Investigative Journalist in Houston, Texas
Isolating ourselves is the best way to guard against the coronavirus, but it’s more important than ever for journalists to make connections with real people like you during this crisis and listen to your stories. Maybe we can’t meet in person for the foreseeable future. Maybe the only way we can communicate is through a … Read more
If you want to know what really makes journalists tick, hanging out at an Investigative Reporters and Editors conference will restore your faith in humanity. The whole point of this year’s massive gathering of journalists in Orlando, Florida was about finding truth — how to dig up facts, how to double and triple check them, … Read more
It’s one thing to learn that Bexar County Democratic Party Chairman Manuel Medina lost in last week’s primaries by a whopping 35-point margin. It’s another thing to see how the results of that lopsided election look on a map. Each teal-colored area represents a victory for Medina’s challenger, Monica Ramirez Alcantara: Bexar County primary for … Read more
After Hurricane Harvey made landfall and motorists in San Antonio besieged gas stations like frantic bank customers in “Mary Poppins,” there’s probably never been a better time to try something that lets you avoid gas stations altogether — commuting by bicycle. I’m here to help. We can all come up with excuses to avoid riding … Read more
Texas weather can be wild and dangerous, as Hurricane Harvey is showing us this week, so here are some techniques that have helped me track the impact of storms, floods and other natural disasters in San Antonio and other parts of the state: Weather forecasts and warnings The National Weather Service provides so much useful … Read more
Evernote turns eight years old this week. But even after all these years, some people have trouble grasping what, exactly, this mystical app is supposed to do. Is it for taking notes? Saving bookmarks? Taking photos? All of the above? Everyone’s needs are different. But for me, Evernote really shines as a vast, searchable archive … Read more
With so many controversial deadly force incidents in the news that raise questions about police tactics, wouldn’t it be great to have a reliable system in place to keep track of lethal police encounters to get a handle on how often they happen? The good news is, there’s a statewide system in Texas to track … Read more
I couldn’t attend the 2014 Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in San Francisco this year. But thankfully, Google researcher Daniel Russell was there. He gave another excellent presentation about search-engine strategies and posted his advice online. As the Uber Tech Lead at Google, Dan studies how people search the web. He started sharing little-known search … Read more
All this dutiful work helps us compare this year’s drought to past dry spells.
The population explosion occurred during a decade when city officials emphasized the importance of living near downtown and limiting urban sprawl.