I report features on compelling characters, long shot stories of every variety and seek to answer complicated questions about how we live now. A full list of stories can be found here.
Some selected highlights:
This Restaurant is Trash: A San Francisco Restaurant Turns Food Waste into Pizza
Any good chef, Murphy says, will get creative to prevent throwing out food. But launching a restaurant that relies on other people’s waste requires close relationships with farmers and suppliers, and flexibility in menu design that goes way beyond seasonality.
How climate change activists are adapting to the pandemic
Earth Day protests canceled. Nature-based learning put online. A city’s climate policy progress interrupted. I spoke to Bay Area advocates and activists in the early months of the pandemic about how they were coping and adapting to a very different crisis than the one they were expecting. (photo by Yalonda M. James)
A nationwide study found richer zip codes had far more energy emissions per capita than poorer ones. Why did San Francisco’s Mission Bay buck the trend?
‘I’ve lived in a church for over a year to avoid deportation‘
I traveled to Mancos, Colorado to interview Rosa Sabido, one of nearly 50 people living in sanctuary in churches in the US to avoid deportation. But as I went home to write this story, something huge shifted in her life.
Aloha to the US: Is Hawai’i an occupied nation?
As Native Hawaiian activists debated the merits of federal recognition under the Bureau of Indian Affairs and legitimacy of new ‘aha process, I took a look at the historic background of arguments that Hawai’i wasn’t legitimately admitted to the US – and what opposing factions of Hawaiians want to happen next.
Is the US solar industry about to tear itself apart?
The US solar industry has seen dramatic growth in the past few years, but a request for a rare trade action led to a fierce fight over the future of the industry – and one that wouldn’t exist without the presidency of Donald Trump. Understanding the underlying business model of many solar installers helped me turn this story around quickly.
Why local newspapers are sounding the alarm
A series of dramatic op-eds in local Colorado papers set off a string of firings and resignations – with veteran local journalists calling it an all out fight for survival. I spoke to those journalists and the community of 100,000 people that could soon find itself without a single local newspaper.
Reviving Cold Cases in DC – Homicide Watch DC
In 2011, Washington, DC’s police department and the US attorney’s general’s office reopened dozens of cold case murders. Homicide detectives finally had the time, but had the trail already gone too cold?