‘Get Us Out Of Here’: Amid Broken Infrastructure, Puerto Ricans Flee To Florida

This article originally appeared on NPR.org. Luis Cruz and Esther Gomez had always considered moving to Florida from Puerto Rico. The weather and proximity made it an ideal destination; plus, the couple had family scattered across the state. They just didn’t know when they’d take the big step. Then Hurricane Maria hit. Three weeks after […]

3 Counties, $59 Million And The Opioid Crisis

This article originally appeared on NPR.org. With the country in the throes of an epidemic, communities across the nation are being forced to confront the harrowing, and often fatal, effects of opioid abuse. But solutions — such as creating intervention programs in Ohio, providing access to treatment in Alabama, or investing in prevention initiatives in […]

ACLU Sues Michigan After Same-Sex Couples Seeking To Adopt Are Rejected

This article originally appeared on NPR.org. Kristy and Dana Dumont were ready to give a child in need a permanent home. They moved into a Dimondale, Mich., house with two spare bedrooms and a spacious, fenced-in yard, in a school district with strong extracurriculars and a diverse community. The couple of 11 years began seriously […]

USS Gerald R. Ford officially joins Navy with President Donald Trump at commissioning

This article originally appeared in The Virginian-Pilot. NORFOLK With President Donald Trump in attendance, the nation’s newest aircraft carrier joined the Navy fleet Saturday . About 10,000 spectators watched as Trump declared the USS Gerald R. Ford in commission at Naval Station Norfolk after calling the warship a “100,000-ton message to the world.” “American might […]

Friends, students, deckhands: Meet the women on the water

This article originally appeared in The Virginian-Pilot. The dock is wet and deserted. The sky is overcast. A handful of commuters get off a ferry at Waterside in Norfolk just before a man walks his bike over, rolls it up the gangway and boards. The boat can transport 150, but he’s the only passenger aboard […]

Just before Bible study, 115-year-old church in Portsmouth destroyed by fire

This article originally appeared in The Virginian-Pilot. PORTSMOUTH Pastor Ronald Thompson learned his church was burning down Wednesday night as many parishioners were headed there for Bible study. His wife, a fellow pastor, called him when the alarm system went off. “I didn’t believe it,” he said Wednesday night as what was left of Mount […]

Jaded Conquest of Cannabis

This article originally appeared in print in Hill Magazine and online in the Arkansas Traveler here. In a house in Little Rock with a small group of fellow supporters, Ryan Denham, 34, sat in front of a TV for several hours. By 10:40 p.m., multiple news outlets had called it. He flipped from news channels […]

Former Wagoner County sheriff, captain to face trial on bribery charges

This article originally published in the Coweta American, a weekly publication connected to the Tulsa World. WAGONER — Former Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert and former sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Gragg will face trial on bribery charges, a judge ruled Friday. Sequoyah County Special Judge Matt Orendorff ruled sufficient evidence was presented during a preliminary hearing […]

Former Tulsa Public Schools official gets 20 months for hit-and-run accident

This article originally published in the Tulsa World. A former Tulsa Public Schools assistant athletic director was sentenced Wednesday to serve 20 months in prison and pay more than $3,000 in fines, fees and restitution after pleading guilty in June to leaving the scene of a hit-and-run accident. Tulsa County District Judge Kelly Greenough sentenced Elizabeth […]

Four months after Tulsa County woman was killed, family and investigators are hoping for tips

This article originally published in the Tulsa World. At her sister’s grave Tuesday night, Daphine Suddarth did something she hadn’t planned. She stood with employees of the Sheriff’s Office and her family — many of them holding purple balloons and wearing yellow and gray T-shirts featuring her sister’s picture − and bowed her head. […]

Isabel Dobrin

Journalist looking for her next story