Resume

• 2011

  The University of Arizona

  Hamilton Journal-News

  The Arizona Republic

  Phoenix

  Arizona Area

  Senior Investigative Reporter/Computer Assisted Reporter. My job marries high-end data work with investigative reporting -- my two passions. I analyze large amounts of data to tell great stories

  and I am familiar with all aspects of public records

  research

  investigative reporting and advanced data analysis. I am an expert in Excel

  Access

  SQL

  ArcGIS and SPSS statistical analysis. I have done some coding and have written some web scrapers in Python. I have won numerous awards for my work

  including an IRE award and Scripps Howard investigative award for my role in the coverage of the VA scandal. I have won five Best of the West awards while at the Republic for investigating killings by the U.S. Border Patrol

  the failings of campus crime statistics and Arizona's terrible track record of distributing mortgage aid. I was named Arizona Journalist of the Year by the Associated Press in 2014. I am responsible for continuing to learn new data programs not just for myself

  but also for advancing the skills of the entire news organization. My work has gotten results and helped make positive change in Arizona and at the national level as well.

  Senior Investigative Reporter/Computer Assisted Reporter

  The Arizona Republic

  Tucson AZ

  Investigative Reporter/Computer Assisted Reporter - used databases

  mapping software and all types of programming for investigations. Conducted large complex investigations and enterprise stories on government

  schools

  law enforcement

  courts

  nonprofits

  business

  real estate

  and health. Authored award winning analysis and investigations on real estate and vaccinations. Worked both on projects and on deadline.

  Computer Assisted Reporter

  Arizona Daily Star

  Tucson

  Teach reporting public affairs (RPA) class for journalism school. Teach students how to watchdog government and public institutions

  how to question those in power

  request and obtain documents and write important stories. Received some of the highest reviews for that class in memory. Coached two students to have final watchdog reporting stories published in the Arizona Daily Star

  one of which won an Arizona Press Club award.

  Adjunct Professor

  The University of Arizona

• 2005

  Arizona Daily Star

  Tucson

  Covered Tucson City Hall for more than five years. Excelled at developing important and confidential sources

  as well as identifying and obtaining key documents and important data sets. Broke huge stories that changed the second biggest city in Arizona. I was a 2009 Gerald Loeb Finalist for series of multimedia investigations into Tucson’s redevelopment district called Rio Nuevo. The series showed gross mismanagement and waste of $200 million in tax money and included online databases and videos giving residents their first look at how the money was spent and who got it. The series

  published in the face of intense pressure

  led to the Arizona Legislature passing reform laws and stripping the city of its control of the project. Wrote series of stories about mismanagement at City Hall that led to the firing of city managers in 2009 and 2011. I was named Arizona Journalist of the Year by the Associated Press in 2009 and 2010.

  City Hall Reporter

  Arizona Daily Star

  Hamilton

  OH

  City Hall Reporter and Education Reporter

  Reporter

  Hamilton Journal-News

  Oceanside

  CA

  City Hall Reporter/Education Reporter/County Government and Regional Issues Reporter. Worked in Oceanside

  Vista and Temecula/Riverside.

  Reporter

  North County Times

• 1997

  Bachelor of Arts (BA)

  Newspaper Journalism

  Syracuse University

• 1993

  Liberty High School

• Online Journalism

  Business Journalism

  Online Databases

  Video Editing

  Microsoft Access

  video production

  Microsoft Excel

  Newspaper

  Mapping

  Storytelling

  Data Mapping

  Databases

  News Writing

  Ap Style

  Local Government

  Journalism

  Investigative Reporting

  Politics

  Web Video

  ArcGIS

  a betrayal of trust

  Multimedia project investigating the failure of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to follow law enforcement standards for sex-crime investigations.

  Lynn French

  Bill Pliske

  JJ Hensley

  Troubled Teens: At risk and overlooked

  An investigation

  following a tip from a concerned parent

  into lax state government oversight of residential treatment centers that treat some of Arizona's most severely troubled youth. The reporters reviewed three years of state agency incident reports and police reports and found many of Arizona’s 11 Level 1 juvenile treatment centers have had ongoing problems managing their clients and staff

  leading to frequent runaways

  physical abuse and

  in at least 15 cases

  reported sexual abuse of teens by adult staff. The Arizona Department of Health Services

  which licenses the facilities

  and the state Supreme Court’s Administrative Office of the Courts

  which contracts for their services

  placed virtually no strings to the more than $78 million in state funds spent during the past three fiscal years at nine facilities

  which can receive up to $300 a day per patient. The agencies said they were aware of most of the incidents

  but rarely analyze the information and have not demanded the facilities improve or have not taken enforcement actions. Neither agency measures the effectiveness of the facilities’ treatment of children nor do they track their recidivism rates.

  Craig Harris

  O'Dell

  North County Times