set to be next space tourist
The man who pioneered Microsoft Word and Excel started out as an immigrant from Hungary, eager for a shot at capitalism and freedom. Now the accomplished billionaire is aiming for the stars.

The loan amounts are small, but the results are huge
The microlending movement, where tiny loans of $50 to $300 are given to poor entrepreneurs in developing countries, is taking off. This story tells of the difference it made in the life of one woman.

Moses adorns Supreme Court, Capitol
A walk through the religious symbolism in Washington, D.C.'s most famous buildings. I wrote the story when the Supreme Court was in the midst of a national legal battle over whether religious monuments should be allowed on public property.

Panhandlers on the rise and "This is my job"
Have you ever had the urge to talk to a homeless man and ask him why he doesn't work? My journalism partner and I did, and wrote on the homeless problem in Chicago. The story is accompanied by a profile of a beggar.