With more than 25 years experience in journalism, I’ve written and edited newspapers in California, North Carolina and Virginia. In California, I worked for a weekly paper in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I’m from originally.
In North Carolina, I worked two years (1990-92) at the Sun Journal, a daily paper in New Bern. There, I covered county government, commercial fishing – which is a big industry there – and the Gulf War.
New Bern is near the Marine Corps Air Station in Havelock, so I did lots of stories on the effects the war had on the wives and children left behind while the husbands and dads were fighting in Iraq. As one elementary-school teacher told me, “If one child’s father or mother is killed, the security for the rest of the students is shattered.”
In addition, my photographer and I were lowered by helicopter onto the USS Iwo Jima as it returned to port in Morehead City after deployment. I got to interview the sailors and Marines aboard ship and experience, firsthand, their welcome back by local residents who greeted them in the water in hundreds of small boats to escort them home.
I also interviewed parents of Marines killed in the war, as well as a Marine pilot whose aircraft had been shot down overseas. He spoke about what went through his mind while parachuting into the desert and what happened to him while he was a POW. Luckily, it was toward the end of the war and he was eventually freed to return home.
I also worked three years for the Prince William Journal, covering the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, as well as a slew of criminal cases. And I’ve been with Centre View for almost 19 years, covering Centreville, Chantilly, Clifton, Fair Oaks and Fair Lakes. For the past few years, I’ve also covered Fairfax and some of Lorton and Fairfax Station for the Connection.
Recent Stories
Britepaths Gives Students Backpacks, School Supplies
Community’s help is still needed for local children.
Community’s help is still needed for local children.
Chris Bruno: ‘This Has Been the Opportunity of a Lifetime’
Fairfax City’s economic development director is moving on.
Chris Bruno
Public Art Helps Create a Place Where People Want to Go
Bold, colorful mural livens up Fairfax City’s Old Town.
Bold, colorful mural livens up Fairfax City’s Old Town.
Raul Pedroso: Fairfax City’s New Police Chief
He was formerly assistant chief for Alexandria City.
He was formerly assistant chief for Alexandria City.
‘It’s about Radical Kindness and Standing Up to Oppression’
Local man performing in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame.’
Calling this show both crucial and challenging to put on in the context of current ICE raids in Northern Virginia, Moffett said it demonstrates how “absolute power corrupts people absolutely – especially when the person wielding that power is motivated by hatred, prejudice and fear.
Pathway to Freedom for Justin Wolfe?
After decades of ‘vindictive prosecution,’ court orders new hearing.
Chantilly High grad Justin Wolfe has spent the past 24 years in prison – 13 of them on death row – for a crime he always said he didn’t do.
Place for Good Food, Friends, Music, Fun and Memories
Fairfax City’s The Auld Shebeen celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Restaurant anniversary
Books Give Children a ‘Window to the World’
Britepaths unveils The Secret Garden in its Fairfax office.
Britepaths unveils The Secret Garden in its Fairfax office.
City of Fairfax Theatre Co. presents ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame.’
City of Fairfax Theatre Co. presents ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame.’
Fairfax City’s the Place to Be for Fourth of July
Gigantic parade, fire-station fun, music and fireworks.
July 4