Clips & Portfolio
The following is a collection of some of my most recent work, including blogs, photography and newspaper publications. Feel free to read some of my past work and contact me if you have any questions.
‘Music Was The Only Thing He Had,’ And Police Say It Got Gainesville Rapper ‘Shay Baby’ Killed
April 27, 2018
Some say Shay Baby could have put Gainesville on the rap world’s radar.
After his release from prison in January 2016, Rashey “Shay Baby” Garrison, 29, told his family he saw music as an escape from the streets and drug dealing in East Gainesville.
A few weeks later, he was outside a friend’s house in the Lincoln Estates neighborhood lip-syncing his new song “Cold Outchea” for a music video.
The first verse doesn’t hold back: “See a brother whack his own brother, mama drown her newborn and daddy rape his own daughter.”
The Alachua County Commission Doesn’t Want Teens Buying Tobacco. What Happens Next?
Feb. 8, 2019
Four Alachua County cities intend this month to discuss the county commission’s decision to prohibit the sale of tobacco and vape sales to anyone under age 21.
On Jan. 22, the county commissioners became the first in Florida to adopt what advocates nationally call a Tobacco 21 ordinance. The measure allows each of the nine affected municipalities until October to decide if they want it to take effect in their jurisdictions.
Gainesville residents raise money to bring deported father, husband home
April 27, 2018
Every night for the past six years, Lina Colondres and her husband Ruben Flores Garcia have stayed up thinking of each other — 1,681 miles apart.In Guanajuato, Mexico, Flores lies awake wondering if his wife can feed their three sons and pay the bills. Colondres lies awake in Gainesville wondering if he’s eating, if he’s safe, if he’s alive.They’ve been separated by a border since March 26, 2012.
March 19, 2019
All was still on Turlington Plaza as a verse of the Quran was sung in Arabic.
About 150 students, Gainesville residents and community leaders gathered Monday evening around a prayer mat, listened in silence and held carnations in their hands as a University of Florida student sang. The words were meant to comfort in times of mourning.
The English translation: “And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead, rather they are alive with their Lord receiving provision.”
UF in Berlin: Kristina Gros
While studying abroad in Berlin, I was tasked with finding an English-speaking Berliner and convincing her to let me follow her around with a camera. This assignment captures the life of Kristina Gros, an industrial designer who relocated from Miami to Berlin after falling in love with the city. Gros is Berlin personified: quirky, creative and unique.
April 15, 2018
A self-proclaimed “$50 Billion Man” threatened to break a UF student’s neck before leaving a speaking event on campus March 21.
Dan Pena, a controversial businessman and speaker, verbally attacked Juan “Verse” Lozano, a 22-year-old UF public relations senior, during a Q&A session hosted by the UF Entrepreneurship Club at the New Physics Building on Museum Road and Gale Lemerand Drive.
Pena’s website claims his mentees have garnered $50 billion in value with his business guidance. The Alligator could not verify these claims.
March 22, 2018
When Andrea Ruiz left her hometown of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, she expected to return in about a month.
Three months later, Ruiz and her family are still in Miami. Ruiz moved to Florida on Oct. 10, a month after Hurricane Maria left her hometown, and much of Puerto Rico, without power.
Ruiz misses home, but she knows she’s one of the lucky ones. She still worries about the future of Puerto Rico’s schools, especially the neglected public schools.
April 9, 2018
Jason Haeseler, a candidate for the Florida Representative seat in District 21, said Florida has the lowest funding for mental health resources of all states. This is mostly true. The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute says Florida is 51 out of 52 in the U.S., ahead of Puerto Rico. PolitiFact reported that the data used to make the ranking is based on money spent by Department of Children and Families’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Office and doesn’t include funding from other sources, like Medicaid.