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My Work

I firmly believe journalists are watchdogs who hold the powerful accountable, which is a guiding principle in my work. Mostly, I enjoy telling complicated and nuanced stories often revealed through investigative journalism. My work has appeared in NRC (Dutch), New Lines Magazine, VTDigger and has been mentioned in the Washington Post's daily newsletter. 

Dutch stories

NRC •

De roep om de rechts-extremistische AfD te verbieden wordt steeds luider, maar er is ook veel weerstand

In meer dan elfhonderd pagina’s legde de Duitse nationale veiligheidsdienst vrijdag uit dat de Duitse partij Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) rechts-extremistisch is. AfD heeft bij de rechtbank in Keulen, waar het Bundesamt ligt, een zaak aangespannen en een spoedaanvraag ingediend.Volgens het rapport gaven de opvattingen van de AfD over wie Duitse staatsburgers zijn en de uitsluiting van bepaalde bevolkingsgroepen de doorslag: de standpunten van de AfD zijn in strijd met de vrije democratie. M...
NRC •

Daders moord vier IKON-journalisten krijgen toch maximumstraf: dertig jaar cel

De daders van de moord op vier Nederlandse IKON-journalisten in El Salvador in 1982 hebben een celstraf van dertig jaar gekregen. Begin juni waren ze al schuldig bevonden en leken ze aanvankelijk een straf van vijftien jaar te krijgen. Maar uit het definitieve schriftelijke vonnis blijkt dat die straffen hoger uitvallen.
De rechter legde de drie oud-militairen van 85, 91 en 93 jaar elk vijftien jaar per slachtoffer op. In totaal zou dat neerkomen op zestig jaar celstraf per dader, maar toen de m...
NRC •

Promotie van ‘Q’ naar ‘C’: veiligheidsdienst MI6 krijgt voor het eerst een vrouw aan het roer

Voor filmliefhebbers is het niets nieuws dat inlichtingendienst MI6 door een vrouw met kort haar en blauwe ogen wordt aangestuurd; jarenlang speelde Judi Dench in de James Bond-reeks 'M', het hoofd van de fictieve Britse buitenlandse inlichtingendienst. Tien jaar na M’s dood in de Bond-film Skyfall krijgt de échte Britse geheime dienst nu voor het eerst een vrouw aan het roer. Met tevens korte haren en blauwe ogen, wordt Blaise Metreweli niet ‘M’, maar de nieuwe ‘C’; het codewoord binnen de org...
NRC •

Ook in Gaza en Syrië begint de ramadan: op de ene plek in het puin, op de andere onder strengere regels

Op meterslange tafels liggen rode tafellakens met daarop bakjes voedsel en bekers drinken. Daaromheen staan plastic stoelen, erboven hangen slierten met lichtjes. Aan weerszijden liggen metershoge bergen puin van door Israël kapotgeschoten gebouwen.
In de stad Rafah, en elders in het na bijna zeventien maanden van Israëlische bombardementen verwoeste Gaza, is dit weekend de ramadan begonnen. Met ook hier, na zonsondergang, de iftar – het verbreken van de vasten dat gelovigen samenbrengt. Voor he...
NRC •

Delen van Pakistan bedolven onder recordhoeveelheid smog

Een dikke witte wolk hangt sinds begin november over Pakistan en India. Niet een normale wolk, maar smog die zelfs vanuit de ruimte te zien is, zo valt op te maken uit beelden van de NASA. De regio heeft vaker last van schadelijke luchtvervuiling en het najaar staat er bekend als het ‘luchtvervuilingsseizoen’, maar in Pakistan worden sinds het begin van deze maand records gemeten. Scholen en andere openbare gebouwen zijn daarom al meer dan een week gesloten.
In Multan, een Pakistaanse stad met...
NRC •

Palestijnse Autoriteit veroordeelt anti-Arabische leuzen en weghalen Palestijnse vlaggen

Het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken van de Palestijnse Autoriteit veroordeelt de „anti-Arabische” leuzen en „aanvallen” op de Palestijnse vlag in Amsterdam. Dat meldt het Palestijnse persbureau Wafa.
Het ministerie spreekt van „barbaarse” acties van de Israëlische fans van Maccabi Tel Aviv. Volgens het ministerie omvatten die acties het verwijderen van Palestijnse vlaggen en het zingen van hatelijke leuzen. In een video is te zien hoe Macccabi-supporters een roltrap naar de metro nemen en „Het...
NRC •

Niet alle Democraten zijn expliciet team-Harris - deze politici spreken geen steun uit

Zeker vier democraten hebben (nog) geen steun uitgesproken voor de Democratische presidentskandidaat Kamala Harris en hullen zich daarmee in opvallende stilte. In toespraken houdt het viertal hun stemkeuze vooral in het midden. In plaats daarvan verplaatsen ze de aandacht naar verkiezingen dichter bij huis.
Zo zei Mary Peltola, een politica die Alaska vertegenwoordigt in het Huis van Afgevaardigden, volgens het lokale Alaska Beacon in een debat op 10 oktober: „Ik denk dat beide kandidaten gebrek...
NRC •

Op de campus van Columbia heerst angst: ‘We weten niet wat wel en niet mogelijk is’

Twee dagen lang durfde een Palestijnse student aan Columbia University het huis niet uit. De 25-jarige draaide de deur op slot, ging niet naar lessen en moest uitstel voor allerlei opdrachten aanvragen die eigenlijk voor de voorjaarsvakantie af moesten zijn. „Ik wilde gewoon geen stap buiten mijn gebouw zetten”, vertelt de student aan de telefoon. Die angst kwam voort uit de arrestatie van Mahmoud Khalil. De 29-jarige Palestijn werd begin maart op de gang naar zijn campuswoning in de boeien g...
NRC •

Nieuwe Israëlische blokkade van Gaza ‘is een absoluut drama’

Terwijl zaterdag de eerste fase van het staakt-het-vuren tussen Israël en Hamas eindigde, liet Israël weten voor het vervolg een Amerikaans plan te steunen voor verlenging van die eerste fase gedurende de ramadan en het joodse pesach, in plaats van over te gaan naar de afgesproken tweede fase. Zolang Hamas hier niet mee instemt, wordt alle humanitaire hulp naar Gaza tegengehouden. Vrachtwagens met voedsel, tenten en brandstof kunnen daardoor sinds zondag niet meer de grenzen over.
De hulpgoed...
NRC •

Banaan-ducttape-kunstwerk verkocht voor 6,2 miljoen dollar

Gaan met die banaan? Dat was de vraag voor zeven bieders tijdens een kunstveiling in New York op woensdagavond. Het kunstwerk, een banaan die met ducttape aan een muur is geplakt, werd voor 6,2 miljoen dollar (bijna 5,9 miljoen euro) verkocht. Na een veiling van vijf minuten werd crypto-entrepreneur Justin Sun de gelukkige eigenaar.
„Dit is niet alleen een kunstwerk, dit vertegenwoordigt een cultureel fenomeen dat een brug slaat tussen de werelden van kunst, memes [internetplaatjes] en de crypto...
NRC •

Abortusrechten, een staatsvlag en cannabis. Dit staat er nog meer op het Amerikaanse stembiljet

Terwijl alle ogen gericht zijn op de grote presidentsvacature, is dat niet het enige waarover Amerikanen een stem kunnen uitbrengen. Naast alle losse races tussen vertegenwoordigers staan er in 41 staten ook nog verschillende onderwerpen op het stembiljet op dinsdag. In totaal zijn het er 146.
Zo stemmen Florida, North Dakota en South Dakota over de legalisatie van cannabis, iets wat al in 24 Amerikaanse staten is gelegaliseerd. Voor North en South Dakota is dit de derde poging tot legalisatie....

Long-form/Investigative stories

VTDigger •

Vermont EMS providers have largely professionalized, but the system has not

For years, emergency medical services in Vermont and in many rural parts of the country relied entirely on volunteers. But more recently, volunteerism has dwindled and providers throughout the state have transitioned to a different model.

“We at one point had 75 volunteers on a roster,” Colleen Ballard, executive director of Essex Rescue, said. She now counts 12, with two on leave.

As the volunteer pool shrank, Essex Rescue had two options: stop its services or start hiring paid staff. It opte
VTDigger •

State gets pushback as it looks to alternatives for housing justice-involved youths

Since the 2020 closing of Woodside, Vermont’s only juvenile detention center, the state has struggled to find beds for justice-involved youths. Plans for new placements have been proposed, changed, or gone through lengthy legal battles with local communities. In some cases, juveniles have been placed in adult prisons.

Now, the state Department for Children and Families is aiming to create what it says is a better way of meeting the needs of juveniles caught up in the justice system, one that mo
VTDigger •

Vermont Christmas tree farms grapple with a tight supply this year

Now that the countdown to Christmas is in full force, less-organized shoppers who celebrate the holiday may still be searching for this year’s Christmas tree. With some farms sold out of inventory and already closed, panic is possible.

Although the supply of locally grown trees is tight this year, industry observers, including Jim Horst, the executive director of the New Hampshire-Vermont Christmas Tree Association, have an assuring message.

“Most people that want to buy a Christmas tree are g
VTDigger •

Vermont continues to send teens to controversial youth facility in Tennessee

A youth facility in Tennessee that Vermont has been using since 2020 is abusive, unethical and unsanitary, according to recent findings of New Hampshire’s Office of the Child Advocate, which described “a culture of shame, humiliation, and inhumane punishment endemic to the program.”

The report prompted New Hampshire officials to remove two teenagers placed by that state with the Bledsoe Youth Academy and to decertify the facility, around the same time that Texas also stopped sending children th
VTDigger •

Season passes take over across Vermont slopes

Epic passes, Vail Resort’s multi-location ski and ride pass, will go up in price again this Sunday. But the deadline may not mean much to locals. Those who frequent the company’s Stowe Mountain, Okemo or Mount Snow resorts likely know enough to have bought some version of the Epic pass months ago, before the first major cost bump in early September.

But the press for an advance commitment goes beyond the corporation that owns those three resorts. Across the state, on most mountains, winter spor
New Lines Magazine •

Political Disillusionment Is Growing in Israel’s Druze Community

As Israelis continue to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s power grab, the Druze flag — characterized by its green triangle and four stripes of red, yellow, blue and white — has been conspicuously absent. This is despite the fact that the country’s crisis is deepening, as a far-right coalition targets democratic institutions and solidifies Israel’s identity as exclusively Jewish, disenfranchising minorities like the Druze, who have traditionally enjoyed full citizenship rights.

“We do

Political coverage

VTDigger •

What you need to know about the 2024 presidential primaries in Vermont

In Vermont, March 5 is going to be a busy day. Not only are most municipalities scheduled to host Town Meeting Day, but the state is also set to host its quadrennial presidential primaries.

Vermont is one of 15 states slated to take part in Super Tuesday, during which roughly one-third of the delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions are allocated. Of course, Vermont doesn’t send that many delegates to either convention, where the parties pick their presidential nominees.
VTDigger •

Resolutions condemning the Israel-Hamas war cleared at least 11 Vermont municipalities on Town Meeting Day

At least 11 Vermont municipalities passed nonbinding resolutions on Town Meeting Day condemning the Israel-Hamas war.

While each municipality adopted its own version, according to Dan DeWalt, a member of Southern Vermont for Palestine, which helped organize the effort, “the thread that ran through them all is what is happening in Gaza is happening with our support and it’s immoral, illegal and it has to stop.”

The following municipalities passed nonbinding resolutions opposing the war, accordi
VTDigger •

‘There’s no rules or oversight’: New bill seeks to ease Vermont’s animal welfare ‘crisis’

For months, maybe even years, people had raised concerns about two horses in Randolph who looked like they were neglected and starving. Time passed on, until finally the many calls reached the right destination. Together with law enforcement, a rescue organization went up to the property last summer, to find the horses, by then more skeleton than horse, miraculously still standing.

Under the care of that organization, Dorset Equine Rescue, the horses, called Thunder and Ginger, were carefully t
VTDigger •

A new Senate bill contemplates a ‘hybrid requirement’ for most public meetings

MONTPELIER — A discussion about whether online-only public meetings should continue is heating up under the Golden Dome, as a pandemic-era state policy that allowed them will expire this summer.

Both the House and Senate government operations committees have discussed bills that would impact the landscape of public meetings. Specifically, the proposals consider whether public bodies should be allowed to continue to meet in an entirely digital milieu, as many came to do because of the social dis
VTDigger •

Middlebury educator and consultant Esther Charlestin announces run for governor

MONTPELIER — Esther Charlestin, a former administrator who spoke out against the racism she faced at a Middlebury middle school, is running for governor of Vermont.

Charlestin, co-chair of the Vermont Commission on Women and a former Middlebury Selectboard member, announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination on the steps of the Statehouse on Friday afternoon.

“Vermont is changing, change is coming, and we must be ready, we must embrace it, we must shape it, and that’s what I plan to d
VTDigger •

Senate unanimously confirms Vermonter Michael Whitaker as FAA administrator

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Norwich resident Michael Whitaker to lead the Federal Aviation Administration. The vote was 98 to 0 in support.

Nominated last month by President Joe Biden, Whitaker first faced a vote in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where he received strong bipartisan support.

U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who serves on the committee and also lives in Norwich, has been an avid supporter of Whitaker’s nomination.


“Michael Whitaker lives i

Local/Breaking News

VTDigger •

While state stands up shelters, some Vermonters exit motels without a plan

This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin and VTDigger reporters Habib Sabet and Babette Stolk, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.

It was check-out time at the Motel 6 in Colchester on Friday morning, and Chris Lewis was making a beeline toward the bus stop with a couple of backpacks. He’d had a voucher through Vermont’s motel shelter program, which more people qualify for during the coldest winter months. But that annual policy changed tod
VTDigger •

Vermont State Police trooper airlifted to hospital after crash on I-89

A Vermont State Police trooper remained hospitalized late Friday after his cruiser struck a parked fire truck on Interstate 89 in Bethel, according to a press release.

Cpl. Eric Vitali, 41, was being treated at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, for serious injuries, police said in an update at 7:18 p.m. Vitali is a 19-year veteran of the agency, they said.

The crash occurred around 8:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes north of the Bethel exit. Vitali, who is assigned t
VTDigger •

Body found in container on the Missisquoi River belonged to missing Derby woman

Vermont State Police said Wednesday that a body found the day before inside a large container on a sandbar in the Missisquoi River in Troy belonged to a missing Derby woman, who authorities say had been shot in the head.

The death of Kayla Wright, 29, has been ruled a homicide based on the findings of an autopsy completed Wednesday by the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington, according to a state police press release.

Investigators conducted interviews with “people who might have rele
VTDigger •

Montpelier residents can pick up their mail again, as temporary location opens in Berlin

Residents of Vermont’s capital have a new location to pick up missed deliveries.

On Sunday, the U.S. Postal Service opened a temporary location in the Central Vermont Marketplace at 282 Berlin Mall Road, according to Steve Doherty, a Postal Service spokesperson. He did not say how long mail services would be located there.

If residents receive a notice of an attempted delivery, they can pick up their items at the temporary location during business hours. However, there will be no retail or pos
VTDigger •

Life without a post office leaves Montpelier area residents scrambling

MONTPELIER — Already challenged by the lack of a local post office since last summer’s flooding, Montpelier area residents were hit by yet another setback when a popular mail carrier recently retired after four decades on the job.


Not only did residents and businesses stop receiving their mail, they say there was no place to turn to ask where they might find it.

“We just need a physical location, that’s the real problem. I know they’re trying to work to get a carrier, but it’s the lack of re
VTDigger •

Some power outages could extend into Friday night — ahead of next winter storm

Chittenden, Addison and Franklin counties remained most affected Thursday afternoon by a windy winter storm that ripped through Vermont two nights earlier, according to a statewide power outages tracker.

VTOutages showed that about 5,000 Vermonters were still without power as of Thursday at 1 p.m., some 36 hours since simultaneous outages peaked at nearly 30,000.

Utility companies reported they were still busy restoring power, though some outages could continue for another day.

Green Mountain
VTDigger •

Vermont ski resorts open for the holiday weekend despite Monday’s floods

Although the heavy rainfall and high winds that struck Vermont on Monday turned ski resorts’ promising blankets of snow into slush, several have since reopened trails.

Bolton Valley and Mad River Glen, which both closed on Monday, were showing several trails reopened as of week’s end. Bolton Valley had 17 of 71 available on Friday, while Mad River Glen had four of 53, according to their websites.

Earlier in the week, operators at both resorts expressed little concern about the wet weather this
VTDigger •

Pandemic-era high schoolers in Vermont say they are less likely to pursue higher education

Interest in pursuing education beyond high school has dropped significantly among Vermont seniors since 2018, with the greatest decrease among students whose parents did not complete a four-year college degree. Those are the findings of the latest survey of high school students in their final year by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation.

The 2022 survey, which is conducted every two years except in 2020 due to Covid-19, also illustrates the long-stretching effects of the pandemic. Nearly
VTDigger •

Religious and housing leaders call for comprehensive state response to Vermont’s housing crisis

MONTPELIER — Amid growing concerns about the plight of unhoused persons in Vermont, religious leaders and housing advocates on Thursday called on Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to step up its response to the housing crisis.

Representatives of the group Vermont Interfaith Action raised their concerns in a press conference held in the Christ Episcopal Church, following a letter they sent to Gov. Scott in which they outlined specific actions they want to see taken. The advocates say these steps
VTDigger •

Montpelier businesses hit by recent fires plan to return, but not anytime soon

MONTPELIER — The owners of businesses damaged by two fires that hit Montpelier said they are facing a long road ahead before reopening.

On the block that The Mad Taco and Charlie-O’s on Main Street, not much appeared to have changed this week since Oct. 28, when an accidental fire damaged the two establishments. The fire was determined to have been caused by a spontaneous combustion of cleaning rags, according to Robert Sponable, the deputy director of the Vermont Division of Fire Safety, leavi
VTDigger •

After makeshift location closes, Vermont’s capital is left without a post office

Montpelier’s post office has been operating out of temporary locations since July’s floods damaged the city’s federal building. The latest location, which consisted of postal trucks in a parking lot on River Street, closed Friday, leaving Montpelier without a post office entirely.

“As the weather gets colder we’ve opted to close our temporary trailer operation and relocate PO Box customers to the nearby Barre Post Office,” Stephen Doherty, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, said in an
VTDigger •

Vermont State University student leaders protest budget cuts, seek greater voice

MONTPELIER — As Vermont State University enacts a series of cost-cutting measures, members of the school’s student government said Monday that their voices are not being heard.

During a press conference at the Statehouse, students implored school officials to give them a seat at the table and allow them greater input as budget cuts are being made.

“Rescind these decisions, reevaluate what is best for your student body, request student feedback, meet us and allow student voices to be heard,” sa
VTDigger •

July’s flooding damaged state-owned documents, furniture and a historic painting

The water that engulfed Montpelier has dried up and in the aftermath of July’s floods, state buildings are slowly reopening. But only a few months ago, basements of those buildings were not only filled with water, but also with floating furniture, documents, and even a historic painting.

The oil painting in question is by Thomas Waterman Wood, a nationally renowned portrait painter and Montpelierite who died in 1903. It is a portrait of longtime state librarian Charles Reed that hung in the rea
VTDigger •

Windshield shot out of school bus carrying U-32 students

Montpelier police are investigating a shooting incident that blew out the windshield of a school bus carrying students from U-32 Middle and High School Thursday afternoon, the police department said in a press release. There were no injuries reported.

According to police, the bus was stopped near the railroad tracks on East Montpelier Road (Route 2) when the windshield was hit by a single shot through the driver’s side window, which made contact with the windshield.


Police received a call at
VTDigger •

6 buildings affected by the floods have yet to reopen in Montpelier’s Capitol Complex

MONTPELIER — In July’s flooding, an estimated 9,000 gallons of water poured into the first floor of the Vermont Arts Council’s State Street building. Since then, the council’s 12 staff members have been forced to work remotely or in borrowed office spaces, with no end date in sight.

“We’ve been in that building since the ’60s. It’s a really special place,” said Amy Cunningham, the council’s deputy director. “It’s sad not to have a space available and be together.”

On Tuesday, a group of lawmak