In 2025, my reporting put me face-to-face with sharks and stingrays, crawling through a firefighter training course, sitting in a living room filled with a century of memories and digging into local schools.
Every year, LINK nky reporters round up our top five stories from the year. I chose a collection of stories that I think range from having an impact on a community to just being a fun read or memorable interview.
These five stories capture the moments that made the year memorable.
Day in the life of a Newport Aquarium vet: Annual exams for stingrays, sharks
Back in February 2025, I got to visit the Newport Aquarium and spend the morning with the aquarium’s veterinarian, Hali Jungers, and veterinary technician, Jolene Hanna, as they gave sharks and stingrays their annual exams.
This story is making my top five, mostly based on morbid curiosity. Being a reporter allows you to enter spaces that the general public doesn’t always get to see. I mean, when was the last time you saw a stingray get an ultrasound? I got to see the aquatic animals get their measurements, blood work and X-rays. I also got to pick the veterinarian’s brain about the animals and how they learned to care for so many different species.
The story itself was fun to write as I tried my best to paint a picture of the day I spent and kept things conversational. I also took lots of photos and videos while I was there, so the story has strong visuals to accompany it.
This story started with me brainstorming niche jobs in the area I could shadow for a story. So, if you have any other ideas, send them my way!
To read the story, click here.
Campbell Fire/Rescue trains next generation with real-life scenarios
This story began when Campbell Fire/Rescue Lieutenant Mark Combs, the department’s recruiting and retention coordinator, reached out to invite me to a fire training session.
What I didn’t know was that I’d end up in full fire gear inside the training trailer, too.
You might sense a theme here: I like going to places and seeing things most people don’t get to see.
A semi-trailer with a built-in self-contained breathing apparatus confidence course sits at the back of Campbell Fire/Rescue Station 12, located at 1050 Racetrack Road in Alexandria. The course is a training program designed to help firefighters develop confidence and proficiency in using self-contained breathing apparatus equipment (the tank of air firefighters wear on their backs) in challenging or stressful situations.
The junior firefighters, interns and volunteers are geared up and on air. The course is pitch black inside, with smoke wafting through to imitate fire conditions in a building. The trailer walls are narrow, and obstacles like slick ramps and wires are placed inside. Crews of two or three help one another at a time.
Once one crew makes it through the course, the next goes in, and so on until training ends.
I was sent into the training trailer (minus the smoke part, I didn’t think I was ready for that) as a crew of three. I had someone in front of me and someone behind me, and thank goodness for that. The first steep ramp we came to, I could hardly make it up. I think I was grabbing onto the person in front of me while the person behind me kept me from falling back down. My helmet wasn’t tight enough, so every time I put my head down (you are crawling on your hands and knees in there), my helmet would fall in front of my eyes.
Nevertheless, we stopped inside so I could take photos and video. I also took lots of photos and videos of everyone else going through the course, so once again, this story has some strong visuals.
I think I spent at least two or three hours at the station (in someone else’s gear) for this story. It was so much fun, and again, if you have any story ideas that get me out of my comfort zone, I’m all ears.
To read the story, click here.
From a blind date to 81 Years of marriage: Ruth and Vernon Mize’s story
I am known around LINK nky for being the reporter who covers people turning 100. In fact, my top five stories list from last year included one of those stories.
This time, though, I got to talk to two people who were 101 and have been married for 81 years. Again, I find myself asking how often does a person run into that?
I sat down with Ruth and Vernon Mize and their daughter, Kathy Kuhn, in August for about two hours and heard their life story. Kuhn invited me to their family home in Florence, so I also got to see how the family lived side-by-side and all of the knick-knacks, crafts and memorabilia from over the years.
Marrying in 1944, the couple has lived in eight states, has four children, and has been together for more than eight decades. They were both born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1924, and witnessed many historical events, including the Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War.
To read the story, click here.
Newport Independent Schools coverage
I was going to pick one story for this, but then I decided, why not just include the entirety of the coverage I’ve done over the last year?
Coverage began in January, when former Newport Finance Director Jennifer Hoover said the school district faced a $3.9 million budget deficit for the 2026 school year. Then, in February, the Newport teacher union called for the superintendent’s removal as the board started looking at job cuts.
The story I was initially going to focus on was written in March. I had spent quite a lot of time conducting interviews and sorting through data to create a big-picture overview of the district’s performance and finances.
From March through May, I continued to cover the budget and teacher/staff cuts being made in the district:
March 12: Before cutting staff, Newport Schools seeks updated budget review
March 28: Newport teachers continue to address board of education about district conditions
May 15: Newport Schools cuts seven positions, keeps alternative school open
Then, on May 15, former Newport Superintendent Tony Watts resigned after a two-hour-long executive session. Now I will have to credit my colleague, Nathan Granger, for attending that meeting and sticking it out through the two-hour closed session to get that story (I was out of the office for my rehearsal dinner for my wedding, which took place on May 17).
In June, I covered Watts’ exit agreement with the district and the appointment of a new superintendent.
In August, the district reported that it had a balanced budget, and talk of a deficit was over.
In November, I covered the update on the permanent superintendent search.
That brings us to the most recent development: on Dec. 15, I reported that Watts was permanently barred from renewing his superintendent certification, according to a decision from the Education Professional Standards Board. On May 2, the standards board received notice that Watts had failed to report mandatory information about a Newport educator as required by law.
I plan to continue this kind of reporting on Newport Independent Schools in 2026.
Training for tomorrow’s careers starts in kindergarten
I’m including this story I wrote as part of LINK nky’s super issue on “workforce” because, after touring Beechwood Independent Schools for it, I told everyone they knocked my socks off.
I got to tour the school and see their new facilities that coincided with their EDGE program. The school’s EDGE program prepares students for the workforce in kindergarten through 12th grade alongside their regular courses like math, science, social studies and English. EDGE stands for education, design, geared toward experience.
Basically, I felt like I was walking through a college campus, not a high school.
At the high school level, students can choose a “minor,” a four-year course of study selected for ninth through 12th grade. EDGE minors are offered in biomed, informatics, entrepreneurship, culinary, engineering, media, performing arts, environmental and fine arts. During their senior year, students complete their minors through an internship, research, or early college or dual-credit coursework aligned with the minor.
I got to speak with a student in the biomedical minor and a teacher in a biomedical science class. Writing this story showed me where education is headed, rather than the stereotypical image of a student in a classroom listening to a teacher and reading from a textbook.
To read the story, click here.