Author

Michael Sangiacomo

Michael Sangiacomo

Michael Sangiacomo has been a reporter for newspapers around Philadelphia, Chicago and Cleveland for more than 40 years. Until his retirement in 2019, he was a reporter at the Cleveland Plain Dealer where he held numerous jobs over the years including statewide reporter, aviation reporter and most recently, immigration reporter. He has taught journalism at Temple University in Philadelphia and Columbia College in Chicago. For 10 years, ending in 2018, he taught a history of comics class at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He wrote a nationally syndicated column on comic books from 1993 to 2019 for Advance Publications. He is the author of several graphic novels including PHANTOM JACK and the award-winning TALES OF THE STARLIGHT DRIVE-IN. His latest work is a horror novel called CHALK.

Dec. 11, 2020- Andrea Bond Johnson in downtown Brownsville, Tennessee. Bond-Johnson was shocked when she lost a second time to Republican Chris Hurt in the race for State House District 82 in western Tennessee (© Karen Pulfer Focht)

Election aftermath: life after a campaign
By: - December 17, 2020

The election is over. The volunteers shuffle around the subdued  campaign headquarters, sipping coffee and stare at the television screen, as if willing the numbers to change. But they did not and the stark numbers reveal the winners and losers. The victors – almost all Republicans – will maintain their positions and the newly elected […]

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West Tennessee’s State House 82 race features rematch from 2018
By: - October 22, 2020

It’s the second time around in the race for the State House District 82 seat in West Tennessee, as Republican Rep. Chris Hurt runs for a second term against Andrea Bond Johnson, the candidate he defeated two years ago. In the 2018 election, Hurt defeated Johnson by a vote of 4,308 to 2,740, a decent […]

(Photo: Mario Tamo/Getty Images)

In Chattanooga, an assistant police chief didn’t like what he was seeing so he ran for office.
By: - October 15, 2020

Chattanooga Assistant Police Chief Glenn Scruggs unhappily watched politics on television for years until he decided to do something about it. Scruggs, 49, is the Democratic candidate for Tennessee Senate District 10, challenging incumbent Republican Todd Gardenhire. Scruggs, a lifelong Chattanooga resident, said being a “double minority” in the police department has taught him the […]

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Democrat seeks to make history in Congressional District 2
By: - October 14, 2020

If Democrat Renee Hoyos can wrest the U.S. Representative of Tennessee’s Second District seat from incumbent Tim Burchett, she will become the only non-Republican elected to represent the district since the Civil War. She unsuccessfully ran against Burchett in 2018. Undaunted, Hoyos is trying to convince Republican and Independent voters to change their minds and […]

Rhodes College, Sept. 22, 2020- in Memphis Tennessee. Amy Coney Barrett, who is one of the top choices to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court attended Rhodes College in the early 90's. As a member of the Rhodes College Class of 1994, Coney Barrett graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts in English. While at Rhodes, she was elected to the Honor Council and to the Student Hall of Fame. She has gone on to a career of professional distinction and achievement. Alumnus Abe Fortas Õ30 became a Supreme Court justice. (Photo: © Karen Pulfer Focht)

From the 901: Potential Supreme Court Justice is Rhodes College grad
By: and - September 23, 2020

The news that Rhodes College graduate Amy Coney Barrett is one of the top choices – and possibly the favorite –  of President Donald Trump to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court came with pride tinged with sadness at her alma mater. As the debate rages nationally over whether the […]

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Election 2020: In District 7, political newcomer takes on incumbent Green
By: - September 18, 2020

Democrat Kiran Sreepada thinks he has what it takes to unseat entrenched Republican Congressman Mark Green to represent the people of Tennessee District 7 in the U.S. House of Representatives. It’s a tough battle, Green is running to his second term with political momentum on his side. Green is a popular, and familiar, character in Tennessee […]

Marquita Bradshaw in Memphis on September 9, 2020. She is the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in what she calls a "Marquita versus Goliath" race against the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate, Bill Hagerty. The Memphis activist is also the only Black woman running for Senate in the entire country this cycle. (Photo: © Karen Pulfer Focht)

The Memphis miracle: Marquita Bradshaw
By: - September 10, 2020

Marquita Bradshaw knows what it’s like to be left out, to be the person whose voice is ignored by the power structures. After years of fighting politicians from Memphis to Washington with mostly disappointing results, she’s decided to do something about it. Bradshaw is the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in what she calls […]

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