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"Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival" is in stores! The result of 10 years of writing and research, the book is the first to fully document country music's long evolution in Chicago, its contribution [...]

This year has flown by! My lack of updates indicate how busy a year this truly has been. The most gratifying story I've worked on to date for ABC News is the capture, and eventual release, of two Alabama men who were [...]

Now that 2021 is winding to an end, I can’t imagine many people are holding vigils for its demise. The year was tough. For news people hardly got a break. I wrote about the first half of the year below. The second [...]

Even though 2021 has almost hit its six-month birthday, it feels like a new year has begun. The vaccinations are largely opening up the U.S. and, as such, it is beginning to feel like a proper summer. Sadly, this year is not [...]

The summer came and went for most journalists since the majority of time was spent covering action on the streets. Since the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man by Minneapolis police, Chicago was rocked by a wave of looting and then [...]

Don't think a pandemic that originated in China and one of this country's most beloved songwriters are connected? Sadly, they are. Earlier this year I was sent to O'Hare International Airport to cover the COVID-19 virus as it related to air travel [...]

Hello 2020! In 2019 I started writing for National Geographic Traveler. My first piece looks at former industrial sites across the Midwest that have been repurposed for retail, condominiums, art studios, and more. From gritty to pretty? That pretty much sums it [...]

Spring is here — sort of. Despite the on/off weather in Chicago, one big change is underfoot: We have a new mayor. Lori Lightfoot, a reform candidate who quietly kicked off her campaign 12 months ago, will be sworn in as Chicago's [...]

We are only three months into 2019 and it's already been a busy year! For the Washington Post, I made a few trips to Milwaukee to spend time with the young women of Salam School. They're breaking cultural barriers as athletes not [...]

Summer 2018 was a difficult one for Chicago. The city was already dealing with the usual spikes in gun violence, but it also was creeping toward the start of the Jason Van Dyke trial. He is the Chicago Police Officer who fatally shot [...]