Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.
Gabriel Pineda thought his Eagle Scout project was going to be easy, until he got to George Mason Elementary School and saw that the old ma of the United States painted on the blacktop that he remembered was completely gone.
At first, the 17-year-old wanted to do a touch-up project on the map he played on as a young boy, but it was removed when the playground was resurfaced a couple of years ago. Instead, Pineda decided to completely repaint the entire 35-foot square map from scratch.
