David Ovalle: doing all the heavy lifting at the Herald

If you read this blog on a regular basis you know I have major issues with the the work the Herald has been producing lately.

I won't mention any names, but some writers at the paper are not pulling their weight **coughcoughjoanfleischman** and make it seem like producing two 700-word columns a week is a major task with a degree of difficulty that's akin to brain surgery.

Not so with Ace Crime Reporter David Ovalle.

Ovalle, who was named Best Herald Writer by Miami New Times in 2007, has been on a tear lately, producing a virtual tsunami of copy.

Just look at Ovalle's output since Saturday.

He's written, by my count, six very compelling stories that rank right up there with the crime reporting of the legendary Edna Buchanan.

Ovalle's stories are so much more than the dreary who, what, when, where, why crime stories that some less imaginative reporters churn out.

Brace yourself for the inevitable O. Henry-like twist when you read an Ovalle tale. His "nut graphs" drip with irony.

Consider Ovalle's Saturday piece on Miguel Molero, a man burdened with crushing debt. "More than $315,000 in debt, Miguel Molero went to the bank but not for help. Instead, he attempted to rob a Brink's armored truck in Homestead, police said, and was shot dead by the driver."

Five more Ovalle stories appeared on the Herald's website today.

Drunk guy repeatedly calls 911.
"[Police] returned and found him lying on the floor inside his home, surrounded by 40 to 50 empty Natural Ice beer cans. The room reeked of alcohol."

Man shot by police gets hit again with drug charges.

Motorist steals donation bucket from homeless guy."He snatched the bucket and took the hell off," Marino said. "I almost fell to the ground and into the bushes. All my change went all over the place."

2 Dade cops on the mend after being hit by car.

Killer escapes justice by dying in jail."...Miami detectives were ready to charge Juan C. Borrego for stabbing an East Little Havana woman to death 11 years ago. Death took him first."

The Herald could use a few more scribes like David Ovalle.