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May 2006 - Posts

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 9:14 PM

California Crooks

A couple of crime stories from the Golden State have impressed me recently. In "Risking a Life Term to Protect a Child," Sean Webby of the San Jose Mercury News tells the story of Matthew Ryan Hahn, a convicted burglar who stole a safe only to find
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:22 PM

Horse Sense

How do you mend a broken-down horse? Mike Jensen of the Philadelphia Inquirer shows us with "The Man Whose Job Is Saving Barbaro." Jensen profiles Dean Richardson, a renowned veterinarian who got the call to perform life-saving surgery on Barbaro, the
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Monday, May 29, 2006 1:18 PM

Troop Tributes

On Memorial Day I want to highlight some stories that do an especially thoughtful and sensitive job of saluting our troops and showing the pain and grief they suffer.Last month Jim Sheeler of the Rocky Mountain News wrote an inspiring profile of David
posted by jonmarshall | 1 Comments
Friday, May 26, 2006 10:24 AM

Beslan

C.J. Chivers offers a stirring narrative in June's Esquire of what really happened when Chechen rebels seized 1,100 hostages, most of them children, in the Russian town of Beslan two Septembers ago. Chivers, who originally covered the terrorist attack
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 25, 2006 1:00 PM

Ted and Bobby

"In life, if you're lucky, you come across one or two great friends," sports writer Kalani Simpson of the Honolulu Star Bulletin writes. The two friends he tells about in his "Sidelines" column are baseball Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr.
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Tuesday, May 23, 2006 9:52 PM

Windy City Mob

The Chicago Sun-Times is running a remarkable three-part series this week about the mob's ties to Chicago City Hall. Reporters Tim Novak, Robert C. Herguth, Art Golab and Steve Warmbir report that dozens of descendants of Bruno Roti Sr., who they describe
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Monday, May 22, 2006 9:14 PM

Her Own Story

A few months ago I noted the stories being written by San Francisco Chronicle copy editor Alicia Parlette, who discovered last year that she had a cancerous tumor spreading from her right hip. Through many difficult times she has continued writing
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Monday, May 22, 2006 1:14 PM

Sisters

The Minneapolis Star Tribune and reporter Maura Lerner have done a masterful job of following the fate of Abbigail and Isabelle Carlsen, the once-conjoined twins from Fargo who are recovering from separation surgery. This is a great example of how
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Saturday, May 20, 2006 4:22 PM

Following the Money

In the wake of the Randy Cunningham and Jack Abramoff scandals, the New York Times and Washington Post continued to dig deep last week into congressional sleaze. Eric Lipton of the Times shows how the Department of Homeland Security has failed to create
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 18, 2006 9:29 PM

When You're 64

The path to the golden years of retirement looks bumpy, according to a PBS Frontline special that aired last night. "Can You Afford to Retire?" by Hedrick Smith explores how middle-class Americans face increasing threats to their pensions from corporate
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 5:20 PM

Love Story

Lionel Kelly is black and Beatriz Chacon is Latina. But like the plot of a real-world "West Side Story," the two 14-year-olds fall in love in an atmosphere of violence, decaying education and racial tension. In "Young Love, Old Divisions," Erika Hayasaki
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 3:53 PM

Watching the Watchdog

The New York Times and Chicago Tribune had stories today that raised questions about the USA Today article I highlighted last week that said the National Security Agency had collected Americans' phone records. At this point, it's hard to tell whether
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 10:16 PM

His Brother's Rapper

Abigail Tucker of the Baltimore Sun shared a moving story last Sunday about the choices made by two impoverished Baltimore brothers, Paul and Matt Talley. Together, Tucker wrote, they "dreamed about riding in a limousine to somewhere that wasn't a
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Monday, May 15, 2006 2:01 PM

Troop Troubles

I'm seeing some good enterprise reporting lately that looks at problems facing U.S. troops. In today's Chicago Sun-Times, "Troops Do Double Duty in Gangs" by Frank Main explores how street gangs have infiltrated the military, robbing people, dealing
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Sunday, May 14, 2006 4:46 PM

Java Journey

Chris Kenning of the The Louisville Courier-Journal wrote the perfect story Sunday to read while sipping a cup of Joe. For "The Coffee Connection," Kenning traveled to the Guatemalan mountains to trace the journey of fair trade coffee from tiny beans
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Friday, May 12, 2006 12:32 PM

McWatchdog

USA TODAY, once belittled by many of us as McPaper, has proved this week that it can excel in the glorious tradition of watchdog journalism. Leslie Cauley uncovered how the National Security Agency has secretly collected the phone records of tens
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 11, 2006 11:22 PM

Will She Keep Her Baby?

Tania Cabral loves her baby daughter, A.J. She also loves crack. Last week reporter Edward Fitzpatrick and photographer John Freidah of the Providence Journal chronicled Cabral's journey through rehab and Rhode Island's Family Treatment Drug Court as
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 10:43 AM

Huddling with God

Tom Krattenmaker has an interesting story anchoring the home page of Salon this morning. "Going Long for Jesus" takes an in-depth look at how evangelical Christian chaplains are embedded with nearly 100 basketball, football and baseball teams to the
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Tuesday, May 09, 2006 1:31 PM

25 Years Later

Two-and-a-half decades after AIDS first hit America, this week's Newsweek looks at how the epidemic increasingly harms blacks and women. "Battling a Black Epidemic" by Claudia Kalb and Andrew Murr is full of powerful examples and insightful analysis
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments