Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming is a reporter at The Daily Memphian who covers public safety and the local court system, along with suburban news and business developments in North Mississippi. His coverage is defined by close attention to how investigations, trials and sentencing decisions unfold over time, and by consistent reporting on the structures that shape jail conditions and crime policy. He also follows new restaurants and cannabis-related businesses as part of a broader look at how commercial growth is reshaping communities such as Olive Branch.
Court cases, sentencing and appeals
Fleming’s reporting on the courts centers on the mechanics and consequences of criminal proceedings, rather than only the headline charge. In coverage of sentencing, he highlights judges’ reasoning and doubts, as in a story where a judge questioned whether to approve a murder sentence, bringing legal standards and judicial discretion into clear view.
He tracks plea negotiations and their delays, including the case of the last gunman charged in the killing of rapper Young Dolph, where he followed a plea deal through repeated postponements at the sentencing stage.
Appeals and procedural limbo are a recurring focus, with stories on the federal case connected to the death of Tyre Nichols that detail how a lack of timeline on appeal leaves former officers uncertain about their futures. His coverage of veteran judges stepping down, such as a piece on a long-serving Memphis judge’s retirement, adds context about who has shaped the local bench and how those departures may affect future rulings. Across these stories, Fleming uses clear, unadorned prose to explain legal steps, deadlines and courtroom dynamics so that readers can see how major cases progress through the system.
Jail conditions, crime data and public safety policy
Beyond individual cases, Fleming spends significant time on the institutions that define public safety, particularly the jail and specialized prosecution units. His reporting on inmate deaths at the Shelby County Jail foregrounds calls for “real reform, not rhetoric,” laying out both the incidents inside the facility and the political responses that follow. He connects those stories to broader questions about oversight, capacity, and the responsibilities of local officials, making the jail’s internal problems part of a wider public-safety conversation.
He covers crime data as a contested tool in political and prosecutorial debates, as in a piece where state officials use new statistics to continue a feud with the local district attorney.
Coverage of the Special Victims Unit, including a story highlighting its work, shows how particular teams within the prosecutor’s office tackle sensitive cases and seek to demonstrate results. Fleming also reports on large-scale trafficking and public-order incidents, from a multi-defendant marijuana trafficking conspiracy to protests during a presidential visit and breaking news about shootings at major commercial locations.
Together, these stories show a reporter who treats crime data, institutional performance and political conflict as parts of the same public safety ecosystem.
Suburban growth, cannabis and restaurant openings
In more recent work, Fleming extends his lens to suburban communities, with a particular focus on North Mississippi and municipalities such as Olive Branch. His coverage of Dabbs Cannabis Dispensary’s plans for a second location in Olive Branch follows a homegrown company’s expansion and situates it within a network of more than two dozen sites across Mississippi, underscoring how changes in cannabis regulation and commerce are playing out locally. These pieces treat cannabis not as novelty, but as part of the business landscape that suburban residents encounter in storefronts and zoning decisions.
He brings the same straightforward approach to food and restaurant stories, as in the article on Jim ’N Nick’s opening its first Mississippi location in Olive Branch. That coverage balances the brand’s scale - noting how the barbecue chain’s store count compares to a national ice cream operator - with the significance of the opening for a specific community. By pairing business facts with local context, Fleming turns restaurant openings into markers of broader economic and cultural shifts in the suburbs he covers.
Across cannabis dispensaries, barbecue joints and other commercial developments, his work on suburban growth adds a business and lifestyle dimension to a portfolio otherwise rooted in courts and public safety.
Beat evolution and continuity
Fleming’s beat has evolved over time within the same newsroom, moving from education to public safety and later taking on suburban coverage while maintaining a strong foundation in crime and the courts.
That trajectory shows in the mix of his bylines: pieces that dissect sentencing and appeals sit alongside stories that examine jail oversight and institutional reform, and more recent reporting that tracks how businesses expand into surrounding municipalities. The through-line is an interest in systems - legal, political, commercial - and how decisions made in courtrooms, government offices and corporate headquarters translate into conditions on the ground for residents.
For sources and story ideas, Fleming is a fit where public safety, justice system processes or the on-the-ground impact of new suburban businesses are central to the narrative.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Alana Al-Hatlani
Alana Al-Hatlani is a food writer and editor who treats recipes, restaurants, and food features as ways to explore culture, community, and the business of eating. She works on the food team at Southern Living, overseeing and contributing to print recipes and reported features. Her pastry-focused, restaurant-tested perspective comes from time in restaurant and bakery kitchens. She helps plan and write monthly food packages, including “The South’s Most Treasured Desserts,” and wrote “8 Summer Recipes Our Editors Make Every Year.” She also writes recipe tips, ingredient explainers, restaurant guides, and reported stories about workers, owners, and communities. Her subjects include regional specialties, dining scenes, kitchen basics, and food industries. Her work has appeared with OpenTable and Yahoo. She reports on the ground, explains techniques clearly, and connects specific dishes and places to larger stories about food and livelihood.
Alana Edgin
Alana Edgin is a business reporter whose strongest focus is food, restaurants and consumer-facing businesses. She works at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and has also had work syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News. She covers new openings, closings, expansions and franchise growth, along with retail, health, services, corporate news, data incidents, business support programs and sponsorships. Her reporting includes detailed roundups of new restaurants and businesses, coverage of El Pollo Loco’s opening, and stories on burger trucks, dessert shops, Vietnamese sandwich restaurants and gourmet markets. She also contributes to food and drink reviews, including fall coffee and jerky comparisons. Edgin reports with practical “what, when, where” details, structured comparisons and clear explanations of how offers, partnerships and business changes affect consumers and the local economy.
Alex Mitchell
Alex Mitchell is a New York Post features reporter who uses burgers, pizzerias, supper clubs and ice cream boats to show how people experience food, prices and local culture. He covers restaurants, chefs and food businesses in New York City and Long Island, including openings, expansions, menu trends, tipping, inflation and everyday dining. His stories also follow small operators, consumer losses, family businesses and public wagers. He has written about a $2.55 slider, a Brooklyn café selling 1,300 sliders a day, a Long Island family selling ice cream by boat, and a $23,000 vacation lost to a vanished travel agency. Before his current role, he was a Yankees beat reporter. He reports through vivid human stories, specific details, people’s voices and the links between food, sports, fandom and neighborhood life.