Military and Crime Reporting

Heather currently works at USNI News, covering personnel issues within the Navy and Marines, including COVID-19 vaccination.

Heather first started covering the military while working for the Frederick News-Post, where she covered Fort Detrick. She broke the news of the Army’s infectious disease lab being shut down by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for safety concerns. She then worked for The Capital in Annapolis, Maryland, as the military affairs reporter, a position made possible through Report for America. Her work focused on the Naval Academy and Fort George G. Meade.

Heather worked as a crime reporter for almost two years in Carroll County, Maryland. She covered daily crime, following cases from initial arrest to appearance in court. She also worked on in-depth pieces, focusing on domestic violence and drunken driving.

She covered the 2016 murder of a woman in New Windsor, one of the county’s town. In addition to murder coverage, Heather covered the trial of one of the co-conspirators charged in the woman’s death.

As a crime and courts reporter, Heather worked to establish sources within the local state’s attorney’s office, area defense attorney firms and within the seven police agencies. She went through a citizens police academy, which she reported on, which helped her garner more sources.