As a daily news reporter, I produce hundreds of stories every year. The selection below represents my best and favorite work across several beats and story types.
STORIES FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
To see my AP work, visit my blog
Here are my top three best stories:
Indians seek decent housing by their beloved river Flooded Villages
In nation’s breadbasket, Latinos stuck in poverty Cycle of Poverty
Latino-indigenous Mexican divide stirs Calif. town Divided Town
STORIES FROM THE OREGONIAN’S LATINO AFFAIRS/IMMIGRATION BEAT
Note: Some stories from The Oregonian bear another person’s name at the top… that’s the editor who posted the story, not the author. All stories below are my own.
Latino/Immigration beat ……………….. Slavic/Russian beat ………………… Narratives, etc.
Growth/Cities beat………………..Personal Essays………………..Other ……………….. Eastern Europe
Traditional curanderos a lifeline for the Latino version of health care providers
(With health care reform dominating the front page, I wanted to write about how Latinos fit into that debate. The statistics were telling: Latinos are uninsured at three times the rate of non-Latino whites. How, I wondered, were sick Latinos getting by? Then I started hearing stories of curanderos…)
link to story
Often shunned by family, Oregon’s gay Latinos fight for respect
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Refugees and immigrants today, citizens and leaders tomorrow
link to story
African refugees find common ground with enemies through dialogue
(This story took many interviews to get people comfortable with me and allow them to talk about some of their traumatic life experiences.)
link to story
Workers, growers share view of farm labor’s plight (series on agriculture)
link to story
Stable farm labor seems elusive in global economy (series on agriculture)
link to story
Oregon Latinos seek power in numbers
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His boyhood spent in a slave labor camp, Kilong Ung survives, excels and now wishes to heal
link to story
Celebration is a tribute to the gods, and a restoration of indigenous villages in Mexico
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Portland’s Chinese community finds a new pride to replace old perceptions
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Slain Beaverton teen was never in a gang, police and family say
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Healing in their own way; Refugees turn to tradition to treat emotional wounds
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Helping Latinos prosper in their business
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Little-known visas free immigrants from abuse
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A tide of anger on immigration
(This was a special project that ran in the Sunday Opinion section. Vexed by the hundreds of angry and yes, racist, emails regularly filling up my mailbox and answering machine, I decided to go to the source to get behind the anger and understand where some people stand on immigration.)
link to story
Chavez would take high road on Portland street renaming
(A controversial street renaming — and a fear of Oregon’s rising Latino population, perhaps — sent me to the Central Valley to track the story of Cesar Chavez.)
link to story
Hispanic surge is reshaping Oregon
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Doctors from afar meeting rural Oregon’s needs
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Mexican farm expert lobbies for NAFTA change
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Illegal immigration status, in-state tuition for Oregon colleges?
link to story
Oregon groups unite on immigration reform
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Ronault “Polo” Catalani provides a ‘bigger voice’ for immigrants
(The profile of a key immigrant community leader in Oregon.)
link to story
Latinos march in St. Helens to unite with community
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Oregon’s immigration debate: More subtle, but no less heated (part I)
(a special project on the history of immigration in Oregon)
link to story and link to PDF
Meet the newest wave of Latinos (part II)
link to story
and here’s the graphic I put together for the series above:
History of immigration in Oregon, Graphic
Immigrants aren’t leaving, despite harder times in U.S. (part I)
link to story
Oregon Latinos hit hard by recession (part II)
link to story
P’urhepecha Indians in Portland hold fast to their identity
(One of my favorite stories. Goes beyond the stereotypes of Latinos.)
link to story or a link to PDF
Voters target illegal hiring
link to story
Documentary gives voices to undocumented youth
link to story
Spanish language DMV tests plummet
link to story
Home again, this time legally
link to story
Parsing English immersion
(A look at the history of English immersion and English first initiatives.)
link to story
Trapped in America’s borders
link to PDF
Two countries, two people, one play
link to story
Illegal workers turn to ID theft
(the fallout from immigration raids)
link to PDF
How it works; the price
(the fallout from immigration raids)
link to PDF
Work complaints hang over plant
(the fallout from immigration raids)
link to PDF
Too many players vie for too few soccer fields
link to PDF
Club points toward trust
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Immigrants empowered to be citizens
link to PDF
More Latinos call Oregon home
link to PDF
El Dia de los Muertos
link to PDF
An echo of Mexico in Woodburn
link to PDF
STORIES FROM THE OREGONIAN COVERING SLAVIC/RUSSIAN-SPEAKING COMMUNITY
From Russia with persistence: Opera star now trains Oregon’s youth
link to story
Slavic parents loose control of their Americanizing kids (special project, part I)
(This series won the 2009 C.B. Blethen Memorial Awards for distinguished newspaper reporting)
link to story
Helping Slavic youths find the right track (special project, part II)
link to story
Hit hard by housing collapse
link to PDF
Civic affairs matter, unlike under Soviets
link to PDF
Monday Profile: Andre Temkin
link to PDF
Issue brings out new political voice
(This story was a quick turnaround… when I heard about Oregon’s usually isolated Russian speaking community marching at Salem’s capitol, I knew I was onto something.)
link to PDF
Invisible immigrants
link to PDF
Immigrant’s journey
link to PDF
Rooted in real estate
link to PDF
Pastor builds a bridge from Romania
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Returning to medicine
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OTHER INVESTIGATIVE-TYPE STORIES
Coach faces deportation
(I found this story after observing the Dallas immigration court for days. The revelations rocked the Dallas scene: this coach was a Texas soccer pioneer and mentor to scores of youth. Less known was his dark past…)
link to PDF
The graying of abuse
(This one came from a daily on The Oregonian’s cops/courts beat. A court date for an 80-some sex offender sparked my interest…)
link to PDF
Inmate Center, bidder draw fire
(An investigation for The Hartford Courant into the proposal to build a 500-bed community justice center in Hartford, Conn.)
link to PDF
Credit Scores – What you should know about your own
(Part of Secret History of the Credit Card, an investigation by FRONTLINE and The New York Times into the credit card industry. The program won the 2004-2005 Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.)
link to story
NARRATIVE-TYPE PIECES, ETC.
A racetrack filled with memories
(I spent two afternoons with the couple in this story. It’s a short piece, but there’s something about it…)
link to PDF
Foster daughter fights for her self
(For several months, I followed a young woman in foster care, as she struggled to define a relationship with her biological mother.)
link to PDF
Looking forward, holding back
(This project spanned several months. I followed a homeless mother and her two daughters in Dallas, TX as they struggled to get their life back together and get off the streets. This story won the 2006 Family Gateway Transforming Families award.)
link to PDF
Fencing for life
(One of my favorite profiles! What a character!)
link to PDF
After Katrina, teens cope
(A shorter piece looking at how teenagers cope with disasters, in particular in the wake of Katrina.)
link to PDF
The Tiller Hotel
(This is not a narrative, but I love the sense of place captured in this piece.)
link to PDF
GROWTH/CITIES BEAT
Battle of Sandy Bluff
link to PDF
Brawling saloon keepers…
link to PDF
Billboards pit beauty vs business
link to PDF
City grew, not according to plan
link to PDF
Struggling to keep small town feel
link to PDF
City has big job to do
link to PDF
Blanketed in records bid
(As massive records requests stunned cities big and small in several states, including Oregon, I followed the people and the money behind these unusual public records requests.)
link to PDF
City manager’s experience speaks volumes
(A fun profile of a city manager, a profession most think of as pretty boring.)
link to PDF
PERSONAL ESSAYS
New to Oregon: The chase of a fresh start rewards a refugee with a richer life
link to story
and the graphic that I put together for the story above
link to PDF, Oregon population graphic
Reassuring roots in an immigrant’s garden
link to PDF
A mysterious benefactor molds my life
link to PDF
With death comes the immigrant’s guilt
link to PDF
Why I was chosen to be an American
link to PDF
Who noticed? Belarus needs the ‘evil’ tag.
(I’ve reported from Belarus on several occasions, including covering this country’s elections for The San Francisco Chronicle. Here is a creative piece on the situation in Belarus, a country where little reporting goes beyond state-pushed propaganda. This story was edited by New York-based editor Tom Engelhardt and published in The San Francisco Chronicle’s Insight section.)
link to PDF
Separate Lives
(A journey to the borderlands in the aftermath of Poland’s entry into the European Union. The story was reported for Transitions Online, an online magazine about post-communist Europe and Central Asia.)
link to PDF
A STORY FROM INDIA
Grób Jezusa w cieniu wojny, Gazeta Wyborcza
LINK TO PDF