Holly Zachariah Profile picture
Recovering journalist🤷‍♀️/Navy Mom🇺🇸⚓/owned by 🐈 +🐶/Spreader of good news + hope/Seeker of joy/Advocate for survivors/Voice for mental health + wellness.
Oct 2, 2020 8 tweets 3 min read
Well, it seems a whole bunch of you are new here. So welcome aboard, followers. 👋

So that you are not surprised by your eventual disappointment, here's what you can expect: (You can't say you weren't warned) 1/ I start every morning with a good-news story o' the day, sometimes local, often not. The rule is it had to make me legit smile or cry happy tears. Like this one:

"I just want to bring brightness into people’s homes in all seasons." 2/

dispatch.com/news/20181210/…
Sep 24, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
Four years ago today I lost my former fiance to suicide. If you need help, please seek it. If you think someone is in trouble, please reach out to them. We can save lives.

Tomorrow is another day.

800-273-8255

#SuicidePrevention
#SuicidePreventionMonth
#BeKind
#YouMatter Image Some additional context, resources (trigger warning:)

"But Stella had a secret. She apparently never told anyone about the darkness that swirled inside her mind, about the depression that seized her soul."

So grateful for those who share their stories.
today.dispatch.com/express/tuesda…
Sep 12, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read
Just finished @frontlinepbs "Growing Up Poor in America."

The scene where an Athens County mom w/o a car had to stand in a line of vehicles at a school - in the rain - to get her sons' books?

That scene crushed my soul.

Everyone should watch it.

The three families featured are from Athens and Washington counties in Appalachian Ohio and then right here in the city of Columbus.

They are our neighbors.

And my talented former colleague @Brooke_LaValley was a big force in this important project.
Sep 8, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read
An important point.

I'm not a politics reporter. Yet when I wrote an important story as a follow to Sullivant Avenue, I started my story w/ a woman afraid to use her name. First thing my boss did was ask me who she was.

Problem is we don't communicate this to readers/viewers. Aforementioned story. Again, not national security but (only) my boss knew she was and where she lived and could have called her to check if he wanted to.

dispatch.com/news/20200223/…
Sep 2, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
UFOs have taken over news this year w/ release of @USNavy videos & a NYT report on clandestine task force. But @RoundtownUFO Society has been entrenched for decades.

"People ask me all the time, ‘Do you believe UFOs exist?’ No, I don’t believe. I know.”

dispatch.com/news/20200902/… @USNavy @RoundtownUFO You can here Pete Hartinger, a 79-year-old veteran from Circleville, describe his own sightings in detail here:

omny.fm/shows/dispatch…
Aug 31, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
From the archives:

"This is their space to take the next steps in their sober life. That's so important to us, and it would be so important to Sydney that they have a safe space."

#IOAD2020
#OverdoseAwarenessDay

dispatch.com/news/20200306/… Another:

"I have a new sense of power, and I'm grateful to be who I am. I am proud of who I am. It's a struggle still every day — some days are better than others — but ... I grew in huge ways that I will get to carry with me forever."

dispatch.com/news/20190819/…
Aug 31, 2020 6 tweets 1 min read
I'm out on assignment on a project today but am listening to the court hearing for George Wagner in Pike County re: Rhoden homicides.

Don't let armchair detectives throw you off.

Even tho a detective is finally testifying, not much new information here. 2/ We knew about the shell casings. We knew about the shoes and the calls and custody.

Only thing new so far? An admission that there is *no* DNA evidence in this case.
Aug 21, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
Mowed the grass and was enjoying an evening on my patio and suddenly a HAWK swooped in to my bird feeder and then landed in my fire bush right next me and now I'm pretty well dead of a heart attack.

I'm tired of wildlife drama. 😢

(Hawk not pictured) ImageImageImage I should add: my kitchen ants were back with a vengeance this morning and I may need to torch the house.

And TWO stray cats keep scaling my fence and so I didn't really mow grass; I mowed piles of feathers. 😢
Aug 5, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
You guys!!

There will still be a giant pumpkin weigh-off this fall.

I am sooooooooo excited.

@PumpkinShowInc

sciotopost.com/breaking-news-… If you're new here, this:

dispatch.com/news/20171018/… Image
Aug 3, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Also, now I feel guilty.

Betsy wasn't *horrible*.

She grew on me.

And on Twitterless photojournalist Eric Albrecht.

I mean....that face... ImageImage Image
Jul 29, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
I'm looking for ideas for our series, "The Good Life."

These are inspiring stories of volunteers and givers who really go above the norm - often those whose backstory led them to where they are.

It's hard to track here, so email me hzachariah@dispatch.com or DM.

Examples ⬇️ "Mary was such a warrior for Faith. You feel very alone when you're going through that, and Mary did everything in her power to make Faith happy."

dispatch.com/news/20190702/…
Jul 28, 2020 10 tweets 5 min read
A thread about interns:

Our first virtual class came on this summer and, hoo boy, it's been a ride.

We were all working remotely, they joined the weekend the protests hit, and everything was chaos.

They had to get to know us, our work and our policies via just a screen. 1/ But while not idea, with the help of their mentors/professional partners here, they've adjusted so well and I am so proud of them.

I haven't done enough to promote them, so here's a thread to digest today: 2/
Jul 14, 2020 4 tweets 4 min read
In 2015, I got to write our daily fan feature stories from #TheMemorial in.@DublinOhio.

This was originally just a personal Facebook post so there were some, ahem, words edited or adjusted.

But you get the gist.

I. Had. So. Much. Fun.

dispatch.com/article/201506… This was a super popular story from 2015 #TheMemorial:

"Hey, you got his name right!" piped up a wise-cracker standing by. Elise, you see, didn't recognize Mickelson when he stopped."

@PhilMickelson
@MemorialGolf

dispatch.com/article/201506… Image
Jul 9, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read
That's the thing.

If more people in every profession would recognize that the institutional knowledge and life experience of oldsters COUPLED w/ the energy & new insights & talent of those new to the field, the matches made should mean that we ALL do our best work yet TOGETHER. I add - and I worry about this myself EVERY DAY, & try to check myself -- the "value of veterans doesn't mean we skate into the sunset.

If I'm not working as hard the colleague next to me, judge me. But also judge what "working hard" means. Maybe it's now behind the scenes?
Jul 5, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
From the moment I watched a Black protester relentlessly target one Black officer, I wanted to know who he was.

So Officer P.J. Jackson sat down with us.

"It hurts."

He and his colleagues talked about what it's like to be Black and blue.

dispatch.com/news/20200705/… And you can hear Officer Jackson in his own words in the @doralchenoweth video.
Jun 22, 2020 6 tweets 1 min read
I wasn't in Pike County today but new filings were full of tidbits about potential evidence in Rhoden homicides:

- Bloody shoe prints from size 10.5 and 11 were found at two of scenes. They traced the shoes to a Walmart. And found a Walmart receipt during Wagner searches. 1/ Then, they got still images from Walmart and investigators say they show Angela Wagner buying the shoes.

In addition, investigators say .22-caliber casings found on Wagner property match casings from two of the crime scenes. 2/
Jun 13, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read
Thought I was done tonight. I was wrong.

I get occasional emails/calls that start "I majored in journalism ..." And I listen to you.

But guess what?

I've *been* a journalist for 30 years now. And I STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO LEARN.

So maybe come at me a different way. Just maybe. Can you figure out what happened tonight? This maybe? 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️
Jun 6, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Let's not forget another war.

Today is the anniversary of #DDay.

"We were all very close,” he said of his unit. “You knew about their wives and children — everything you could know about your buddy, because there was nothing else to talk about."
dispatch.com/news/20200606/… I didn't get around to a story this year, but I'm grateful @kgdispatch did.
Jun 2, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Journalists: "We're members of the press."

@ColumbusPolice Officer clearly says: "I don't care."

@MayorGinther?
@DCTBecker?

Anyone want to address this? Working journalists were specifically exempt. @ChiefQuinlan?
Anyone?
Jun 1, 2020 6 tweets 3 min read
Hey 👋 to the bunch of new followers I've picked up the past few days. I appreciate you.

Here's a little thread of things you should know:

You probably ended up here b/c of protest coverage. But whatever news of the day comes along, you can find it at dispatch.com I start every morning with a "good-news story o' the day," sometimes local, sometimes not.

The requirement is that it had to make me genuinely smile, cry happy tears, give me warm fuzzies, or remind me people are good.

Like this one:

dispatch.com/news/20200512/…
May 30, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine activates the @OHNationalGuard for #protests And a 10 p.m. curfew is imposed.