Columbia volunteers use acupuncture treatments to make a healing difference in Joplin

Here is my first story published in the Columbia Missourian where I will be spending the rest of the summer as a reporter.

Read the full story here.

Patriotic Portraits

Just a few fun portraits with friends for the 4th of July. 

Barnout 2011

 Local Missouri bands play at the 4th annual Barnout outside  Mcgurk, Mo. 

Duluth and The Great Lakes

I went up to Duluth for a couple days to explore the great north for the first time since I was a kid. Duluth is about 2.5 hours north of the twin cities and is known historically as a major port city. The city sits on the Minnesota Wisconsin border over Lake Superior. I camped out on the beach with a few friends until sunrise and was fortunate enough to see the northern lights for the first time.

Russ Kendall's smoked fish shop.

Visitors explore the Two Harbors lighthouse built in 1892.

The northern lights shine above Lake Superior.

Carmen Matile and Arianna St. George light candles along Lake Superior as a memorial to 24-year-old Tim Stephenson.

Summertime in STL

The sun is out and so are families in St. Louis, Mo. Here are a few shots from the trip down to St. Louis with Grant Hindsley. 

Soundset 2011

P.O.S. performs at Soundset 2011 in Canterbury Park. The hip hop music festival features artists on the Rhymesayers label and from all across the country. 

St. Louis: Freedom balloons released after slave reenactment

Hundreds gathered at the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Celebration in St. Louis witness the reenactment of an 1855 slave capture.  Following the reenactment balloons were released to represent freedom.

Attendees of the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Celebration release balloons to represent freedom. 

Roller skate champion's memory untouched by tornado in Sedalia, Mo.

After a tornado hit Sedalia, Mo. Wednesday the only thing left of The

Wheel Thing Skate Center is a glass case full of memorabilia that serves as a memorial

for Jesse Joe Harrison. Harrison, nicknamed “Dog” passed away

at the age of 17 in a car accident in 1998.  Jesse’s best friend Christopher Homan visits the

memorial in The Wheel Thing Skate Center. “That skating rink was our home.” Homan

said. Harrison’s mother’s house lies on the other side of the rink and was damaged by the

tornado. Homan still continues to think of Connie as his own “mom” and assists her in

the process of rebuilding. 

The Wheel Thing Skate Center is flattened by a half-mile wide tornado that hit on Wednesday, May 25 in Sedalia, Mo. “Its an icon in the town its one of those things you expect to be here” said former skate coach Connie Koch.  

The only thing left of The Wheel Thing Skate Center is a glass case full of memorabilia that serves as a memorial for Jesse Joe Harrison. Harrison, nicknamed “Dog”  passed away at the age of 17 in a car accident in 1998.  Jesse’s best friend Christopher Homan visits the memorial in The Wheel Thing Skate Center for the first time after the tornado hit. The two were skating partners. “It wasn’t all about speed it was all about fun,” Homan said. Homan quit shortly after Harrison’s death. “It was my whole life growing up,” Homan said.

Homan still remains an integral part of Harrison’s family. He stands in Harrison’s mother Connie Koch’s driveway looking at the surrounding damage.  Homan came to assist Connie in rebuilding her home. "He helps me because he is a part of what Jesse and Chris and I were together,” Koch said.

Koch and Homan’s girlfriend look at a photograph of a rainbow that arched into the skate center when Homan went to see Harrison’s case. “He has his arms around that case,” Koch said.

Homan’s girlfriend’s daughter peers over Koch’s balcony into the neighbors yard. The Wheel Thing Skate Center is just on the other side of the house. “That rink has been our life. I actually moved here just to be close,” said Koch. 

A pile of skates sits on the outskirts of the rink. “There is not much to do around here you either go to the movies or you go skate,” Koch said. The skating rink was over 50 years old. “This is just an opportunity to build something better,” Homan said.

Homan visits Harrison’s grave in Sedalia, Mo. The gravestone has a Tasmanian devil in roller skates engraved on it. Homan’s tattoo of Harrison’s initials in barbed wire peeks out of his shirt. “The reason I got barbed wire is its tied in a knot. There’s sharp edges on barbed wire. If you try and pull it apart you’re going to get hurt. There’s nothing in the world that can pull it apart and were still together like brothers and I think of him in the same way even though he is not here.” Homan said.

Search and Rescue in Joplin Mo. after Tornado

I continued coverage in Joplin, Mo. at the Metro Emergency Transport system and alongside the local fire department. Rescues calls decreased from Monday but hundreds of people were still unaccounted for.

METS workers and out of town volunteers discuss their experiences since the tornado hit in Joplin. Paramedics and EMTS came from hundreds of miles away to provide support medically and emotionally.

A fire station is damaged by the EF5 tornado that hit Joplin, Mo Sunday evening. The tornado has claimed 124 lives in a six-mile path that destroyed the local hospital and majority of Main Street.

METS workers see St. John's Hospital for the first time up close on Tuesday, May 24. 

A man finds a diploma in a pile of rubble in Joplin, Mo.

A teddy bear hangs on a yield sign outside a home that was hit by an EF5 tornado Sunday evening in Joplin, Mo.

A walker hangs out the window of a patient room at St. John’s Regional Medical Center. Five patients died in the tornado that left the hospital severely damaged. 

Search and rescue workers sweep a field after responding to a call of a missing person.

The Kansas Task Force Rescue meets in the fire station to assist in Joplin, Mo.

METS workers find it difficult to locate tornado victims because the city is virtually unrecognizable.

Metro Emergency Transport System aides after tornado in Joplin, Mo.

The strength of this city is evident through the work that Metro Emergency Transport System is doing to help people trapped or injured after one of the biggest tornados in U.S. history hit Joplin, Mo.The tornado left a six mile path and has claimed 116 lives. St. John's Regional Medical Center has been severely damaged and Main Street has been hit so hard that it is difficult for locals to navigate streets they have driven on for years.

Many of the METS team's homes have been affected by the tornado yet they are taking long shifts away from their families. Additionally, the communities outside Joplin have demonstrated immense support for Joplin. Paramedics have come from all over Missouri and the border states to assist in cleaning up after a disaster that requires more hands than usual.

Linda Brinkoff of the Metro Emergency Transport System looks up to check the incoming weather.

A house is destroyed but the closet hangers and wall paintings are left virtually untouched.

Linda Brinkoff walks through damage in the backyard of a woman that called for assistance to be transported.

Two people wait by the train tracks in Joplin, Mo. following the tornado.

A family portrait lies on the ground in front of an apartment complex that was virtually leveled on 20th st.

Jay Stoney of the Metro Emergency Transport System takes a smoke break on McClelland Blvd.

Joplin residents search through rubble for missing neighbors and loved ones.

Wheelchairs sit outside the Greenbriar Nursing Home that was destroyed in Joplin tornado.