How Twin Cities housing rules keep the metro segregated

To examine residential zoning patterns in the Twin Cities, the Star Tribune requested zoning maps from more than 100 communities and reporters reviewed zoning ordinances from each city. The results found that people of color were disproportionately living in multi-family housing due to the racist history of zoning laws.

Breaking down the video: What during at Daunte Wright's fatal traffic stop

An analysis of the body camera footage with insights from the Brooklyn Center Police policy manual and a comparison of guns and tasers. This story took four days, from initial pitch to publish.

I also translated the story into an Instagram post for our social audiences.

We asked for your last normal photos. Here's what you shared.

Inspired by a TikTok trend and my own habit of scrolling through my camera roll, I asked Minnesotans to share their last "normal" photo with the Star Tribune — and more than 300 people did. The result was a look at the beautiful, mundane moments we've been missing for so long.

I also translated the story into an Instagram post for our social audiences.

Blood relatives

An important story by Andy Mannix about the families in Minnesota who lost loved ones to police violence and are trying to change the system. We knew we wanted to include as many of these families' voices as possible, but time and resources were scarce. To help solve this, I created a form that Andy sent to each family, allowing them to share their thoughts on policing in Minnesota and photos of their relatives.

We used these responses as pulled quotes throughout the piece and in an Instagram post.

Where the scoops happened

Sid Hartman was a Minnesota institution — a sports reporter at the Star Tribune who started working for the paper in the early 1940s and didn't stop until his death last year, at 100 years old. His office was like a shrine, and this piece gives readers a chance to peek into his workspace and look around.

I also created an Instagram post based off of this project that keeps the "where's Waldo" nature of the article.

What would it take for Trump to win Minnesota over Biden?

A team effort with our newsroom developer, Mike Corey, and the polgov team. I had a lot of fun creating the user interface for this tool that Mike built, trying to make sure it was approachable for all readers, not just the politically-savvy ones.

To help achieve this, we kept the design playful, including the use of confetti and happy and sad mug shots for each candidate based on the current projections.

The siege, evacuation and destruction of a Minneapolis police station

A timeline of how the Third Precinct fell, minute by minute. Created with Liz Navatril and James Shiffer, using Star Tribune reporting, social media posts, emails, documents, and other materials acquired through public records requests.

One week in Minneapolis

I was furloughed the Thursday and Friday of Memorial Day weekend — like so many others, I spent the week refreshing Twitter, seeking constant information as the city reeled after the murder of George Floyd. I pitched this project to my bosses that Friday, and worked over the weekend to collect the best of our Star Tribune coverage and compile it into a visual timeline of the week in Minneapolis that changed the world.

In their finest

Gorgeous portraiture by Leila Navidi of Minnesota teens showing off their prom finery that they never got to wear due to the pandemic. Personally, I would have loved for my prom photos to look this great. A really fun features assignment and a chance to do something a little different with the images, instead of our typical gallery.

Best of the decade

The top 10 moments in the arts throughout the past decade across all mediums — from movies, to classical music, to local books and more. The lack of cohesive art options gave me an opportunity to play with color and animation to tie them all together.

Denied Justice

Denied Justice was an investigation into the police handlings of sex assault cases in Minnesota. The Star Tribune team built their own data base by requesting records from all across the state, and came to a sobering conclusion that only 7% of reported sexual assaults ended in coviction — the majority were never even forwarded to prosecutors.

This was a huge undertaking, and in the end resulted in 9 stories, a video database, a landing page, and a sister podcast produced with a local television station.

The Kanye Issue

An old project from my college newspaper that I'm still partial to. This was one of my first times coding a buildout myself, and that combined with the chance to do some illustration made it one of my favorite pieces of my time in school. The joy of being a Kanye fan faded long ago but the joy of seeing a neon gif of his face I made hasn't faded yet.