The Hudson Dispatch in Union City, N.J., is where I cut my teeth as a reporter in 1987-1988. I'll have more detail later as I get this page refined. Until then, here are a few stories from my Dispatch days.
A collection of stories about a local organized crime figure whose trial I covered and who, as the headline at left indicates, met an unfortunate end. Reading back over these, I realize that I wrote like a complete rookie in my rookie year. Please be forgiving as you read.
Another good mob story from New Jersey. The U.S. Attorney who held the press conference announcing these arrests -- for plotting to kill John Gotti -- was Samuel I. Alito.
This was my contribution to a staff-written series on the AIDS crisis in Hudson County, N.J., in the late '80s. What made the situation unique was that AIDS was spreading more rapidly from shared needles among intravenous drug users than through sexual transmission.
In May 1988, the state of New Jersey took over operation of the Jersey City school district after a report found rampant corruption. It was the first such takeover in state history. Again, however, the rookie writing disclaimer applies.