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

Successfully Aging on Their Own Terms
Fairfax Village in the City helps residents stay in their homes.
Fairfax Village in the City helps residents stay in their homes.
‘Celebrate Spring and Support a Good Cause’
Fundraiser planned for Syrian earthquake rescue workers.
Fundraiser planned for Syrian earthquake rescue workers.
Fairfax City EDO Develops 5-Year Workplan
Fairfax City EDO Develops 5-Year Workplan
More than Four Walls – It’s Home
The Flats at Boulevard VI proves popular in Fairfax.
The Flats at Boulevard VI proves popular in Fairfax.

Andrew Pratt: Providence Elementary’s New Principal
Andrew Pratt: Providence Elementary’s New Principal

‘Every Fatal Overdose Statistic Represents a Person’
Straight talk about opioids in Fairfax County.
Overdoses
He Pulled the Suspect from the Burning Vehicle
PFC Joseph Castilon honored as Sully’s Officer of the Quarter.
PFC Joseph Castilon honored as Sully’s Officer of the Quarter.
Bench and Accolades for Avid Gardener
Garden club dedicates park bench to Dolores Rooney.
Garden club dedicates park bench to Dolores Rooney.