New reporter focusing on crime, homelessness for the Herald

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on July 5, 2023.

Herald photo New reporter Steffanie Costigan will be covering crime and homelessness for the Lethbridge Herald.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge has one of the highest Crime Severity Indexes in the country and a significant homeless population that has doubled in size in recent years.

These are having an impact on the way Lethbridge residents view their city and the safety they feel living in it.

Lethbridge is no longer the small city it once was and now with more than 106,000 residents, this community is experiencing big-city problems.

The issues of crime and homelessness are going to be the focus of a new term reporting position created here courtesy of a successful application for Local Journalism Initiative funding.

Steffanie Costigan, a talented reporter who just finished her first year at Lethbridge College, has been hired to tackle all aspects of these subjects. Costigan has been working this summer for the paper under LJI funding, covering a wide range of subjects.

She is a talented writer with an inquisitive mind who knows how to ask the tough questions and is dogged in her pursuit of stories.

Her determination, ability to come up with her own stories and her interest in crime are assets that we believe will be of immense service not only to The Herald, but also to the community we serve.

Our goal with the new position is to utilize resources from mental health, education and law enforcement to help provide insights while looking into the impact these matters have on everyday citizens in all walks of life from businessmen to people dropping their kids off at hockey, to home owners dealing with rising thefts and the impact of the homeless utilizing streets, parks, doorways and alleys for rest.

We are a city which has seen the growth of homeless encampments and we want to look into ways how these can be addressed, what challenges other communities are facing in their struggles and come up with informative stories that bring these matters into a public conversation for a thorough examination by our community.

Anyone impacted by crime or homelessness can contact editor Al Beeber at The Herald – 403-388-1153 or by email at editor@lethbridgeherald.com – to reach Costigan while we establish a Herald email account for her.

Costigan has always held a strong passion for writing despite her disability with dyslexia. She works past it with the hopes that her writing can make an impactful difference.

She currently lives her with her husband and three children.

Costigan studied several creative writing programs and took her program in digital communications and media receiving an honours at Lethbridge College. She hopes her writing will resonate with people and inspire those that read her writings. She is excited to be releasing her first published novel of “Land of The Dragon” this year.

She has also written plays and had the opportunity to direct one of her written plays, “A Stoney Gaze,” in 2020.

She says she is very excited and honoured to be a part of the Lethbridge Herald team.