Last year, when I wrote a story about domestic violence in rural areas, I came across a stark statistic: a survey conducted by the Women’s Foundation of Oregon had found that 100 percent of the respondents at the Umatilla Reservation said they knew someone affected by domestic violence, the only location in Oregon with such a high percentage. I had heard …
Rockwood cookbook published
The cookbook is here! It’s beautiful, large in format, with high-quality paper and great photographs. You can purchase a paper copy or e-book from the City of Gresham. I loved working on this project. My goal was to represent the culinary traditions of the immigrant and refugee communities who have found their way to Rockwood, a diverse neighborhood on Portland’s …
Magazine: Fighting domestic violence in rural areas
As part of Portland Monthly‘s May Oregon Woman issue, I wrote a story about domestic violence in rural areas. I drove down to southern Oregon to report this story and spent the day with the Cave Junction-based Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance. In a very small town that lacks the most basic resources and doesn’t have much of a law enforcement presence, …
Magazine: On Wheels, living in an RV
The number of people living in recreational vehicles has exploded in the Portland area (and other parts of the country) in recent years, and it has stirred controversy. RV’s and motorhomes are everywhere, parked in residential and industrial areas, often in rows. This year, according to the 2017 Point-In-Time homeless count, a greater portion of unsheltered people reported sleeping in …
Writing the Rockwood cookbook
I’ve started on a new, exciting project – something different, professionally speaking, yet complimentary of my journalism and life experiences. I’m working on a cookbook! Rockwood Food Stories will be published by the City of Gresham, which abuts Portland. My role: find participants, cook and eat with them, then write the recipes and the stories. Given that I love to …
Essay: The Memory Keeper
I would like to share a very personal essay I wrote as a guest blogger for the Rough and Rede blog. It’s part of a series of original essays published on that blog every summer. My essay looks at the current migration crisis through the lens of a long-ago refugee. Much time has passed since I left communist Poland with my family, …
Roseburg shooting, stories
During the week in Roseburg following the shooting, I was part of an AP team that included several reporters, videographers, and photographers. Covering a mass shooting is easier when you’re part of a great team of journalists. We produced multiple stories, too many to list, but here are a few I worked on that stood out. Our dramatic narrative retelling …
Wildfires’ impact on rangeland
Wildfires exploded this summer in the Pacific Northwest. Thousands of acres were scorched. I wondered: whose land had actually burned? A lot of the land that was engulfed in flames was isolated forest, grassland, hillsides. To whom did the land belong? Then I started hearing about ranchers losing their grazing allotments in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and knew I had a …
Not Portlandia
For a long time, I have wanted to write a story about a different Portland – not the hip, popular Portland of pricey artisan lattes and overgrown facial hair, but a hidden part of town where immigrants, refugees, and low-income people live: East Portland. I have lived in East Portland for several years now and have watched it change and …
Flooded villages
This is one of my favorite stories that I’ve written and photographed at the AP. I worked with AP’s features editor and features photo editor to bring it together. To me, it’s an essential tale of the Pacific Northwest – a story about this region’s history and its making, the area’s principal characteristics (the river, salmon, dams, and hydropower), and the legacy …
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