Reporting

Pot for Profit: The Effects of Marijuana Criminalization

Knowing Virginia lawmakers would likely vote to legalize marijuana during the 2021 General Assembly, Dan pitched a weeklong "Pot for Profit" series in which he could explore different sides of the hot-button issue.

Data shows Blacks are 3.5x more likely to be arrested for a marijuana offense in Virginia, and Gov. Northam points to social equity as one reason to legalize. In the series premiere, Dan explores the effects of marijuana criminalization on minorities in Virginia.

Police Departments Don't Reflect Demographics of Hampton Roads

One of the biggest stories of 2020 was our country's racial reckoning. Suddenly, police departments nationwide were under the microscope as communities wanted to know if their police departments reflected the racial makeup of their cities.

Dan requested the demographic makeup of current sworn personnel, command staffs, and past three recruiting classes from Hampton Roads' seven police departments. He then used Excel to organize the data and compare it with recent census data. The numbers show there is work to be done. The story was humanized by profiling a minority police officer and a seasoned police chief.

How Virginia Beach Recruits Business Despite Covid-19

COVID-19 sent the American economy spiraling into a recession. The pandemic was especially painful for thousands of Virginians laid off or furloughed from work. But not all sectors of the economy were bruised.

Dan noticed a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal touting Virginia Beach as "Open for Business." In this story, he spoke with the man behind the ad to learn how the pandemic provided an opportunity to recruit new business.

Election 2020: Candidates in Contentious Campaign Discuss Negative Ads

Dan Kennedy sat down with Rep. Elaine Luria and her challenger, Scott Taylor, to discuss several topics important to voters in the 2020 general election.

In this story, he asked the candidates about the negative advertisements during the contentious campaign. Dan took it a step further by following the money. Public filings showed many of the ads were paid by Super PACS. Dan then compared the rhetoric of all the election's commercials and found that the PAC-backed ads were often the ugliest.

Substandard Conditions at Local Cemetery

Dan Kennedy and Investigative Producer Beth Burger spent months investigating numerous complaints against a Cleveland, Tenn. cemetery. The District Attorney spoke on record of taking legal action for a permanent fix to the problems. The story was recognized in the category of "Best Investigative TV Story" from the Tennessee Associated Press in 2015.

Police Change Policy After Two-Part Investigation