I have featured my favorite stories from Syracuse.com, The Texas Tribune, The University Star, Community Impact, Popsugar , the TXST Newsroom and more. However, you can show my other work some love by visiting the sites.
Charleston City Paper
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Tank and the Bangas to headline Spoleto finale Sunday
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“Vanessa” returns to Spoleto, 45 years later
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Review: “Booger Red” explores coming-of-age story of father and son
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Have a laugh with Mary Kay Has a Posse
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REVIEWS: Dada Masilo and Brandee Younger
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PHOTO ESSAY: 5 artists at Piccolo’s annual Marion Square art show
Syracuse.com
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On 9/11, two CNY airmen got stranded in the tiny Canadian town that inspired ‘Come From Away’
In the hours after the 9/11 attacks, two local airmen were among the thousands of stranded travelers welcomed with sympathy, home-cooked meals and care by the tiny Canadian town of Gander, Newfoundland.
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Meet the 8th generation Syracusan who dreamed up the new city flag
After 108 years Syracuse has chosen a new flag, changing the life of its creator and encouraging more civic pride.
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Meet CNY’s newest author: A teen who penned her first novel at 14
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jule Volek started writing her 404-page supernatural dystopian novel, "The Haven Deception." Now, at 16 she is starting to write the sequel.
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Syracuse daycare owner is making reading ‘kool’ with YouTube series
In a recent YouTube episode, Joshua Olatunde appears on the screen wearing a paint-splattered shirt and blazer as he welcomes children to Mr. Josh’s Kool School. As part of his 52-episode YouTube series “Storytime With Mr. Josh,” Olatunde enthusiastically intertwines life lessons from his childhood with messages from featured children’s books he reads on the channel.
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Volunteer firefighter numbers dwindle in CNY, statewide as departments find ways to cope
According to a recent report from the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, volunteer fire departments save New York State taxpayers $4.7 billion annually. But it’s becoming harder to attract and keep volunteer firefighters. FASNY officials say the number of volunteer firefighters in New York has decreased from 120,000 to around 80,000 in the last 20 years.
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How Magic: The Gathering helped build a community in Syracuse
Play the Game Read the Story is one of the few stores in Syracuse that offers a space for adventure role-play gamers to come together and play or compete in the games they love, such as Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.
Community Impact
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Retailer Casa Decor sells customizable furniture with Hill Country charm
Specializing in rustic handmade furniture and accessories, Casa Decor approaches its one-year anniversary of opening its second location in New Braunfels.
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Cardinal Frame & Art creates lasting personal pieces
After serving the San Marcos community for more than 25 years, Cardinal Frame & Art continues to supply citizens the chance to frame loving and meaningful artwork.
Texas Tribune
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Texas land commissioner candidates compete to oversee Alamo and disaster relief funds
A dozen people are vying to become the next Texas land commissioner, overseeing an agency that manages 13 million acres of state land, administers disaster recovery funds, contributes to public school funding and has administrative control of the Alamo.
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Texas tenants hit with soaring rent increases see little relief in sight
Renters are seeing their housing costs jump as population increases, strict zoning regulations and rising home sales push up rent prices.
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As culture wars envelop schools, North Texas sees a superintendent exodus
Several departures come after months of contentious fights over teaching about slavery, requiring pandemic precautions and limiting what books kids can access.
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Decades after Texas took part of its historic farm, a family fights again to save its land from a highway expansion
Daniel Alexander was enslaved when he founded a farm before the Civil War. 175 years later, his family is fighting to keep it intact as Texas plans to expand U.S. Highway 183.
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Food banks struggle to help Texans as grocery prices increase
The pressures pushing up costs for consumers are also hitting agencies trying to combat hunger, making it hard to keep up with rising demand for their aid.
University Star
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Texas bill hindering transgender student athletes’ participation sparks concern
The Texas Senate passed House Bill 25, which restricts children's ability to participate in interscholastic athletic competitions unless they compete with children of the same biological sex. The passing of the bill has sparked a commotion of worry among the LGBTQ community and its allies for the mental health and equal rights of transgender student athletes.
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San Marcos addresses housing challenges through Strategic Housing Action Plan
As the population of San Marcos grows and housing options become less accessible, city officials are working to assist residents facing the consequences of rapid city growth with the Strategic Housing Action Plan.
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Black faculty members contemplate institutional shortcomings, lack of inclusion
As of fall 2019, Texas State employs 159 Black-identifying faculty and staff members — a number considerably less than other racial and ethnic groups. As a result, some Black faculty and staff members question whether this is the result of mistreatment, microaggressions or a lack of opportunities and representation at the university.
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Goodblend Texas to build first medicinal cannabis facility in Hays County
Goodblend Texas, a medical marijuana company, has started to build a cannabis cultivation, production and retail facility in San Marcos, with plans to open early 2022.
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Stonewall, the LGBTQIA+ club that built a community
Between two prominent Texas cities, there's a small club with a big impact. At the entrance, a flight of stairs decorated in the rainbow colors of pride leads guests into a room full of performers, drinks and people of every shape, size and sexual orientation.
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City residents debate need for Amazon delivery station expected by year's end
A new Amazon facility will soon make its way to San Marcos, with hopes of creating more jobs and revenue in a city with over 100 years of long-running family trees and prosperous small businesses. However, residents are on the fence about whether a town with such history needs a trillion-dollar corporation to sustain economic growth
TXST Newsroom
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Faculty and students unite to decrease Texas State's carbon footprint
The Texas State community is coming together to embrace sustainability and encourage the reduction of waste by faculty, staff, and students.
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Somos Tejas State creates student support fund to aid Hispanic and Latinx students
Somos Tejas State, which translates to We Are Texas State, is a Hispanic/Latinx student support fund that raised $3,000 in 2018, the year it was born. The next year it raised $10,000.
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School Psychology professor combats societal gender roles with children’s book
Escaping stereotypes, targeting toxic masculinity at a young age, and teaching boys’ emotional expression, Texas State University school psychology professor and author Jon Lasser has written “What Boys Do,” a children's book for parents raising young boys.
KTSW 89.9
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Talking night drive: An interview with jt29
After falling in love with her music, I reached out to underground artist Jt29. I was lucky enough to be able to sit down with this amazing artist and have a conversation with her about her latest EP, Night Drive. We discussed her methods of writing the EP, her inspirations and the future goals she hopes to pursue later in her career.
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Bus Dysmorphia
The air is getting humid, your cheeks are getting warmer, your trying to adapt to the heat in the tiny space you’ve found yourself in. Your shoulders feel strained from being pushed inward towards your chest.
All eyes are on you or that’s what you’ve made yourself believe. You don’t belong, you take up too much space to be in such a small seat that doesn’t even come close to containing your size.
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Feeling the Bern: What it’s like to attend a Bernie Sanders rally
As soon I learned Bernie Sanders was hosting a rally in Austin, Texas, I knew I had to attend. I gathered a group of friends and drove to Austin first thing in the morning and attended my first presidential nominee rally.
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A Conversation With The Lucies
The Lucies is a local San Marcos band that has the true authenticity that many bands lack today.
What I mean by this is that they are dramatically theatrical during performances, and aren’t afraid to wing it and allow their music to speak for them. I got the chance to see The Lucies perform at Tantra Coffeehouse and can say they are pretty trippy, and I mean this in a good way.