All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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Even as an outsider, it was not an easy meeting to witness. In late October we were given a glimpse of the struggling Dakota Restaurant, including full-access to a meeting in which the boss told his staff they may soon have to close the restaurant. He gave them a timeline. If business did not improve in 30 days, they'd all be out of work.

Thirty days have come and gone and the restaurant is still open. But business has not gotten any better. It appears that the end of the restaurant – barring a miracle – is very near.

The Meert family, who own Dakota, have tried everything possible to stay open and are still contemplating making more changes. But with unemployment in the city of Elkhart at 12.2 percent, many of Dakota’s former customers have lost their jobs and, without them, the ability to afford to eat out.

Revenues at the restaurant are down 70 percent from their peak this summer and they owners have dipped into their personal savings accounts, cashed-in part of their 401(k)s and are still struggling to make payroll and pay the bills.

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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This was one of those stories where there was so much good material that it was hard to decide which interviews to use. Every single employee of the “Dakota Restaurant” in Elkhart, Indiana had a compelling story to share and – unbelievably – everyone was willing to talk with us on camera.

When I first reached Glen Meert on the telephone a few weeks’ ago, I knew he’d make for a strong character to profile in the piece. I had cold-called him, looking to tell the story of a struggling business in a town that, itself, is struggling due to soaring unemployment rates. He sounded like a compassionate business owner who was just hoping that his business might survive and he was willing to let us document this difficult time. During our early conversations he admitted me that he knew he wasn’t going to be able to stay open much longer and was heartbroken to have to tell his employees.

Glenn said that he’d plan to tell his employees that he couldn’t stay open in about a week and said that he’d be willing to let us be “flies on the wall” – recording the meeting where he broke the news to his staff.

Producer Alberto Moya and I got to the Dakota Restaurant a few days before the planned announcement and spent some time getting to know the staff. It was tough to know that this announcement was coming and to hear from the staff how lucky they felt to work for Glen – and simply to have a job.

It was interesting ...

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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There is no way to avoid the news of our struggling economy. For months in our series “The Other America” we’ve been chronicling the tough time that Americans are having as they try to pay their bills and juggle responsibilities. So, when our LA Bureau Chief pointed to a story about the tent city that sprung up in Reno, Nevada, we knew that it was something we should look into.

This spring, right in the middle of downtown Reno, a tent city started to crop up. It started with just a few tents scattered along the railway tracks. But as more people started to set up camp the city decided they needed to organize the tents, establish some rules, and provide what services they could. Now, roughly 170 people call this “tent city” home.

Organizers say that the people living here are a combination of the chronically homeless and the “newly” homeless. One city official suggested that it was roughly a 50-50 mix (chronically homeless vs. newly homeless) but that an exact number was hard to determine. The so-called “newly” homeless are recent casualties of this tough economy. These are folks who were living paycheck to paycheck and may have lost their jobs or had expenses that became too costly to bear. Many of the people living in tent city are looking for work but cannot find it. Others are working but not making enough to move out of a tent.

In our story on the Evening News, you'll meet ...

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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We set out this week to show a younger face of "The Other America." While so many Americans are thinking about "back to school" shopping, how do you afford to buy school clothes and supplies when you already have trouble paying the bills?

That's the problem Melody Morrow faces as a single mom with three kids. Her home is in foreclosure proceedings, and Melody has been forced to take pay-cuts at work in order to keep her job.

Meanwhile, the bills have stacked up and her ex-husband hasn't kept up with child support payments. For the Morrows, finding extra money for new clothes and school supplies simply wasn't an option this year. That is until Melody's daughter, Shelby, decided ....

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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I was assigned to go to Shenandoah, Penn., about a month after the beating, and subsequent death, of Luis Ramirez. Ramirez was an illegal immigrant. His death sent shockwaves through the community and the media descended on this small town to try to figure out why this happened and question whether it could happen again. (I had a number of meals at the local Mexican restaurant – where the waitress told me that I was hardly the only reporter to make a stop there.)

Most of the folks we spoke with believed Ramirez’s death was a “terrible mistake.” Many called it a “fight … gone badly,” and said his death was an accident. One townsperson blamed it on “the drink." The boys implicated had, reportedly, been drinking before the fight.

A number of teenagers in town vouched that those charged with the crime (four boys from the local high school – all on the football team) were “good boys” and said ...

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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The Hudy family is living on the edge. Their electricity was supposed to be turned off this week (they got a two-week extension) and their house goes to auction next week because they're going into foreclosure. They're having a hard time keeping food on the table… and trouble knowing what to do next.

For me, the most interesting part of my job is that the camera and my CBS News credentials are a passport into someone's life. I had talked with the Hudys early in the week and by the end of the week – there I was… standing in their living room in Endicott, New York.

In just a couple of days together I learned more about the Hudys than I'm sure some of their close friends know. They opened up to me and there were tears and also concern about being so candid with me. They explained that not only was it humbling to admit that they need help… and to tell a national audience about it… but to know that they're opening up themselves to critique from total strangers.

While we together there was this constant sense of juggling – wondering which ball might drop. Through their ordeal – which has stretched more than two years - they've both lost weight and, at just 37, Mark's hair has started to go gray.

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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I’ve wanted to work on a story about dental care in the United States for a number of months, because so many Americans simply can’t afford it. The issue has a direct correlation to one’s ability to get work. If you’re missing teeth, it can be hard to get a job – thus impossible to be insured. It's all a vicious cycle.

I started doing research around the beginning of the year and was surprised to learn just how many Americans live in “dental shortage areas,” where there are simply not enough dentists to fill the need. As the economy makes everyday life more difficult, even where there are enough dentists, it’s getting tougher for people to afford care. Even “basic” services are becoming a luxury for many ...

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Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.

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The Castelluccis received their first phone call before the CBS Evening News broadcast was even finished.

“I’m pretty much overwhelmed by the response and the goodness of people – coming out to reach out to someone that they’ve never met,” Lisa Castellucci told me by telephone.

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