StateImpact is Safe, Sound and Sidetracked

• Joe Wertz
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

Stella and Jack Howard (left and right) with their daughter, Dawnelaina (center), sit with the remains of their Moore home. The Howards built this house after their last one was destroyed by the May 3, 1999, twister.

Just a quick update: Logan Layden and I are safe and sound. We’ve been sidetracked a bit from our daily StateImpact duties to help local stations and NPR report and cover the aftermath of the Moore tornado. We’ve helped with live reporting, filed stories, and helped document the devastation with photos.

We’re working on some in-depth tornado-related journalism for the StateImpact banner, too, but we expect to return to our government policy beats in short order.