My byline in Chatelaine!

22 Mar

Hey y’all!

As many of you know (thanks Facebook), I got something published in the April issue of Chatelaine. (Currently on newsstands near you!) The piece is about hot spots in Saint John with photography by Topher Seguin.

You can also see it here.

So if any of you are planning a trip out east, this might be a helpful thing to grab.

I’ve been really encouraged by all the local support and attention the article is getting. Even the mayor, Mel Norton, tweeted about it, which just goes to show, Saint Johners have got a lot of pride and I’m happy to be apart of it.

Just wanted to give you a little heads up that I’m currently writing another piece for Chatelaine (procrastination be damned) about a local Saint John woman. I don’t want to give too much more away yet, but it should be in the magazine if all goes according to plan in May.

For now, it’s back to basketball.

 

Reflections from a rookie sports reporter

7 Mar

I’m writing this post at 11:30 p.m., a piece of bread in my mouth, dinner cooking on the stove, alert as ever after covering a hockey game. Yes, this is the life of a sports reporter. You heard that right, I went from court to sports. Welcome to the life of a ping pong ball.

So here’s how it went down: about three months ago, the senior editor at the paper where I work pulled me into the office, or “bunker” as it’s nicknamed, and said I was being put on the sports beat. I was shocked, terrified, mortified, but a little excited at the same time. It meant I’d be doing more feature writing, but it also meant I’d need to know sports rules (of which I knew nada).

I, the girl who made the Grade 6 basketball team and dribbled all of once, is now writing about professional basketball and hockey leagues for legions of super dedicated fans.

I’ll admit that after the first basketball game I covered, I cried because I felt like a fake. I’ve managed to keep my cool since then and I’m now known in the arena as the “basketball girl.” I even covered six back-to-back high school basketball games for the provincial finals; my copy was fed to three city newspapers in New Brunswick, if not more.

I’ve had to ask the sports guys a lot of stupid questions (yeah, I didn’t know the top part of the net was called the crossbar), but in the meantime I’ve got to delve into some nifty new worlds, like what makes a body builder click? What’s it likc to play basketball in countries like Japan, Libya and Iran? What does it take to be a bronze medalist in kayaking at the London Olympics?

Plus, I now know every synonym in the book for defeat and score. I’ve learned how to cobble stories together within 15 minutes of deadline. It’s a stressful situation and involves a lot of running up and down stairs from the court floor to the press box, but that might be the best part of the day.

Since then, I’ve come to admire and appreciate sports and what it takes to be a sports reporter. It’s a lot more difficult than people give it credit and takes a lot more creativity than you’d imagine.

Below I’m going to post three of my favourite court stories I wrote from before I was a sports reporter and in a few months time, I’ll post my favourite sports articles.

Time to eat!

Interviewing the head coach of the Saint John Mill Rats, David Cooper. (One of my first games!)

Interviewing the head coach of the Saint John Mill Rats, David Cooper. (One of my first games!)

My first Mill Rats game... I couldn't find the media box, but I got front row seats!

My first Mill Rats game… I couldn’t find the media box, but I got front row seats!

 

1. I think this story is really interesting because it demonstrates in “real time” what sort of drastic consequences Bill C10 is going to have on all offenders, no matter the circumstances. 

Judge rules sexual relations between teens illegal

New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal
Sat Nov 3 2012
Page: B2
Section: City
Byline: OTIENA ELLWAND TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

SAINT JOHN – A consensual sexual encounter that occurred between a 13-year-old girl and an 18-year-old male was deemed illegal by a judge at St. Stephen provincial court due to the ages of the individuals. The teenaged male pleaded guilty and appeared before Judge David C. Walker recently for sentencing.

Neither youth can be identified under a publication ban ordered by the court.

Court heard that on Jan. 6, the two engaged in sexual intercourse twice. Despite the two being in agreement, under the law, a child under the age of 14 is not legally capable of giving consent; therefore, the man was charged with sexual assault.

Walker said that had the victim been 14 years old, the teenager “might not have been convicted of this offence.”

Walker said the teenager should be given credit for entering a guilty plea, preventing a trial that would have required the complainant to testify. He said the teenager took responsibility, showed remorse and had a “very positive presentence report.” The teenager has graduated from high school and is currently employed full-time.

“It will never happen again,” the teenager said in court, dressed in formal black pants and shirt, “I definitely learned a lesson from this.” He sat beside his mother and siblings, whom the judge called “very supportive,” and held hands with them as Walker delivered his sentence.

Defence lawyer Joel Hansen said the offence may have had the most profound effect and worst repercussions on the teenager, who’d had his hopes set on becoming an RCMP officer. Now that he has this offence on his record, Hansen said “that’s off the table for the foreseeable future.”

Hansen requested the court consider giving the teenager a suspended sentence with a period of probation. He said that was a reasonable sentence considering that the teenager will be required to give a sample of his DNA to police and have his name added to the sex offender registry for 10 years, which is “punishment on their own.”

Walker said that if Bill C10 – legislation that is due to drastically change the criminal justice system – had all been in effect already, the teenager would be facing a very different sentence. He said once that bill is implemented in its entirety, this same offence would result in a minimum of one year in jail for a youthful offender.

“Lives are going to be substantially impacted,” he said, explaining that offenders could be incarcerated for longer periods of time.

Walker said he took into account how close the teenager was to the legal line.

“This offence fits within the narrow confines of age, which is to your prejudice.”

He ruled that the teenager should receive a suspended sentence, which means that if he doesn’t break the rules of his one-year supervised probation or commit any other offences, he will not face any further sentencing.

He was ordered to perform 60 hours of community service, remain under house arrest until Jan. 1 and attend any programs deemed necessary by a probation officer. During his period of house arrest, he is allowed to leave his home only for work, volunteering purposes, for three hours free on weekends for personal errands, and if in the presence of his mother or sisters.

“Consider yourself unlucky to have found yourself guilty of this offence,” Walker said, “but fortunate that you have received the sentence you did.”

2. This article revealed a dire need in the community and made an impact on at least a few individuals, for which I was extremely proud. At another sentencing, a judge requested that the offender pay restitution to the Out of the Cold shelter after reading this story. 

Man seeking shelter from cold admits mischief

New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal
Thu Nov 8 2012
Page: C2
Section: City
Byline: otiena ellwand telegraph-journal

SAINT JOHN – A man who couldn’t find a place to sleep broke a window so he would end up in jail, provincial court heard Wednesday.

Kevin George, 51, pleaded guilty to mischief for breaking a window on Tuesday night at Cowie and Son Ltd., a jewelry store on King Street.

Court heard the man was first seen by police at around 8 p.m. sleeping outside the King Street Royal Bank. They told him to move along, but he said he had nowhere to go. He was not welcome at the Salvation Army after he’d threatened to “break the place up” when they told him they were full.

“They told me not to come back,” George said in court, adding that he reacted this way because someone stole his bipolar medication and he couldn’t control what he said.

The Salvation Army has 27 emergency beds, all of which were full except for two as of Wednesday night, court heard. The residence’s policy is that if a person threatens staff, causes a fight, uses drugs or alcohol or acts up, they will be banned from staying there for up to three months.

Crown prosecutor Patrick Wilbur said George asked police, “What do you have to do to get locked up around here?” He went on to say he was going to go down the street and throw a rock and break a window. Police stuck around for half an hour to see if he would “act upon his threat.” He didn’t.

But 45 minutes later, police were called to the jewelry store where George admitted to throwing a brick through the front window. He even showed police the brick he’d used. He was arrested and detained for the night.

George told court on Wednesday morning that he’d arrived in Saint John a week ago with a man he’d met at a shelter in Sydney, N.S. The man lured him with promise of work in Saint John. But when they arrived, the man left George stranded at the Atlantic Superstore and stole all of his money, belongings and medication. George said he’d never been to Saint John before in his life. Besides the Salvation Army, the only alternative he could think of was jail.

“We should have a men’s shelter year-round,” said Jillian Driscoll, co-ordinator of Out of the Cold, an emergency shelter for men that usually opens in January. “They have nowhere to go and they can’t get out of the weather and typically they do get into trouble or they want to get into trouble so they will get arrested and have somewhere warm and safe to sleep.”

Judge William McCarroll said he couldn’t think of any alternative for George either.

“What are your plans? You need a place to sleep for a little while, where it’s warm and you can get something to eat. That’s the only place we’ve got for you now, is jail.”

He asked what George is going to do when he gets out of jail and George replied that he would like to go west for work, but didn’t have any money to get out there. He said that, or “commit another offence to go back to jail.”

McCarroll asked if a month in jail would be appropriate and George responded, “What about six? It’s getting colder out there.” The matter was adjourned for sentencing until Thursday morning.

3. This article taught me something about reporting on the courts. I published the man’s name before his sentencing was heard, he ended up getting an absolute discharge, which means the offence was completely erased from his record. I got a good talking to by a certain lawyer who felt it was unfair that his name was published before the sentencing was heard. I was told that he lost his job because of me. As far as I know, I was not in the wrong for publishing his name, but I have chosen to omit it below. 

Man steals filing cabinet to use as fridge in trees

New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal
Mon Oct 15 2012
Page: C1
Section: City
Byline: otiena ellwand telegraph-journal

SAINT JOHN – An employee of the Saint John Regional Hospital admitted he stole a filing cabinet to store food in while hunting.

A.B. appeared in provincial court last week and pleaded guilty to stealing merchandise not exceeding $5,000 from the hospital.

“The facts are not complex,” said Crown prosecutor Jim McAvity. He told the court that on July 22, police got a call from hospital security about a theft that had been caught on camera.

A.B., who worked in the shipping and receiving department, was seen loading a filing cabinet onto the back of his truck before he drove away.

A.B. was arrested and immediately admitted to the crime. He had no criminal record.

“I don’t understand,” said Judge William McCarroll. “You take your lunch duck hunting and you wanted to have a filing cabinet to store your lunch? I’m trying to figure this one out.”

Oakley explained that he took the “most beat-up and worn-out” filing cabinet because he wanted something metal to store food in to prevent animals from getting at his supply while he was hunting.

“They chew right through wood,” he said. “That’s why I wanted something metal. … It wasn’t a great big filing cabinet, it was just a small two-drawer.”

A.B. described the tree perch, or blind, where he and five or six of his friends go to hunt deer.

“So you were going to take this filing cabinet and put it up in the trees?” McCarroll asked.

A.B. said it was because “the porcupines get up and spoil the coffee.”

That threw McCarroll for another loop. “I have a little trouble understanding. If you’re up in a tree stand, hunting from a blind, no raccoons are going to come up there when you have a few hunters up there with guns. So you leave the blind at night? And you leave your food there overnight? What else do you leave there? You can’t leave your sandwiches or they’ll spoil.”

A.B. said that now that it’s cold, he planned on leaving bacon and eggs in the filing cabinet.

“I find you guilty,” McCarroll said. “There’s a reason, but no legal justification, for the theft.

“I’ve been here a long time. Seems like people do things you’d never dream of doing.”

Sentencing was adjourned until Nov. 6 at 10 a.m.

McCarroll told the man not to worry “too excessively” between now and then about his impending sentence. “It’s not the greatest crime of the century.”

So you wanna be a journalist?

30 Sep

Me too and it’s hectic weekends like this past one that remind me why I keep doing this job, despite the loooong grueling hours and little pay, why I keep smiling and laughing despite the rain, my runny nose and the fact that I just dropped the most important thing (my notebook) in a puddle.

Over two days, I got to talk to people from all different walks of life- a group of breast cancer survivors, newcomers to the city from China and Korea, parishioners who are saying goodbye to their house of worship after 151 years there, a Lesbian couple whose home was allegedly set on fire twice in one month, military men, kids and lots of cops and firefighters!

The best part, as always, is hanging around long enough that you get the story, the eureka moment when you get a “golden nugget quote,” the humbling moment when you get schooled by your interviewee and realize you’re just a person with a pen, nothing bigger or better, the compassionate moment when you want to cry because someone has moved you so, the hysterical moment when the photographer is flying down the 90-km road at 110-km (disclaimer: this was not T) and you’re pretty convinced you’re going to be the next hydroplaning accident on the police scanner, that or you’re going to hurl the 10 apples you’ve eaten in lieu of anything more substantial, the heart-pumping moment when the scanner sounds ‘structure fire’ or something of the sort and your sense go into high alert overdrive, then when you get to get in your own car, blare top 40 music, swear at the top of your lungs, laugh at your own ridiculousness and feel it all come together, complete satisfaction. Then you have to write.

Here are a few pictures I took of my weekend on my mobile device to give you a better sense. Sorry they’re not super sharp, I’m carrying around old technology apparently.

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^ Hello weekend assignments! This should be easy! Image

^ Friday night, the calm before the storm, literally. See below.

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^ This was supposed to be a fun outdoor event where kids would be running around clambering inside of trucks. Instead, people were hiding out under this tent, going deaf from the horn blasts. Eventually I braved the weather and ended up learning a lot about military vehicles, including a military ambulance and desert truck equipped to deal with improvised explosive devices.

Image^ The military ambulance guy playing with Rescue Randy, a manikin, not real.

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^ Thought I was all decked out and ready for the New Brunswick weather in my mismatched outfit, bottom half all comes from Giant Tiger. Represent.

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^ Got there after the flames had already been extinguished, but before the owner, who arrived on the scene yelling. Good colour. The whole back of this house is charred black from the first fire a month ago.

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^ Firefighters basically clawing into the side of the house. Didn’t know a house could be cut into as easily as cheese, at least that’s how it appeared.

Image^ Running from the fire to my next assignment, my notebook slipped out of my jacket and into a puddle without me noticing. I was sitting with my next interview subjects when I realized it was gone. PANIC PANIC PANIC. “THAT HAS EVERYTHING.” I’ve never been so happy to find a pile of wet paper.

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^ This is how I’m feeling by the end of Saturday.

Image^ It’s a new day and it starts at church, this is looking good, relaxing even. Oh, but wait, a pickup truck carrying 100 pot plants flipped over revealing its illegal contents. #partylikeajournalistImage

^ This church looks like a ship inside and now it’s closing for good. Pretty sad. Interviewed a woman who’d been going there for 100 years.

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^ One false alarm spot news ended up leading us to this car that hydroplaned and rolled four times into a ditch. This photo does not show how completely totalled the car was. Woman had to be extracted, but was okay.

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^ She may have hydroplaned or hit this lump of flesh… a porcupine. You can see the tire tracks just ahead where she swerved off the tarmac.

-30-

Let me just say, these photos do not do the weather justice.

Alrighty, who’s ready for next weekend?

Snapping Saint John and Sackville’s Sappy Fest

23 Aug

For the past eight weeks, I’ve been taking a photography course taught by Noel Chenier, one of the Telegraph-Journal’s staff photographers. Here are some of my favourite shots taken in and around Saint John and at an indie music/arts fest in Sackville, N.B.

A band that I saw at Sappy Fest called Marine Dreams.

Marine Dreams.

Marine Dreams.

Julie Doiron performing at Sappy Fest. She was one of the founders of the festival.

 

This is the owner of the Sackville gallery that organized an exhibit called “Store,” where festival goers could store their belongings in cubbies for one cent.

I couldn’t decide which was better!

One of the displays at the “Store” – take a rest exhibit.

 

The people of Sappy Fest.

The food people of Sappy Fest.

Mount Allison Chapel, one of the beautiful Sappy Fest venues, great place to listen to strumming guitars and mellifluous vocals.

Testing out the flash at Saint John’s Hollywood sign. Shirt reads: “You had me at meow.” 

Testing out porch lighting, sans flash.

A boy at the Roller Derby.

A strange accidental shot, that looks oddly fake for some reason. Some said the girl looks like a Barbie Doll… that Ken never came to pick up? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My radio piece on CBC’s The World This Weekend!

13 May

The radio piece that I worked on while at CBC London, England was broadcast last night on the national program, The World this Weekend.

I don’t know how long my piece will be up on the website, so I’ve posted it below for you to listen to. The anchor butchered the saying of my name anyway, so I’d rather not give that any more play. Enjoy!

Lost Girls of India

29 Apr

I wrote this article (page 16-17) for Ryerson’s women’s magazine, McClung’s. It’s about why girl babies are still perceived as burdens in Indian society today. There was a big blowout in the press a little while ago about sex-selective abortion in India and how the trend and mentality may be spreading to places like Canada.

I interviewed a number of people for this article and unfortunately I couldn’t include all of their voices. One of those voices that didn’t get included was that of photojournalist Walter Astrada who is documenting gendercide on every single continent. The film he made while in India is riveting and worth a watch.

Videos from my summer at Banff National Park

21 Mar

This past summer I got the chance to work as a videographer for Banff National Park. It was an incredible experience, but not without its challenges! It was basically a crash course in editing, shooting, producing and using a variety of different cameras and softwares. I fell in love with the Go Pro, went on a mad search for a lost audio cable in the woods, filmed bear guts and cougar feces. Ahh… yes… good times. In the end, one of the film’s I co-produced with my boss got accepted into the Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival. And every time another filmmaker asked me what mine was about, I got to say: “It’s a rap video about bears. (I’m so gangsta like that.)”

So… here are some of those films… finally!

 

 

 

 

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