‘We just can’t find people’: Businesses struggle to hire, face disruptions amid record job openings
In this story, a colleague and I looked into the reasons why Columbia’s unemployment rate was low compared to other metro areas in Missouri and the impacts it had on Columbia’s labor force. We interviewed economists and local business owners for this story that ran on Missouri Business Alert’s website and the front page of the Columbia Missourian.
Read the story here.
Despite federal guidance on COVID-19 vaccines, most Missouri employers stop short of mandates
In this story for Missouri Business Alert, I reached out to large employers in the state after the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission declared it was legal for employers to mandate COVID-19 vaccination in May of 2021. Through my reporting, I found out various legal concerns that were making some employers hesitant to require a COVID-19 vaccination when they had not previously mandated any other vaccines.
Read the full story here.
‘We’re going to keep it under control’: St. Louis Fed chief advocates for rate hikes to fight inflation
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard spoke at the University of Missouri-Columbia to address the record inflation seen across the country. Bullard was one of the few Federal Open Market Committee voting members advocating for a higher interest rate hike to combat the impacts of inflation.
This story was published within two hours of the event, including original photos taken by me. I added insight from a small business expert to help contextualize some of Bullard’s comments at the event.
Read the full story here.
Should Missouri change its state tree to the black walnut? TikTok thinks so
In this story for The Kansas City Star, I wrote about a TikTok creator who went viral for his opinions on the Missouri state tree. I spoke with an expert on Missouri’s state tree and the TikTok influencer to find out some facts about both Missouri’s state tree, the flowering dogwood, and its challenger, the black walnut.
Read the full story here.
ResLife adjusts quarantine procedures after students struggle to quarantine after exposure or positive COVID-19 test
In this story for The Maneater, I investigated problems related to the University of Missouri’s quarantine housing for on-campus students. During the first few weeks of classes as the campus managed a COVID-19 spike, students dealt with a lack of food and availability of quarantine housing when waiting for test results or receiving a positive result.
Read the full story here.
UPDATE: Choi unblocks students on Twitter after threat of lawsuit
UM System President and MU Chancellor Mun Choi was threatened with a lawsuit after blocking students on Twitter who disagreed with the university’s handling of COVID-19 on-campus. In this story for the Maneater, my partner and I contacted the lawyer who threatened to bring a lawsuit against MU, as well as students who had been blocked on Twitter. After the announcement of an impending lawsuit, this story was published two hours later with multiple sources. This story won third place in the news writing category for the Missouri College Media Association Awards in 2020.
Read the full story here.