Animal care dipped to staggering lows as Multnomah County shelter reached crisis, records show

For years, conditions inside Multnomah County's animal shelter outside Portland deteriorated. Staff and volunteers say management ignored requests for changes, even as shelter conditions reached a crisis in early January, when staff had to suddenly stop accepting stray animals. This was a two-part investigation. Read part two here.

Portland's unfriendly treatment of Friends of Trees

Why would Portland city officials, nearly a year after a catastrophic heat wave and at a time when tree canopy seems most crucial, end one of its most successful tree-planting partnerships? For this story I reviewed hundreds of internal emails and interviewed 16 people who work with and within the city. This story uncovered a yearslong power struggle between city bureaus that appears to have resulted in fewer trees being planted and cared for in the coming years, even as temperatures continue to rise.

As Western Wildfires Worsen, FEMA Is Denying Most People Who Ask For Help

This was a months-long investigation with NPR and member station Jefferson Public Radio into FEMA claims after 2020's historic wildfires in Oregon and California. Photo by Michael Sullivan for NPR.

Students In Southern Oregon Show Signs Of Stress After Catastrophic Wildfire

Hundreds of students in Talent and Phoenix lost their homes to the Almeda Fire this September, just a week before school was supposed to start. Now some of them are showing signs of extreme stress and anxiety, causing school leaders and parents to consider resuming in-person classes amid a pandemic. This piece won First Place in the Hard News category of the 2021 regional Murrow Awards and First Place in the Covid-19 Feature category of the 2021 Public Media Journalists Association's Awards.

'Your Help Doesn't Help Me.' Unsheltered In Oregon Tire Of Being Shuffled Around

Fears over spreading the coronavirus have forced some homeless shelters around the country to close or limit their capacity. In rural Southern Oregon, civic leaders told those in need to camp in the nearby woods. Now with wildfire season around the corner, law enforcement is relocating homeless people again. This piece won First Place in the News Feature category of the 2021 Public Media Journalists Association Awards.

Law Enforcement Officials Argue Rural Homeless Services Worsen Problem

Homelessness is often seen as an urban issue, but rural areas along the West Coast are also struggling with large homeless populations. Many of these areas don't have the resources for shelters, but even when they do, they're sometimes reluctant to build them.

Oppressed By Wildfire: A Four-Part Series

Wildfires disproportionately impact historically marginalized people due, in part, to systems not designed with them in mind. This series was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism's 2019 California Fellowship. It won first-place news series in the regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and the Public Media Journalists Association contest.