Another variety-filled week. The D.C. Metro system is in a major cash-crunch and is discussing selling the naming rights to its stations to corporate sponsors. I found that this is a bit of a national trend, so I wrote a story about it that featured Portland, a city most people think would be resistant to such measures.
Then I moved on to the growing talk of a federal government shutdown. It's been written about extensively out here, so I decided to take a new tack, focusing on a few small businesses in areas that are rife with government workers and exploring how a shutdown would hit them. It gave me the opportunity to incorporate a little color in the writing.
Then I got called in for special duty at the Post, covering Saturday's women's basketball game between Georgetown and top-ranked, legendary Connecticut. Georgetown made the defending champs look pretty darn ordinary, even if the Huskies ultimately prevailed.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Budgets, Beards, Ponzi Schemes and a Wrestling Championship
Another busy week. It started off with me tackling a story on the federal budget (which, if you haven't been paying attention, is not in great shape).
There was also a verdict in the $70 million Ponzi scheme trial I'd been following, so I spent most of Friday at the federal court house in Greenbelt. The court reporter was kind enough to give me a rough draft of the closing arguments, which I'd missed because I was trying to comb through the federal budget. Luckily the verdict didn't come in until about 1 p.m., so I had the whole morning to barrel through those 210 pages of closing. So, advice to young journalists covering the courts: get in good with the court reporters. Their help is invaluable.
Saturday I covered the Maryland Independent State Wrestling Tournament (basically the state tournament for private school kids). Pretty familiar territory for me, as a veteran of many Kansas wrestling state tournaments. But a team from our coverage area won it for the first time in school history, which is always cool.
I also finally filed my story on beard bans and the police officers who challenge them in court. Really, it's much more of an issue than you might think. There's a skin condition, Pseudofolliculitis barbae, that's common in black men and it's irritated by shaving. I interviewed a dermatologist about it and made a video to accompany the story. Then Fox News picked the story up on Sunday and sent it nationwide via its website. Pretty cool, even if they did re-arrange my paragraphs in some, I think, confusing ways. That's part of the news wire biz, I guess. Once the copy's out of your hands (or off your hard drive) it's not yours anymore.
There was also a verdict in the $70 million Ponzi scheme trial I'd been following, so I spent most of Friday at the federal court house in Greenbelt. The court reporter was kind enough to give me a rough draft of the closing arguments, which I'd missed because I was trying to comb through the federal budget. Luckily the verdict didn't come in until about 1 p.m., so I had the whole morning to barrel through those 210 pages of closing. So, advice to young journalists covering the courts: get in good with the court reporters. Their help is invaluable.
Saturday I covered the Maryland Independent State Wrestling Tournament (basically the state tournament for private school kids). Pretty familiar territory for me, as a veteran of many Kansas wrestling state tournaments. But a team from our coverage area won it for the first time in school history, which is always cool.
I also finally filed my story on beard bans and the police officers who challenge them in court. Really, it's much more of an issue than you might think. There's a skin condition, Pseudofolliculitis barbae, that's common in black men and it's irritated by shaving. I interviewed a dermatologist about it and made a video to accompany the story. Then Fox News picked the story up on Sunday and sent it nationwide via its website. Pretty cool, even if they did re-arrange my paragraphs in some, I think, confusing ways. That's part of the news wire biz, I guess. Once the copy's out of your hands (or off your hard drive) it's not yours anymore.
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