With more than 25 years experience in journalism, I’ve written and edited newspapers in California, North Carolina and Virginia. In California, I worked for a weekly paper in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I’m from originally.
In North Carolina, I worked two years (1990-92) at the Sun Journal, a daily paper in New Bern. There, I covered county government, commercial fishing – which is a big industry there – and the Gulf War.
New Bern is near the Marine Corps Air Station in Havelock, so I did lots of stories on the effects the war had on the wives and children left behind while the husbands and dads were fighting in Iraq. As one elementary-school teacher told me, “If one child’s father or mother is killed, the security for the rest of the students is shattered.”
In addition, my photographer and I were lowered by helicopter onto the USS Iwo Jima as it returned to port in Morehead City after deployment. I got to interview the sailors and Marines aboard ship and experience, firsthand, their welcome back by local residents who greeted them in the water in hundreds of small boats to escort them home.
I also interviewed parents of Marines killed in the war, as well as a Marine pilot whose aircraft had been shot down overseas. He spoke about what went through his mind while parachuting into the desert and what happened to him while he was a POW. Luckily, it was toward the end of the war and he was eventually freed to return home.
I also worked three years for the Prince William Journal, covering the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, as well as a slew of criminal cases. And I’ve been with Centre View for almost 19 years, covering Centreville, Chantilly, Clifton, Fair Oaks and Fair Lakes. For the past few years, I’ve also covered Fairfax and some of Lorton and Fairfax Station for the Connection.
Recent Stories
Telford Receives Weinberg Triumph of Spirit Award
The annual Race for Hope in Washington, D.C., raises money for brain tumor research and, for 10 years now, the Rabbi Joseph P. Weinberg Triumph of Spirit Award has been given at that event to a deserving recipient.
Music, Food, Entertainment and Fun
Israel Street Festival this Sunday at Fairfax Corner.
The Fairfax Corner shopping center is the place to be this Sunday, May 19, from noon-5 p.m., when the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia holds its 2013 Israel Street Festival. Music, food, children’s activities and a martial-arts demonstration are among the highlights.
BIG Fun Ride
Tall, short, stocky, thin, disabled or not, children love to play—and that’s the premise behind Chessie’s BIG Backyard in Lee District Park in Alexandria. It’s a family recreation area that opened last summer and is fully accessible.
Music, Food and Entertainment
Israel Street Festival this Sunday at Fairfax Corner.
The Fairfax Corner shopping center is the place to be this Sunday, May 19, from noon-5 p.m., when the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia holds its 2013 Israel Street Festival. Music, food, children’s activities and a martial-arts demonstration are among the highlights.
Responding to Explosive Situation
An example of a case in which the bomb squad is called.
The Centreville homeowner had been making homemade fireworks for several years. But when a July 15, 2007 explosion blew a hole in his roof — and the resulting fire caused $200,000 damage to his house – his hobby came to the attention of Fairfax County fire officials.
Kicking up Their Heels
Students enjoy Day Prom at The Waterford.
At last week’s Day Prom at The Waterford in Fair Oaks, it didn’t matter if some of the students attending couldn’t walk or talk. For a few hours, they were just like all the other students in their high schools — they were at their school prom.
Police Officers, Robots and K-9s
CAC learns about the bomb squad’s work.
Each month, members of the Sully District Station’s Citizens Advisory Committee learn about a different facet of the work done by the station’s police officers. In April, the topic was the bomb squad.
Eating Chicken for a Good Cause
The Chantilly Chick-Fil-A held a fundraiser last Thursday, May 2, for Team BT, spearheaded by Fair Lakes resident BethAnn Telford.
Tara Sankner: Princess for an Evening
Tara Sankner, 8, a second-grader at Lees Corner Elementary, is battling brain cancer. But for awhile last week, she got to feel like a princess. Family and friends — especially Tattoo Tom Mitchell of StillBrave Childhood Cancer Foundation — staged a flash mob for her.
Bicycling 230 Miles In Remembrance: Police Unity Tour Raises Awareness and Funds
Police Unity Tour is this weekend.
Centreville’s Kevin Whalen has bicycled in five Police Unity Tour (PUT) rides, but this year was going to be different. Then tragedy struck and changed his mind. He’s a federal agent with the Treasury Department, and his partner there, Tammy Anzenberger, is married to a Prince William County police officer. And that’s how Whalen learned about Chris Yung, who died in the line of duty on Dec. 31, 2012 — and in whose honor Whalen will ride this weekend.