I worked as the government reporter at the Daily Citizen, a 7,000-circulation newspaper in Searcy, Arkansas. Searcy is a deeply conservative and deeply religious community, and home to Harding University, the Church of Christ-affilaited school that has had some notable students, including Kenneth Starr and LaMar Baker.
Linked below are many of the stories I wrote at the Citizen. Please note that for purposes of demonstrating my work I have mirrored the original web posts; the original stories are archived at the Daily Citizen web site (payment required for access to archives). I'd also be happy to provide tearsheets to prospective employers, on request.
I was generally expected to write two articles each day, and additionally a weekly "enterprise" piece to run on Sundays. I'm posting as many of these here as time allows (with explanatory text), so if the article you're looking for isn't yet present, please come back. This page was last updated on January 13, 2006.
I wrote a series of articles investigating the White County (Arkansas) Sheriff's Department. I revealed that one deputy sheriff had been involved in a drunken disturbance in the town of Brinkley, in which he stole a police officer's pistol and threatened African-Americans. The next day, I revealed that a second deputy had been arrested in Dallas, Texas for drunk driving-- in the sheriff's truck. As a result of my stories, both deputies were forced to resign. As part of my election coverage, I then profiled the sheriff and his challenger:
Deptuy arrested on drunk driving charge in sheriff's truck
Deputy's drunken romp
Two deputies resign
Election profile of the sheriff
Election profile of the sheriff's challenger
But there were many other governmental jurisdictions in White County. Here are some articles I wrote covering those cities and towns:
Beebe City Hall Power Struggle
Beebe battle follow-up
Citizens on Patrol (written with Philip Holsinger)
Searcy firefighter pay lags
Firefighter pay lags (sidebar)
Dirty Water
Even rural Arkansas gets its share of big news stories. Here are some I wrote:
Tommy Franks (press conference)
Tommy Franks (speech at Harding University)
Prom night deaths
Chicken plant closing
Company accused of dumping raw sewage
The American heartland also produces more than its share of characters, odd balls and, well, interesting places. I wrote about as many as I could find: from a clerk at Walmart waking one morning to find an image of Jesus in a bottle of hand lotion to a government employee hired to dynamite beaver dams to the possibilty of escape provided by a traveling circus.
Jesus in the hand lotion
Circus
Taylor's Catfish
Jacob
Bald Knob
Beaver Battle
Junior Barker
Living in White County's past: When cotton was king
Sterling Market
"Terrorism" Alarm
Finders Keepers