JOURNALISM
My career as a journalist spanned a decade. This page features some of my most impactful and memorable work.
Find more of my work at NPR StateImpact Idaho, Boise State Public Radio and NPR.
FEATURE PIECES FOR NPR
One of the best opportunities that comes with working at an NPR member station, is the ability to pitch and file freelance features for the network.
The challenge is making a local story interesting to an audience that probably couldn't find Helena or Missoula, Montana on a map.
My first feature opportunity arrived in 2009. I introduced NPR's audience to two recent college grads who were launching a women's-only, boxing-style fitness program.
Pink Gloves Boxing is still in business today. My piece for NPR was their first national media profile, little did they know it was also my first national piece.
Listen to some of my national features over the years.
EXTENSION OF ‘SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS’ MEANS RURAL COUNTIES CAN BREATHE EASY…FOR NOW
President Barack Obama has signed a $200 billion Medicare bill that reforms payments to physicians. Tucked inside that massive Medicare bill was a two-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools Act, a federal program that pays rural counties and school districts with a lot of non-taxable forest land. Click to listen.
LOSS OF FEDERAL TIMBER PAYMENTS MEAN TOUGH CHOICES FOR RURAL SCHOOLS
The Basin School District in Idaho City has something most districts in the state don’t, preschool.
On Wednesdays, 12 preschoolers leave their small house-turned-school and walk across the playground to the high school’s music room. The children sit cross-legged in a circle and the music teacher hands out two brightly-colored sticks to each student. Music class for these preschoolers is all about rhythm, following directions, and giggling. Click to listen.
WITH $140,000 ON THE LINE, IDAHO GIRL SCOUTS TRY THEIR HAND AT LOBBYING
Famous for its potatoes, trout fishing, and blue AstroTurf, Idaho might not have much in common with Hawaii. But here’s one thing: Idaho and Hawaii are the only two states in the country to tax Girl Scout Cookies. Now, some local Scouts are beefing up their sales pitches and learning to lobby.
Girl Scouts across the country are getting amped up to sell as many boxes of their famed Samoas, Thin Mints, and Tag-a-longs as they possibly can. They have about a month to close the deal with neighbors, friends and grandmothers. Listen here.
IN CRISIS: IDAHO POLICE, SOCIAL WORKERS ON THE FRONT LINES OF MENTAL HEALTH
Two years ago, Philip Mazeikas answered the front door of his family home. The course of his life changed when he opened it. At 24-years-old, Mazeikas found himself in the middle of his first psychotic episode. He thought he’d been contacted by aliens who were using him in a scheme to control the world. He wasn’t eating well. He was drinking his own urine. Read more.
IN CRISIS: IDAHO MEDICAID IN FLUX CAUSES A BIG SHIFT IN CARE
Nine-year-old Kendra sits in one of the private rooms on the second floor of Boise’s Downtown public library with her community-based rehabilitation services worker, Jennifer Beason.
Beason slides a workbook to Kendra. It is what she calls her feelings journal. “Do you know what relieved is?” she asked.
Without missing a beat, Kendra rattles off examples of feeling relieved. Listen here.
TURNING A ONE-SENTENCE FACTOID INTO A 14-PART MULTIMEDIA SERIES
Idaho has the largest percentage of minimum wage workers in the United States. It also has more minimum wage workers, in raw numbers, than 18 other states. That's remarkable given Idaho has just 1.5 million residents.
These statistics were the jumping off point for a 14-part multimedia series I created with my colleague for StateImpact Idaho. We dubbed it 'Bottom Rung'. The more we asked "why", the more we realized there was a ton of unreported information that deserved exploring. The series includes five radio features, background explainers, interactive data visuals and an infographic. Read more.
WOMEN'S FITNESS BUSINESS PUTS ON PINK GLOVES
New companies start up every day, but how many of them have a knockout punch? Just as the economy was sinking in the spring of 2008, two recent college graduates — both former football players — decided to plow ahead with a new business venture: a women-only fitness program focused on boxing. Click here to listen.
HOW A SEWING CIRCLE IS TURNING OUT ‘BAGS OF HOPE’ FOR ONE HELENA WOMEN’S SHELTER
Every Thursday morning in the basement of Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church in Helena, Mont. you’ll find a group of women sewing and socializing The women have made hundreds of hand made quilts, pillowcases, place mats, dish towels, and bags. Most of the things they make aren’t sold or kept, they’re donated.
“One day we just decided enough of this, we want to be a service group.” About a decade ago Juanita Ryan and a handful of her friends started meeting each week to sew. Ryan her friends make bags full of everyday household items that go to women who are starting over. Listen here.
HOW A GREAT FALLS, MONT. MONASTERY FUSES 13TH CENTURY TEACHINGS WITH 21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGY
The Monastery of Saint Clare sits on a wide open bluff on the southern edge Great Falls, Montana. Four sisters, known as Poor Clares, eat, pray and live at the newly built brick Monastery. The Poor Clares belong to the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church. They adhere to the teachings of Saint Francis, who had a high regard for the environment. Click to listen.
CATTLE RANCH TURNED DUDE RANCH: MAKING ENDS MEET AT THE ROCKING Z
Tucked away in a valley next to the Missouri River between Great Falls and Helena is the Rocking Z Ranch. It’s a modest spread.
Horse corrals are the first thing you see when you drive up the road to Rocking Z, then a timber frame barn, a workshop turned saloon and a ranch style lodge and guest rooms. Click to listen.
