Written Works

Here's a collection I've written for various newspaper outlets over the years, as they appear on those newspapers' websites. I've included links to the stories where possible, along with .pdf files of the online text in case the links stop working. I wrote most of them while working as a government reporter for the Columbia Missourian, with a few exceptions.

One-Day Works

In this section, I've placed stories I completed within a few hours in a single work day.

These first two stories were pieces I completed or helped complete on the day of the second U.S. presidential debate in St. Louis. With the first story, I covered various student movements and rallies on the Washington University campus alongside my colleague. With the latter, I attended a debate watch party and profiled a local business owner and his custom of crafting Trump piñatas.

Of note, the piñata story got picked up by the Drudge Report, a conservative aggregate site, and quickly became the Missourian's most-read article of all time. The aftermath taught me how to tactfully field reader emails, some of which were less than civil.

Anger and humor surround second presidential debate in St. Louis -

Debate watchers batter Trump piñata outside St. Louis restaurant -

My next two stories were pieces I completed during trips into Missouri's state capital in Jefferson City. For the first, I attended an all-day state legislative session and covered legislators' override of the governor's veto of a voter ID provision. I wrote the second piece from the nearby Missouri Supreme Court, which was hearing arguments with relation to a green energy law.

Missouri General Assembly overrules Nixon's voter ID law veto, setting up fall showdown -

Missouri Supreme Court considers requirements cut from green energy law -

I wrote this story while interning as a staff writer for the Fairfax Connection local newspaper, covering the dedication of an elementary school garden to a child who had passed away from medical complications. Between speaking with the child's mother and various teachers, this was probably the most emotional story I've ever had to cover.

Sowing seeds of love -

These last two stories were quick crime stories I wrote while working general assignment shifts from the Columbia Missourian. I'm including them here mainly to showcase my ability to turn over quick stories in addition to longer ones.

Two people safe after car swept off road northwest of Ashland -

UPDATED: Police identify VFW shooting suspect, still at large -

Gun rights loom large for Missouri candidates, voters -

Cyberbullying bill will change school districts' anti-bullying policies -

Gans and Philips parks in line for new amenities if park tax passes -

"Now We're On Our Way" -

The Construct of Costa Rican Conservation -

One-Day Works

Long-Form Works

Spanish-Translated Works

Long-Form Works

In this section, I've included lengthier in-depth stories I wrote over periods of several days or weeks. These stories are all about state and/or local government issues like gun rights, cyberbullying and park taxes. For each, I interviewed multiple Missouri politicians and conducted background research to uncover relevant data to include.

Spanish-Translated Works

In my final section, I've placed two stories I wrote while on a two-week field reporting trip I took to Costa Rica through the Missouri School of Journalism in Dec. 2015. The first is a short profile story I wrote on two Cuban migrants stranded in La Cruz, while the latter is a long-form piece on conservation efforts in the country. I interviewed sources in Spanish and translated their answers into English for these stories, both of which were published on a school blog.