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The rise and fall of Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika | 2023 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | A priest called the East Tennessee bishop’s tenure a ‘yearslong cloud of gaslighting.’ Stika said he did his best.
Over decades, Chattanooga ministry encouraged millions to read the Bible more closely. Can it fulfill this mission through an app? | 2023 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | With a fresh brand and a just-launched mobile application, the storied nonprofit Precept seeks to replicate the model of habit-forming software like the Duolingo language app and bend it to the cause of Christ.
Whistleblower: Chattanooga-based ‘John Ankerberg Show’ directs donations for audio Bibles to ministry expenses, private jets | 2023 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | Donors to “The John Ankerberg Show” thought they were funding audio Bibles to bring the gospel to people in far off lands. But a whistleblower said the money was mostly diverted to other, often luxurious purposes, including unnecessary private jet rides that went unreported to the IRS.
Fraud allegations trail Chattanooga businessman | 2023-2024 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | Multi-part series on fraud allegations surrounding a local accountant—and the fallout from the collapse of his firm.
NYC’s Private Garbage Industry Is Getting Overhauled. Can a Notorious Teamsters Local Clean Up Again? | 2021 | Mother Jones | Inside Local 813’s campaign to escape the trash heap of history.
How a Washington ski patrol learned to unionize | 2020 | High Country News | When Vail Resorts added Stevens Pass to its empire, ski patrollers feared becoming fungible parts in a corporate machine. So they organized.
Why can’t I take a train from Chattanooga to Nashville? Lawmakers are talking, but challenges run deep | 2023 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | State and local lawmakers have talked of reviving passenger rail in every decade since it left Chattanooga. Is this time any different?
After nightmare loss of family on Chattanooga street corner, what could justice ever really look like? | 2024 | Chattanooga Times Free Press Bundled in monochrome dark green, his young child ran around the bridge, restrained by a yellow harness with a leash managed by his wife. Then a bang, and the minivan came spinning toward them.
Food issues run deep at Washington State Penitentiary | 2018 | Walla Walla Union-Bulletin | Food quality declined and costs when up at the local penitentiary—and statewide—as a controversial business arm of the Department of Corrections took over the kitchens.
How a pledge involving the Middle East came to be mandated in government contracts across Tennessee | 2023 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | In recent years, Christians United for Israel has been a frequent presence in statehouses nationwide, as an anti-boycott law spread to 35 states, including Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
Can Seattle’s Minimum Wage Crusader Survive Her Recall Election? | 2021 | The New Republic | Kshama Sawant brought an uncommon passion to a successful stint on the City Council. It may now be her undoing.
‘Cold Civil War’: At Tennessee Neighbors For Liberty Event in Soddy-Daisy, fears of an FBI run amok | 2023 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | In a speech before a rapt church audience, a traveling aggrieved former FBI agent said local law enforcement should rethink collaborations with his old agency, which he described as at once incompetent and devious.
Land of Usher | 2024 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | How Chattanooga shaped Usher Raymond.
How a soldier saved by Signal Mountain’s Larry Taylor fought to see him receive the military’s highest honor | 2013 | Chattanooga Times Free Press | A Vietnam War battle, a daring helicopter recuse—and a man’s yearslong push to get Larry Taylor the Medal of Honor.
Queens of Walla Walla | 2017 | Walla Walla Union-Bulletin | In a conservative agricultural region undergoing a cultural and economic transformation, a local drag queen has commanded a passionate following.
Animal Rights Activists Rescued Two Piglets From Slaughter. They Wanted to Get Caught. | 2022 | The New Republic | Liberating the pigs from a Smithfield facility was just the first step in Wayne Hsiung and Paul Darwin Picklesimer’s grand plan. Now they want their legal case to start a sea change in animal rights.
The Grindr lawsuit that could change the internet | 2019 | The Outline | A law written in 1996 defines the limits of free speech on the internet today. A new court case involving the dating app Grindr will put it to the test.
The price of a conviction | 2018 | Walla Walla Union-Bulletin | Court-imposed debt can undermine the reintegration process for ex-convicts living in poverty around Washington State. Thanks, in part, to the example of a local woman who sought and successfully received relief from her debt, Walla Walla County is at the forefront of widespread efforts for reform.
Night at the Library | 2019 | The Baffler | Searching for the future of public space at Brooklyn’s Central Library.
Teleology | 2019 | Mangoprism | How we murdered two city ducks in the crucible of youth.
I Am the Worst Collegiate Golfer in America | 2015 | Mangoprism | Meditations on being the worst collegiate golfer in America.