The Reporter, a Ferret and a Hurricane

JP Weiscarver learned early the lesson that makes a journalist's life most interesting: Everybody has a story. His hard work on regular beats at the Odds and Ends, a daily newspaper in the city of Oldport on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, led to the creation of a dream position they called the general assignments beat. It meant free reign to pursue just about any topic, sometimes collaborating with another reporter, often just following his reporter's nose. The flip side of the beat is that his city editor, Stanley Hopper, considers JP his relief valve and will toss him fluff pieces just because nobody else is available, but those stories can be interesting, too.

"The Reporter, a Ferret and a Hurricane" contains two of his adventures. In "The Reporter and the Ferret," JP is assigned a potentially boring story providing background information on an elderly heiress found dead in her mansion, apparently of a heart attack. With the help of a surprising source, the tenacity of a couple of reporters and an eye for detail, this fluff story turns into something more than interesting.

Residents of Oldport carefully track any tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean. Even though there is no severe hurricane in the area's history, everyone knows it is possible. In "The Reporter and the Hurricane," particular attention is given Hurricane Clarice as it quickly grows to a monstrous Category 5 storm headed toward the U.S. mainland. JP Weiscarver and the rest of the Odds and Ends staff, while covering a huge potential story, also become aware they have to prepare for the storm on a personal level.