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
Smith Reelected as Sully Supervisor
In last week’s election for Sully District supervisor, Democratic incumbent Kathy Smith beat Republican challenger Keith Elliott.
Joyful Ribbon Cutting on a Cold, Brisk Day
Route 28 widening in Centreville is nearly done.
Area motorists may now rejoice because the road has been widened from four to six lanes between the bridge over Bull Run (south of Compton Road), at the Prince William County line, and the Route 29 Interchange in Centreville.
Residents, Scouts Fill WFCM’S Food Pantry
On Saturday, Nov. 4, Boy Scouts in the Sully District collected 50,416 pounds of food for Western Fairfax Christian Ministries’ food pantry in Chantilly.
Britepaths Seeks Donations for Families in Need
Help put food on their tables during the holidays.
Food donations
Veterans Day Is Celebrated in Fairfax City
Sharing patriotic pride and serious messages.
Veterans Day
My Empanadas Offers Authentic Peruvian Food
New restaurant is open in Fairfax City’s Courthouse Plaza.
Empanadas
Fairfax High Presents ‘Romeo and Juliet’
A fresh, new take on a classic love story.
Featuring a cast and crew of nearly 60, Fairfax High is presenting “Romeo and Juliet.” But this version is set in a different time period than the original and has a surprising amount of humor.