A sample of profiles and feature stories I’ve completed.
Featured photo by Kevin D. Liles
20 years after Columbine, a debate on bulldozing the school
Two decades after the name “Columbine” became synonymous with a school shooting, the suburban Denver community surrounding the school is debating whether it’s time to tear down a building that also became a beacon for people obsessed with the killings. I used social media and existing sources to explore the issue.
Columbine survivors send kids to schools altered by attack
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the attack on Columbine High School, I began working on a story focused on survivors sending their own kids to schools still coping with gun violence. I worked with video reporters in Denver and North Carolina to connect with Columbine alumni and tell their stories.
Elderly woman fears home loss in Atlanta flood-control plan
I heard about Mattie Jackson from a few city and state government sources in the fall of 2015. For decades, she organized residents of neighborhoods on the city’s Southeast side. But at 93, it seemed she would have to sell out to the city as part of a flood-control plan. (Spoiler: She got to stay).
Paralyzed EMT calls for better ambulance safety
I learned Wisconsin only has one inspector assigned to check more than 1,200 ambulances every two years – and the standards for those inspections haven’t been updated for more than a decade. I created a database of the inspection records, giving people a first look at the documents which aren’t available online through the state. But after I met Matt Deicher, a former EMT due to being paralyzed in an ambulance crash, it was clear his story deserved to stand alone.
Katie Foody 