Top 10 articles of 2017

My first full year as politics reporter at The York Dispatch also became my first year as lead investigative reporter. It was a position my editors created for me as I continued to show a strong interest in diving deeper into community issues, and we as a staff decided to prioritize this in-depth reporting for our readers. There was a bit of trial and error with the new position, but I managed to complete numerous in-depth projects while still maintaining strong coverage of the local political scene. Here are 10 of the stories/projects that made 2017 my best year professionally so far:

Unemployed wait two hours to call for help on compensation (1/10/17)

Red Lion facing trespass suit amid intercouncil conflicts (6/2/17) | Follow-up: Facing trespass suit, Red Lion looks to eminent domain (12/21/17)

Pennsylvania budget: The legend of Ledger 5 (6/13/17)

Helen Thackston Charter School investigation: WATCHDOG REPORT: Thackston Charter contracted with firm started by board president (7/18/17) | State: Thackston hasn’t filed financial reports since 2012 (7/25/17) | Thackston’s issues expose holes in nonprofit oversight (8/7/17) | Oversight of Thackston a case study as state considers charter reform (9/25/17)

Battle of the businessmen: Wagner and Wolf highlight 2018 race (7/12/17)

Residents of New Freedom neighborhood ‘fed up’ with delayed improvements (9/1/17)

Prison phone investigation: Special report: York County Prison maintained by ‘phone tax’ on prisoners’ families (9/18/17) | York County commissioners want more info before renewing prison phone contract (9/20/17) | York County Prison Board does not discuss phone contract as anticipated (10/10/17) | York County commissioners trying to renegotiate prison phone contract (10/18/17) | County negotiates decrease for prison phone costs while adding tablets for inmates (11/15/17)

State: York CYF made mistakes before 3-year-old girl killed in murder-suicide (11/17/17)

York County officials say overvotes didn’t affect election results, but numbers tell different story (11/20/17) | Follow-up: York County details lack of internal controls in post-election report to state (12/7/17)

Amid criminal probe, audit raises red flags at York City Ice Arena (12/29/17) | 2018 Follow-up: York City Ice Arena: ‘Problems from day one’ (1/24/18) | Internal emails detail scope of York Ice Arena investigation (1/24/18)

York Dispatch: Award winners

I’m certainly not in journalism for the awards, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it’s nice to earn recognition every once in a while, particularly when it’s from my peers. I’ve been given a few awards early in my career, and these are the stories that earned me that recognition:

1st Place Investigative Reporting, 2017 Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Keystone Press Awards

Reports to FDA reveal widespread device infection issue (9/23/16)

Heart device infection: ‘I was shutting down’ (10/24/16)

2016 Truth in Finance Award winner, Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Reforms, collaborations worry York’s independent care providers (10/19/15)

York County doctors ousted under WellSpan, Geisinger collaboration (10/19/15)

2nd Place Business Reporting, 2017 Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Keystone Press Awards

Metro Bank customers fear changes from FNB merger (1/15/16)

York customers report issues with FNB-Metro merger (2/24/16)

York Dispatch: The CannaBiz Kid

When our editor-in-chief told all the reporters she wanted us to create specialized blogs in an effort to drive more readership, I decided to start a blog delving into the burgeoning business world of cannabis. Pennsylvania just recently legalized medical marijuana and, as a business reporter at the time I was starting the blog, I decided it would be interesting to follow the process of essentially creating a new industry from the ground up in the state (not to mention an industry that’s ripe for puns). Here are a few of the blog posts I’ve created thus far:

Suit questions scoring discrepancies among Pa. medical marijuana applicants (10/3/17)

Stiff competition for limited cannabiz permits (6/19/17)

Finding balance in the emerging cannabis industry (5/27/16)

York Dispatch: Investigations

Investigative reporting is definitely my longterm career plan, and I’ve been lucky enough with the small staff at The York Dispatch to get an opportunity to pursue this type of reporting, which I know most journalists have to work decades before really pursuing. I’m grateful that I was able to earn the trust of my editors and, together, we’ve turned our tiny newsroom into a watchdog center. I know I still have a lot to learn in investigative reporting, and I can’t wait, but here’s a sampling of some of this work I’ve produced so far:

New GM named amid investigation at York City Ice Arena (11/13/17)

Special report: York County Prison maintained by ‘phone tax’ on prisoners’ families (9/18/17) (Picked up by AP) | Follow: County negotiates decrease for prison phone costs while adding tablets for inmates (11/15/17)

WATCHDOG REPORT: Thackston Charter contracted with firm started by board president (7/18/17)

York Dispatch: Local issues

The York Dispatch’s slogan is “Real People. Real News.,” and we pride ourselves on covering the stories that really matter to our readers. The hyperlocal stories typically resonate the most with our readers, and they’re also probably my favorite because they allow me to interact with more of the real people that make up our community. Here’s a sampling of some of those stories:

State: York CYF made mistakes before 3-year-old girl killed in murder-suicide (11/17/17)

Residents of New Freedom neighborhood ‘fed up’ with delayed improvements (9/5/17)

Thackston’s issues expose holes in nonprofit oversight (8/7/17)

York prison cited in ICE sexual harassment complaint (4/13/17)

Unemployed wait two hours to call for help on compensation (1/11/17)

York Dispatch: Education

I had actually originally applied to be an education reporter at The York Dispatch when I was hired to cover the business beat. With such a small staff, though, every reporter ends up covering every beat at some point, and I’ve gotten the opportunity to cover several education stories, most notably my coverage of a battle between the county’s city school district working to close a local charter school. Here’s a sampling of that plus one of my other education stories:

Crisis management expert: York Suburban needs transparency (11/29/17)

With Thackston closing, its CEO already planning new charter school (10/20/17)

Oversight of Thackston a case study as state considers charter reform (9/25/17)

State: Thackston hasn’t filed financial reports since 2012 (7/25/17)

York Dispatch: State politics

York County’s proximity to the state Capitol in Harrisburg has allowed me to maintain close contact with the public officials representing the county at the state level. York County politicians also happen to figure prominently into the state political scene as Gov. Tom Wolf, gubernatorial candidate Sen. Scott Wagner, House Appropriations Chairman Stan Saylor and Auditor General Eugene DePasquale all call York County home. Here’s a small sampling of the work I’ve done covering this subject:

Eagles’ players meet with Sen. Wagner, others to discuss criminal justice reform (10/25/17)

Pennsylvania budget woes affecting school choice funding (9/27/17)

Pennsylvania budget: The legend of Ledger 5 (6/13/17)

Battle of the businessmen: Wagner and Wolf highlight 2018 race (7/12/17)

York Dispatch: Local politics

York County is a vast, diverse county and its local political scene represents that. Pennsylvania has county and municipal governments, and I’m the primary reporter responsible for covering those 70+ different governmental entities. Here’s a small sampling of some of that work:

Springettsbury Twp. proposing 50 percent property tax hike (12/11/17)

York County approves 2018 budget with no tax increase (12/6/2017)

York County officials say overvotes didn’t affect election results, but numbers tell different story (11/20/17)

Michael Helfrich: From ‘creek freak’ to York City mayor-elect (11/8/17)

Top 10 articles of 2016

2016 was a strong year for me professionally as I made a mid-year switch into politics just in time to cover a historical election in a swing state. I also received my first journalism award while diving head-first into investigative work. It wasn’t easy to choose, but here are what I believe are the ten best articles I wrote this past year, listed by publishing date:

York’s transgender community facing workplace discrimination (4/4/16)

York County economy still recovering from recession (4/28/16)

Friends, business leaders mourn loss of Appell (6/29/16)

Experts: Amazon didn’t need Pa.’s $22M incentive package (8/1/16)

Board chairman made millions on new Starbucks center (8/17/16) | Follow-up: York County balances growth and farm land preservation (8/25/16)

Reports to FDA reveal widespread device infection issue (9/23/16) | Follow-up: Heart device infection: ‘I was shutting down’ (10/25/16)

Report: York’s gender wage gap one of widest in state (9/27/16)

Many more donors contributing to Clinton, even in York County (10/19/16)

Herstory must wait after Clinton loss (11/10/16)

600 layoffs expected after Senate dismisses without funding jobless centers (11/18/16) | Follow-up: Wagner, amidst criticism, seeks investigation into call-center layoffs (12/7/16)

The York Dispatch, Top 10 articles Dec. 2015-March 2016

I’m approaching a year at the Dispatch now, survived a major snowstorm (and a few deskmate changes), a transfer to a new system and written too many articles to count. And I’m loving it. Once again, picking a top 10 was difficult for me, but here they are, in the order that they ran:

Suspect in recorded dog beating calls pit bull his ‘best friend’ (12/21/15)

Local lawmakers: Wolf ‘lying’ about education funding (12/29/15)

Metro Bank customers fear changes from FNB merger (1/15/16) | York customers report issues with FNB-Metro merger (1/26/16)

Upstart forecasters build social media followings (1/21/16)

Developer: Sewer stalls southern York County growth (1/27/16)

Surrogacy on rise in York County (2/15/16)

York women among group fighting to remove Essure (2/21/16)

Local artist innovating with ‘eco-modern’ furniture (2/29/16)

Flier indicates new burger shop operated before certification (3/10/16)

York’s only remaining gay bar closes (3/25/16)