Writing Samples
Feature
published January 26, 2011 at The Optimist at Abilene Christian University
Dogs on Watch: ACU’s Rhoden Farm leaves the security of its goats to the dogs
As the sunlight reaches across the brush-covered fields of Rhoden Farm, caressing the wind-woven grasses and reflecting off the farmhouse windows, the goats are waking up.
Nestled between the horse barn and the round pen, the brown and white Boer goats slowly stretch their way back to standing on all four hooves after a night of peaceful slumber. They shake their white-furred tails as their brown faces emit the first hoarse “mahhhs” of the morning. They begin their morning graze, nuzzling the ground for the weeds they’ll pluck for breakfast from among the still richly green blades of grass on this chilly October day.
About twenty feet away, from a cozy vantage on the dusty ground, the goats’ caretakers have been up for hours, taking turns to ensure their wards’ safety.
Now, it’s Ian’s shift.
Feature
published October 14, 2009 in The Optimist at Abilene Christian University
The Upside of Down Syndrome: Abilene families support railing Down awareness
Sadie Weaver’s third pregnancy did not turn out as planned. As a mother to two nearly grown children, Sadie thought she knew what to expect.
She knew as a woman grew older, so did her odds of bearing a child with a disorder. She knew tests could detect Down syndrome while the child was still in the womb. She knew the results of those tests would not matter, so she never ran them. Sadie was keeping her baby regardless. Abortion, even in the case of mental dysfunction, was out.
Her pregnancy progressed, and all felt normal. Sadie gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Bill. Then the blood work came back, and the results felt like a kick in the stomach.
Feature
First Place Feature Story from Texas Interscholastic Press Association 2011 on-site competition
Many Hats: Local shop caps diverse Fort Worth nostalgia
From its dusty beginnings as a cattle drive stop-off on the way to Kansas, Fort Worth has been welcoming visitors in a western embrace, marking the gateway to “where the West begins.” And since its establishment in 1911, Peters Bros. Hats has witnessed it all.
Shop owner and Master Hatter Joe Peters inherited the family business from his grandfather in 1991 but has worked in hats since 1972, when he began working for the shop, making cowboy hats two weeks a year for the Forth Worth Stock show and Rodeo. The shop has observed downtown Fort Worth from its new location, 909 Houston St., since 1933, just a couple doors down from its original address.
“Fort Worth is kinda like cowboys and culture,” Peters said in a slow Texan drawl as he leaned back in his chair and glanced out the barred window as passerby sauntered and vehicles coasted down Houston Street.
“There’s been tremendous change,” the Fort Worth local added. Born in 1945, Peters said he first attended school downtown, just a few blocks from where his mother helped out in the shop.
Fluorescent lights flicker gently down on the creaking shop’s creaking wood floors, illuminating stacks of hats in various stages of construct. The only spare space on the shop’s walls boasts a collage of autographed photographs: one from 1912, another of Tanya Tucker and even one of “The Duke” himself—John Wayne.
Feature
published in The Eagle
9 Questions with Jerry Jeff Walker
Country music icon Jerry Jeff Walker loves the Lone Star State. He has called Austin home since 1971 and helped revive Luckenbach -- recording his best-selling album to date, Viva Terlingua, in the town's old dance hall. But he isn't a native.
The 66-year-old songwriter, who will travel to downtown Bryan on Saturday to headline the city's Texas Reds festival, originally hailed from New York. He recorded his first few albums there but headed south after finding the Greenwich Village scene didn't quite fit. In Luckenbach, he eventually found a scene and a band that would allow him to play his music, his way.
News
published in The Eagle
Stings expose alcohol violations
Like many towns across Texas, clerks in some Brazos Valley stores continue to sell alcohol to minors -- regardless of their training, media attention and, most of all, that it's against the law.
Sgt. Randy Field, who oversees the Bryan office of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, said the Brazos County area has been within 22 percent of the state compliance rate of 88 percent over the past decade, but he's hoping a multi-prong approach of education and enforcement will help discourage future underage sales.
News
published in The Eagle
Police: Man assaulted bar manager, friend
A 21-year-old College Station man posted bail Sunday following his arrest on multiple charges after police said he pointed a gun at the manager at Hurricane Harry's and tried to choke a friend outside the College Station bar.
At about 11 p.m. Saturday, College Station police were called to the business at 313 South College Avenue, where manager Lance Larsen said Michael Lee Brown became violent after Larsen had him escorted outside for repeatedly trying to chug a pitcher of beer, an act prohibited by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, court documents state.
Once outside, Brown began to fight with his two roommates, both women, who were attempting to dissuade him from driving while intoxicated, the documents state, adding that one woman had been dating him almost a year.
Editorial
First Place Feature Story from Texas Interscholastic Press Association 2009 on-site competition*
*NOTE: This competition proposes hypothetical—not actual—situations in writing prompts for on-site competition, so the editorial is written in response to a fictional account.
Strip searches violate student rights
When another student accused eighth grader Savana Redding of possessing prescription-strength ibuprofen at school, officials did not ask Redding about the accusation. They did not search her belongings. Instead, they subjected the 13-year-old honor student to a strip search without explanation.