I’m Hayes.

Throughout a varied journalism career, I’ve covered good days, bad days, and found stories in the ostensibly mundane, too. I’ve written about a little bit of everything — from the North American Scrabble championships to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. I’ve covered business for The Baltimore Banner since 2024.

Raised in Kentucky, I graduated from Grinnell College (Iowa) in 2015 with a degree in history. There, a colleague and I investigated and revealed that a professor had resigned after the school discovered he’d plagiarized his dissertation. Later, I wrote about a former college basketball teammate of mine, Jack Taylor, for The Athletic. Jack and I once combined for 138 points in a single NCAA game; I had zero, Jack had the rest.

After serving as an AmeriCorps member in Oregon — while moonlighting as a high school sports freelancer — I took a job with the Ames Tribune. The first story I wrote there was on a local basketball star named Caitlin Clark.

My time at the Louisville Courier-Journal began in 2019 as a sports writer, but I pivoted in 2020 to the Breonna Taylor protest movement. Our coverage was recognized as a 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist in Public Service.

I then moved to Baltimore, where I continued to keep an eye on the sports world — particularly the business side, such as the Orioles’ protracted lease negotiations with the state of Maryland. But after the Key Bridge collapse on March 26, 2024, I wrote scores of stories on the fallout: analyzing what went wrong and breaking news on the incident itself, as well as the aftermath.

When I’m not writing, I like to participate. I play basketball or tennis a few times a week, enjoy being outside, and love to explore. I’ve visited 46 states in the United States. I’m still searching for the remaining four.

You can follow my work on Twitter, Bluesky, or email me at hayesgardner1@gmail.com. Don’t be afraid to reach out. I’m a big fan of saying hello.