Bonnie Jean Feldkamp is a writer, wife, and mom of three kids whose ages span two decades. Her work has appeared in the New York Times; Brain, Child Magazine; Scary Mommy and more. Her Cincinnati Family mom blog earned Best Overall Blog in the 2017 Ohio Society of Professional Journalists Awards. She is also the communications director for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @WriterBonnie or on her website at WriterBonnie.com.
I have a story in this book! I am thrilled to have contributed the story of my first Christmas together with my husband as a blended family. It was hard and beautiful and meaningful all at the same time, We made it through. The 12-year-old I wrote about is a grown worman now and I am so lucky I got to be a part of her childhood.
Get into the Holiday spirit with 101 real-life personal stories. My story is on page 160 and titled Christmas With a New Family.
When the Holidays Are an Opportunity for a Fres… by Chicken Soup for the Soul with Amy Newmark
Chicken Soup for the Soul with Amy Ne…
Looking for more books to give this holiday season? I have essays in these books too!
Laugh Out Loud: 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now…Before We Forget
Laugh Out Loud: 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now…Before We Forget [Zobel Nolan, Allia] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Laugh Out Loud: 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now…Before We Forget
Despite an October 20 court order issued by the Ohio Court of Claims, the Ohio Department of Health still had not released complete records as of late Wednesday night, claiming they needed several days to release information from a database that is updated daily. Read the full story below.
Ohio Department of Health delays full records release despite court order
33 hospitals report they have no critical care bed and/or medical/surgery bed for adult patients on October 30 This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join our free mailing list as this helps us provide more public service reporting. Despit…
This came after winning the court battle for access to important hospital data. Read that story below:
After seven month legal battle, Eye on Ohio wins public records lawsuit over hospital capacity numbers
Court of Claims Rules that the Ohio Department of Health must disclose the number of beds and other equipment available This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join our free mailing list as this helps us provide more public service reportin…
This all started seven months ago when we first tried to report data in real time as a service to the public during a pandemic. Our attempts were blocked by ODH. Read that story below
Ohio hospitals remain mum on changes to local bed and ventilator counts; uncertainty affects local patients
The Ohio Department of Health gets daily updates on the total number of beds and ventilators that could be available for COVID-19 patients at hospitals throughout the state. But so far the agency hasn’t provided any hospital-by-hospital breakdown, and the agencies that collect capacity information o…
Read more pandemic Coverage from Bonnie Jean Feldkamp HERE.
This story went from slow motion to fast forward this week. It started 7 months ago when we tried reporting on bed and vent counts in Ohio Hospitals only to be shut out. Eye On Ohio took them to court. After a months long back and forth the court ordered Ohio Department of Health to hand over the hospital data we requested in our public records request. We’re still waiting on the data. Meanwhile Court News Ohio ran a story on the ruling and other media is picking it up. So yesterday we were off to the races to cover our own story. Written with Kathiann M. Kowalski. Please read and share.
After seven month legal battle, Eye on Ohio wins public records lawsuit over hospital capacity numbers
Court of Claims Rules that the Ohio Department of Health must disclose the number of beds and other equipment available This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join our free mailing list as this helps us provide more public service reportin…
Our report from seven months ago:
Ohio hospitals remain mum on changes to local bed and ventilator counts; uncertainty affects local patients
The Ohio Department of Health gets daily updates on the total number of beds and ventilators that could be available for COVID-19 patients at hospitals throughout the state. But so far the agency hasn’t provided any hospital-by-hospital breakdown, and the agencies that collect capacity information o…
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp is an award-winning freelance writer and columnist. She is the Communications Director for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, member of the Cincinnati Enquirer Editorial Board, and a board member for the Cincinnati Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She lives with her family in Northern Kentucky. Find her on social media @WriterBonnie.
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to put my thoughts down for this historic event.
It’s hard to wrap my brain around what this election means to me. It means progress. Even though there’s another white man as president and that’s not anything new.
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
I hope you’ll read the full column at the link below.
Opinion: Madam Vice President has a nice ring to it
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris delivers remarks to the nation after her and her running mate Joe Biden secure enough votes to win the White House. USA TODAY
I am so grateful I got to share this uplifting story following Justices Thomas and Alito’s damaging remarks against LGBTQ+ rights. Please, read the full story below and celebrate this generous kindness.
Opinion: Obergefell note gives gay teen hope about same-sex marriage
Recent comments from two Supreme Court justices set off alarms across the LGBTQ+ community about same-sex marriage.
It’s Library Card Sign Up Month (yes, that’s totally a thing) and it’s more than enough of a reason to bring back my memories of my childhood library. What is your favorite library memory?
Biking Uphill for Nancy Drew
I don’t know if the trip would have felt as worth it if I had lived at the top of the hill with the library at the bottom. To coast to the library and then struggle to make it home with books didn’t f
If you liked this story please check out the ones below also or visit my Articles and Clips page.
In a Blended Family, ‘Your Dad’ Becomes ‘Dad’
What do I call my new husband, when talking to my biological daughter and his?
Wanting a Baby at Age Forty? Blame It On My Teenagers!
All I knew was that I didn’t have any babies left. I had thought I’d have a few more years with her. But a baby at 40? I wasn’t finished yet with kids.
Opinion: Daylight Savings Time Monday a test of morning mom skills
Losing an hour of sleep when we’re this tired and this close to the end of the school year – is just cruel.
My Journal entry March 10, 1986. I was 11-years-old.
I’ve kept a journal since childhood. Beyond that writing always seemed to come attached to a punishment. I had to write sentences or an essay about how I felt. I’m not sure that’s the best way to encourage kids to write. Writing is about the use of language and literacy so you can’t start later and just say “write this down.” I really believe it starts when you’re young and teaching kids the context and language of the world that they live in. Teaching them how to articulate how they feel. Before they even write it on paper if you can help them find the words for their five senses and articulate that to you, it’s almost a version of emotional intelligence.
Kirsten and Matthew Scott Talk Musical Theater, Broadway Dreams, and ‘Rock of Ages,’ Plus Writing, Kids, and Gratitude Journals – Episode 515 – Dr. Nancy Berk
, their musical theater-driven journey and work with shows from ‘Jersey Boys’ to ‘Rock of Ages’, their new routines, and thoughts on Broadway’s safe comeback. Plus, the actors share their suggestions for children and young adults (and their parents) interested in the performing arts. In segment two,…
Grateful to talk to David LëGere of Woodhall Press about writing, inspiration, and process as well as the upcoming book to which I’ve contributed – Fast Funny Women edited by Gina Barreca. I hope you’ll take 20 minutes and watch the interview.
I’ve written more about my contribution to this book here. Learn more about me here.
Isabel Escobar, a professor in chemical and materials engineering, holds two versions of the plastic support lattice and a vial of the membrane material to inactivate the COVID-19 virus.
The Pandemic has been hard on me. Especially because I have four different autoimmune diagnoses and am therefore immunocompromised. Writing about COVID-19 provides me some purpose during this time of lockdown. Sure, the country seems to be opening back up but the infection rates are not slowing down and that doesn’t seem like it’s going to change any time soon. Not to mention all of the people who are against wearing a mask.
So, If you need me, I’ll be at home. I’m not that brave – or stupid.
While here are home, I’ll continue reaching out to innovators and community leaders to get their stories of how they are trying to help during this pandemic. This gives me hope. Like my most recent story of Isabel Escobar and Eric Wooldridge. Researchers innovating an anti-viral mask here in Kentucky and making science work for us in amazing ways.
Isabel is a membrane scientist. Eric is an additive manufacturing expert (3D printing). Together they have created a new kind of mask filter. One that not only filters the air as you breath through it but one that actually kills pathogens that come in contact with it.
Escobar wanted to provide “passive disinfection” in a mask. She explained that “the presence of silver nanoparticles provides a secondary barrier in the form of inactivation of any viruses that accumulate on a mask.” Simply put, silver nanoparticles target and inactivate all viruses and bacteria, including the virus that causes COVID-19.
Read the full article at the link below
Appalachian Land Grant University, Community College Break New Ground on COVID Filtration Solution
Like other university researchers, the pandemic forced Isabel Escobar to shut down her lab instead of returning from spring break earlier this year. Escobar has a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering is a professor of chemical and materials engineering in the University of Kentucky’s College of Engin…
To read more of my articles about COVID-19, the tips from experts and stories of community members on how we’re getting through, click the links below.
Leigh Taylor takes photos of the Maddox family for the article.
The Coronavirus Pandemic has transferred everything online making internet crucial in the home. This means that for children with special needs, even some therapies needed to switch to online “teletherapies” which required another layer of adjustments. But for those who don’t have internet access, or those in rural communities who must rely on data, it meant therapy was expensive or all together unrealistic.
An innovative and technological future that provides services during extreme times while underscoring services regularly, is an ideal that comes at a cost to populations already underserved.
Read my linked below. I talked to Clinical experts as well as education experts about this very real Internet inequity for the Appalachian region of Kentucky and what professionals and families are doing to bridge the gaps now and into the future.
When School and Therapy Go Online, Access to Internet Is Crucial for Children with Special Needs
Using technology to enhance education is normal for ten-year-old Cora Maddox from Boone County, Kentucky. She has severe apraxia which her mom Angie Maddox said “is like being trapped in your own mind.” Cora understands everything that’s said to her, Angie explains, but when her brain tells her mou…
