My Favorites

I haven't been posting on here very often because I've been working on a number of long term projects that have been very demanding. Here are a few of my favorite videos from the past months.

My favorite is this piece on Jeff Hornagold, who lost his battle with lung cancer. A newsroom secretary gave me is obit and he and his family sounded very interesting. I called the funeral home and asked his wife, Judy, if I could come and shoot his funeral in the morning. She said that I could come and that Jeff would have loved to be in the newspaper.
His funeral and family stuck out to me because they were not going to use a hearse to the church from the funeral home, they were going to use a UPS truck. Jeff was a 20 year UPS worker and it was a job he loved. His best friend Mike McGowan delivered him to the church, dressed in a cleanly pressed brown uniform. What a great send-off. Jay Leno even talked about the funeral in his monologue later that week.



Another fav assignment was covering little Ben Spangel of McHenry. He's 11 years old and I don't think he knows the meaning of quit. He has cerebral palsy and was feeling left out of the county track meet every year. So, he created his own event, the assisted walk challenge, for people needing the assistance of walkers and canes. Here's the event, Ben's quite an inspiration....

They Do Exist!....or do they

The new Mythical Creatures exhibit at the Field Museum opened up last week and it was pretty cool to see. Unicorns, giant squids, and dragons, oh my! Check it out, the exhibit runs through September 2008.

Tragedy at Northern Illinois University

Thursday, Valentine's Day, will always be burned in my memory. Not as a day of chocolates and flowers but a day of senseless killings. I was on my way to work a night shift around 3 pm. when Ryan (my boyfriend) called and said that there had been a shooting at NIU over the scanner. I rushed into work grabbed my gear and started for Dekalb not knowing whether the gunman was caught.
It's kind of the go know and think later mentality I think a number of journalists have. When I arrived, at about 3:45, the campus roads were closed and I parked out on Lincoln Highway at a McDonalds and ran to Cole Hall. Kids were packing, leaving, consoling, and wandering around looking confused. There was blood trails on sidewalks and police milling around keeping people safe and away from Cole Hall.
As everything unfolded, everyone was hungry for updates into who the killer was, why this happened, and why seemingly innocent students. Some of these answers we may never see.
Virginia Tech was far away for me. I was sorry for the victims and prayed for their families but I was far removed. NIU is my backyard. My college played their college. I went to soccer camps there in the summer, it was real to me.
After the coverage of these stories, I slept for a whole day. I was emotionally, physically and mentally tired. And I will continue to pray for these students, for the families and loved ones of the victims, and for the faculty, students and staff of NIU, for I doubt any of them will get much sleep.
Eyewitness Accounts of the Shooting


Reporting on Their Own: Northern Star


Interview with Shooter's Ex-Neighbor


NIU Mourns

2008 Chicago Auto Show Preview

Just got back from the Chicago Auto Show and it is impressive. So many cars, so little assignment turnaround time! Enjoy and see it for yourself at the McCormick Place from February 8-17.

"Sittin' on some frozen water"-Ice Fishing Derby

The Wonder Lake Sportsmans Club had thier 22nd annual Ice Fishing Derby. I saw this as a great opportunity to get up before dawn and go out in zero degree temps to grab some great footage and some even better light. I don't who won the derby but I sure had a great day.

Hero's Welcome

A Hero's Welcome: Army Spc. Jeremiah Homuth returns to Huntley, Ill.
It was amazing to see so many people from McHenry county and beyond come to the little town of Huntley to welcome back Jeremiah. It was better than any 4th of July parade I have ever seen. God Bless Jeremiah and the Homuth family.

A Hopeful Heart

After traveling from his home in Guatemala to a temporary home in Woodstock, an 18-year-old with extremely rare heart conditions underwent a nearly two-hour screening today to determine how soon, if at all, he will need to undergo open-heart surgery. A young man with such huge smiles and a great laugh. Just when you think you got it rough, someone like Luis comes along and really puts life into perspective.