1. I was born and raised in an urban, working-class neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio.  Blue-collar and proud of it!

2. As a kid I was precocious and adventurous.  As a teenager I was precocious and independent.  As a young adult I was precocious and ambitious.   And now? I am precocious and curious.

3. I think I’ve had enough education. I earned a BA from the University of Cincinnati, with a double major (Behavioral and social Sciences/Afro-American Studies) and a double minor (English/Life Sciences). I received my MBA from Woodbury University (Helen Gurley Brown’s alma mater!) with a concentration in Marketing.  And purely for personal enjoyment, an Associates in Art, majoring in Art History.

4. I regularly crossed paths with celebrities during my 20 years of living in LA. While working at UCLA, I would bump into John Lithgow picking up his wife, who was a history professor.  We had to cross a bridge from the parking lot to main campus.  We would always nod at each other.  One day, as we were coming from the parking garage, we both stopped short: On the rail was one of UCLA’s infamously large crows that live on campus.  It was at least 2 feet tall.  Really.  The crow totally took us in and had no intentions of moving any time soon.  I looked at John and John looked at me.  He smiled and said, “After you.”  I said, “Age before beauty.”  We both laughed.  John took my hand and we walked as close to the opposite rail as possible and inched passed the crow who watched our every step.  Once we cleared the bridge, I said “This gives new meaning to the movies ‘The Birds’.”  John laughed and said, “I couldn’t have had a better escort.”

5. I enjoy marketing research, so I’m not surprised at what I’m doing, but shocked I’m in Tucson.  Since leaving Ohio I have always lived in one of the 10 largest US cities:  Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Diego and LA.  Following that trend, I should be living in Phoenix.  I used to watch the second Dick Van Dyke show that was filmed in Scottsdale.  I loved the look of the desert and said I was going to live there when I grew up.  Unfortunately, I hate Phoenix. Luckily, I love Tucson.

6. The most rewarding parts of my job are the collaborative environment in my department, the autonomy (I’m given the goals and I work out timelines, tasks and strategies) and the variability (I’m able to contribute my experience and skills in marketing, statistics, social media, public relations, strategy, events and design.)  It’s fun!
7. The most challenging part? People not getting that the coexistence of print and digital can be both positive and lucrative.
8. I do have a life outside the job. I like nature walks, tango, travel and reading—and I’m a foodie.  I also volunteer as a member of the funding committee with the Tucson Urban League.

9. I’m a Libra, so picking just one favorite thing is next to impossible, but I’ll try. Music: anything by David Bowie or Aretha Franklin.  Movies: anything directed by Hitchcock or Ridley Scott.

10. If I could give the leaders of this company one piece of advice, it would be this: Focus on solutions, not problems.  “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”  Theodore Roosevelt.

Where were you born and raised?

I am a third generation Tucsonan on my father’s side. I was born in Florence, Ariz. because my father was teaching in Coolidge, but he moved the family back to Tucson before my first birthday. I attended Jefferson Park Elementary, Doolen Jr. High and Catalina High School. I attended one semester at the University of Arizona but dropped out when I learned about the pending arrival of my daughter. That’s when I went to work at the Tucson Citizen.

What about family members?

I am lucky to still have my parents and I have one sister, two brothers, one daughter and a fabulous son-in-law.

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

I was in third grade when I announced to my grandfather that I wanted to be Brenda Starr, who was a reporter in a cartoon strip that used to run in the Citizen. She had exciting adventures, got to solve complex problems and mysterious and had many romances along the way.

How and when did you come to the Citizen, and what was your first job there?

I started working at the Citizen in 1986 as the “movie times girl” where I would call all the theaters and get the upcoming weekend schedule to run in the paper. I also did public records, which involved me going to the different courthouses every day and using a manual typewriter in the clerk’s office to type up divorce filings, sentencing and bankruptcies. I would then go back to the office and retype the information into the computer then use a rotary dial phone with suction cups attached to the computer terminal and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the information to transmit to the editors. That words somehow floated through the phone line to another location blew my mind.

I became a full-time reporter in 1988 and covered everything from crime to higher education, medicine and business.

Do you remember your first by-lined story?

I was still a clerk and the only one in the downtown bureau on a Friday afternoon when I got a call that someone had vandalized one of the statues at the cathedral. I convinced my editors that I could step in and was instructed to take notes and send them along. I carefully wrote down everything the police said about the crime and interviewed the monsignor at the cathedral and a parishioner who was weeping at the scene. This was my big chance to show the editors that I could write and I had been reading and studying how other reporters crafted stories, so instead of sending notes I sent it over in story form. It ran on the front page the next day and after that the editors started giving me little assignments here and there that I could work on after my clerical duties were completed. I was given a summer internship in 1988 and became a full fledged reporter that fall.

When did you move to the Daily Star?

I joined the Star in 2007 as a business writer covering real estate and economic development and did some other jobs along the way but returned to my first love of business writing in 2012.

If you were interviewing someone to take this beat, what are the two most important skills you’d be looking for?

A nerd. Someone who can use NNN and REIT in a sentence that makes sense. And, exceptional people skills because the business beat doesn’t always rely on public records but on the trust of developers, brokers, real estate agents who think of you when they are working on a project.

Are there many women in the local or state commercial RE business—either in front of the reporter’s pad or behind it—or are you one of the few?

It is certainly still a male-dominated industry, with regard to developers, contractors and construction workers but I have seen more women in commercial real estate broker positions through the years. I don’t know the makeup of business writers as a whole, but the majority of my mail is addressed “Dear sir”.

Are Southern AZ  commercial builders and developers keeping up with the demand, or is there something holding them back?

We’re doing a good job with the wrecking ball on outdated retail and office space to keep up. We recently had the first industrial spec building break ground near the airport, which is very encouraging but the multifamily developments aren’t meeting demand due, in part, to pushback from neighborhoods about heights, density and traffic. The result is rising rents at existing properties and waiting lists for affordable housing.

Our building is currently on the market. What sort of business would be a good fit here in your opinion?

I would split the sale in two. For the production side of the building, I would look for a self-storage tenant, which is wildly underserved with all the new job announcements that are mostly made up of people transferring here. I would then empty out both newsrooms and bill them as recording studios with green room capabilities that don’t require a lot of amenities because workers aren’t housed there. They arrive, film, wrap up and go home. We recently had a film crew use the empty Citizen space and they loved it. 

Our second issue of Stardom gets personal with a diverse trio of your coworkers: a terrific writer with a penchant for the past, a people-pleasing product designer and a pinpoint digital pro. There’s also a smiley look back at the Daily Star’s most ambitious advertising project of the year, the Readers’ Choice Awards.

10 Quotes from Paula Varela

There may not be a more recognizable face in our company than Paula Varela’s. As Product Design Planner, the 25-year veteran of daily deadlines works simultaneously with the Newsroom, Advertising, Marketing and Production to create a blueprint for the daily paper. Here are her thoughts about her life and her job:

• I am a native of Tucson and a Pueblo High School Warrior. I have two kids of my own, a son 17 and a daughter 20, and I’ve helped raise my sister’s children and grandchildren.

• When I was a little girl I wanted to be a teacher. I guess I do a little teaching in my job now—although it can be difficult getting some adults to listen!

• I started here in August 1994. My sister Patty and Eunice Fierro, who both used to work for TNI, had given me a tip about an opening here in the plate making department. For a while I worked what was called the “Citizen shift” making plates alone for the Tucson Citizen, our afternoon paper at the time. From there I moved to the job I have now in Product Design… or as it was known then, “Ad Placement.”

• You must be a good multi-tasker and a good negotiator to do this job. Your partners are the news, advertising and production departments, and you do the best you can to make them all happy.

• I guess in some ways, Product Design is like the game Tetris. You must make everything fit and look good, with the clock ticking.

• You have to stay calm on the job. I express my feelings sometimes, sure, but I try to remain centered. I’m like my mom in that way.

• Thursdays are something. We—Kayla Kibler and I—will lay out the Friday and Sunday papers (and Saturday’s, too, if we have time) as well as Sunday Select. Sunday alone can sometimes take the whole day.

• What advice would I give to my coworkers? Don’t take everything to heart. Sometimes the pressure can make things seem worse than they are.

• What advice would I give to our leaders? Bring us closer together if you can. There are fewer of us than ever; we need to be closer than ever.

• My favorite movie, without a doubt, is “Steel Magnolias.” That might tell you something about how I see myself and the people I work with.

Clockwise from top: RC honorees found a thriller in a Michael Jackson impersonator; Daily Star Event Sales Manager Kim Bergeron achieved self-fulfillment at the selfie station with Advertising Account Executive Ivan Rodriguez; part of the crowd of more than 1,200 at the awards event; Ad Account Execs Renee Rodriguez and Tatyana Anderson stopped by for selfies; Renee joined fellow ad rep Kim Graves for a second go at a selfie; Digital’s Jessica Moore, Leslie Moon and Stevie Tomaszewski got a little nutty with Graphic Designer Alexis Walters; Heather Locke, Terri Lynn Cross and Kim Bergeron, the core Marketing team behind the ceremonial event, were still grinning at night’s end.

Julie, the Advertising Department’s Digital Fulfillment Supervisor, spends her days threading together schedules for the scores of ads running on Tucson.com and other sites. However, she spends her nights and weekends threading one-of-a-kind items of a more personal nature.

Tucson native Henry Brean made his way to the Daily Star by way of Nevada. He joined the paper in July and has quickly captured readers with his vivid writing. His story earlier this month about the ancient cemetery below Tucson’s Dunbar neighborhood is a prime example. Recently he talked about that story and his craft.

1. How did you come to be involved with the story?

Confession time: My wife, Sherri, found this story for me. A few weeks back, she went down some internet rabbit hole that led her to some really cool blog entries about the old cemetery on the website for the archaeological firm that does a lot of the work in the neighborhood. 

2. How much research did you have to do before, after or during the writing of the piece? What resources did you use?

I started by reading all the information I could find online about the old cemetery. Then I interviewed an archaeologist who knows more about it than just about anyone. I also contacted a few other historians and experts, and made several trips out to the neighborhood to see what it looks like and to talk to residents.

3. Do think there are stories related to the cemetery that are still be told–for instance, the stories of some of the 117 shooting victims buried there or the five who were executed?

Absolutely. I found out about the five “legal executions” pretty late in my reporting, so I didn’t have a chance to investigate that. I am curious to know more about the circumstances that led to people being put to death in territorial Tucson. I will have to pick that back up at some point.

4. Has your research inspired you to investigate other archaeological mysteries in Tucson?

I don’t generally need inspiration to explore this kind of stuff. I am fascinated by archaeology and the history that is all around us, sometimes even buried in our yards. Any time I find an excuse to write about the past, I do it. Plus, historians are almost always fun people to interview. I have met very few dull historians.

5. Is Tucson’s past going to become a sort of beat for you? Your recent story about the evolving geo-center of Tucson seems to be in that line.

I don’t really have a defined beat, so I get to dabble in a lot of different subjects. And because I really love historical stories, I will definitely be looking to do more stuff like that.

6. The story of the coffins of child and man, one on top of another and the scenario that the archaeologist imagined to explain it were intriguing. Did you find yourself imagining similar stories for other souls unearthed?

It’s impossible not to think about the lives of these people, especially when you learn about some of the items they were buried with. That’s why I tried to include details like that in my story. They stuck with me, so I knew they would stick with readers too. 

7. How and why did you choose to focus on Dunbar resident Moses Thompson?

From the beginning, I was looking to talk to people who live in the neighborhood and who may have found graves in their yards. Moses seemed perfect, because he not only found a burial but was so moved by the experience that he decided to mark the grave site and honor the people who were found there. I didn’t spot Moses’ shrine when I originally drove around the neighborhood, but I went back as soon as the archaeologist told me about it and gave me Moses’ name. 

8. Your closing grafs were terrific and evocative, bringing the arc of the story back to the present. Did you write that at the very end…or was it something you had in mind early on?

Thanks. I had a pretty good idea I was going to end the story with Moses’ quote almost as soon as he said it. It was hard not to be moved by his genuine, emotional response to finding these two poor forgotten people buried in front of his house. It would have been easy to write this story like one big horror movie cliche, but Moses was right when he told me that living on top of an abandoned cemetery is more sad than spooky.  

9. When and how did you come to the Daily Star?

I joined the Star in July of this year. I’ve been working as a newspaper reporter for 25 years now. I got my start at a little family-owned, twice-weekly newspaper in the strange Mojave Desert town of Pahrump, Nevada. From 2003 until I joined the Star, I worked for Nevada’s largest paper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where I mostly wrote about water and the environment. 

10. And before that?

I was born and raised in Tucson, and most of my family still lives here. My roots in Tucson go back to my great grandparents. This will always be home to me. I have always liked to write, but my first taste of reporting came at the Desert Gazette, Amphi’s school newspaper. I was also an editorial cartoonist for my high school paper, but I realized pretty quickly that I was no Fitz. I have a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri.

11. Why do you do what you do, and is this what you plan to do for the rest of your career?

Journalism can be rough, and the newspaper industry has certainly seen better days, but this is a really cool job I get to do. Basically, I get paid to meet interesting people and satisfy my own curiosity about the world. So many of my newspaper friends have left the business in the past 10 years, but I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else. 

Our metro columnist Tim Steller, has been chosen for the 2019 Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing. He plans to use the $75,000 fellowship studying ways in which public opinion regarding the border and immigration policy are manipulated – by politicians and governments on both sides of the border, and by interest groups and advocates.

The fellowship is awarded annually by the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation.
  “It’s a refreshing take on a topic that’s already central to the 2020 elections,” said Todd Gillman, Washington Bureau Chief of The Dallas Morning News and member of the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation Board of Directors.

Tim has been covering the border since 1997 and often focuses on the topic in his columns. In the last year he has documented the deployment of troops and razor wire even in areas where such measures would have little impact, and despite pushback from residents. But as noted in his fellowship proposal, “U.S. government entities have tended to inflate the sense of crisis over migration on the border, whereas Mexican government officials have tended to minimize it.”

The judges were impressed by Steller’s insights into the politics of border policy and his plans to expose and debunk hype.

“Tim Steller really opened my eyes to absurdities and exaggerations in what he calls `our federally mandated border panic.’ His proposal to show how the U.S. government is manipulating public perceptions would be a true public service,” said one of the SPJ Foundation’s panel of judges.

“He has credibility living near the border. It couldn’t be more timely,” said another.

Sportswriter Norma Gonzalez, a native of McAllen, Texas, made her way to the Daily Star four years ago by way of the Today’s News Herald and the Nogales International. She has been the beat writer for UA softball and covered Pima Community College sports, as well. She and teammate Justin Spears have just wrapped up profiles of Southern Arizona’s top high school football players. Recently she shared her thoughts about the series, her profession and herself.

How did you approach the interviews with the high school players?

Even though some of the interviews were just a few minutes long, I drove to each school to attend practice – even to Douglas and Sierra Vista Buena. I think it’s important to continue building relationships with the coaches and players, and even start some new relationships.

Do you interview high school athletes differently than those you do the UA softball stars?

I don’t think I approach my interviews much differently when it comes to high school or college. The best way to get the really great interviews is to just get to know the players. The most difficult aspect of getting interviews with the softball players was the access I was allowed. But once I had the player, it was easy.

What’s up for you in the weeks ahead?

This fall, I’ll be writing an advance for the Friday night game we choose as game of the week and then the game story itself.

What is game night like for you?

I like to arrive to games at least one hour before kick-off, and I end my night writing in my car. Depending on what’s going on in the game, I sometimes start writing during halftime or during the fourth quarter, but most of my writing is done after the game. By the time the game finishes and I get my interviews, I usually have about 30 minutes to write.

Recently you met with a high school student who want to become a sportswriter like you. How did that go?

When I met with Paige, we talked about almost everything. We talked about how I got into sports reporting, what my job entails and about the industry as a whole. But mostly we talked about the NBA, our favorite players and what we think about the upcoming season.

Has sports always played a big role in your life?

I wasn’t much of a sports fan when I was a kid because my family didn’t care for sports other than cheering for the Mexican National soccer team in major tournaments like the World Cup. However, by middle school, I started watching sports on my own. In middle school I played a little bit of basketball and volleyball, but I couldn’t play high school sports because my sisters and I needed to work at the family business.

Can you explain America’s—the world’s—sports mania?

I think people crave sports because it’s this magical place where people from all types of backgrounds come together to show off their incredible talents. Sports also provides a platform for people to come together, whether it be at games, at home surrounding a T.V. or online. Then there’s also the hometown or state pride, the guy from the same small town as you who made it big or the athlete with the same medical condition as you who overcame.

Reporter Brenna Bailey’s July 7 piece on an updated TUSD sex education curriculum was what the newsroom calls “enterprise” story. It was an exhaustive roundup of the policies and people involved in reshaping the program to include LGBTQ issues. Recently she sat down to talk about how the story came together and about her passion for the craft of journalism.

• What prompted you to write the in-depth piece?
  I heard thru my sources that the committee was close to updating the sex education curriculum—they’d been working on it something like four years—and I knew it would be discussed at a committee meeting. But it’s hard to find information on committee meetings at that level. So I went online, found the meeting time and attended. I still haven’t seen the update committee’s final plan; that is supposed to be made public 24 hours before the governing board votes on it.
• Was it difficult find the people knowledgeable about the sex education programs in surrounding districts?
  Not really. I’ve maintained good working relationships with the PIOs and superintendents in the districts and they helped me get with the right people.
• How many different interviews? I count about a dozen in the story, not counting those with audience members.
  That many, really? I lost count. And there were even more that didn’t end up in the story because it was getting so long—for example, one with Planned Parenthood about the criteria for a good sex education program.
• How long did it take to do this story from assignment until it printed last Sunday?
  About 2 ½ weeks to put it together once I got going. But it had been on my radar for a few months.
• Did working on this story dispel any misconceptions you had about the subject of sex education? Any personal connection to it?
  No misconceptions, probably because it was only six years ago that I sat through sex education classes in high school (Scottsdale Chapperal). They were fresh in my mind. By the way, they were terrible—full of the shaming and use of fear as a teaching tool that the TUSD update committee is trying to eliminate.
• Given the raging national debate on LGBTQ rights, do you think that the TUSD sex education curriculum is ahead or behind times compared to other cities or in Arizona.
  It’s hard to say. It would take a lot of calls to schools and groups across the state and nationally to know. But I suspect that if the board approves the update committee’s recommendations they will be ahead of the curve in Arizona for sure.
• What is your background?
  2018 UA grad, journalism. A 3-month fellowship with the AZ Republic’s Storyteller desk. Then here.
• Why are you in the business of journalism?
  Because I am passionate about the need to inform people about issues and problems that impact them, especially people whose issues are largely not covered or not covered well. Under-served communities—marginalized people by whatever name.