Opelika Daily News is a one-man newsroom with a little help. Editor Jerry Katz writes, edits and publishes the site, and six AI-assisted bylines help him cover the beats. We gave each of them a portrait and a backstory.
A note on the fine print: Michael, Helen, Bobbi, Jake, Al and Miles are not real people. Their histories below are fiction, written for fun, and their portraits are AI-generated illustrations. Their reporting is real: every story they file is researched from named sources and reviewed by Jerry before it runs. Read more in How We Use Viktor AI and our Corrections & Editorial Standards.
Jerry Katz — Editor & Publisher
Jerry Katz is the creator of Opelika Daily News. A former broadcaster, he has been writing about Opelika for more than twenty years — first as a blogger, now as the one-person newsroom behind this site. He curates the region’s local news daily, writes the Katz Ramblings column and the weekly From the Archives look-back, and maintains an archive of more than 3,200 posts reaching back to 2002. He lives in Opelika.
Every story on this site, including everything filed by the bylines below, crosses his desk before it runs. The mug says I Got This. The to-do list ends with Coffee. Repeat. The pup keeping watch at his elbow is Spock, a pit bull rescue. About three years ago a rescue group found him eating trash by the side of the road in Macon County; now he helps run the newsroom. He’s a good boy. He does not like thunder.
Reach Jerry: jerry@opelikadailynews.com
Michael A. Genda — City Government
The legend
Michael A. Genda turned up at Opelika City Hall one Tuesday evening, took a seat in the front row, and hasn’t missed a meeting since. Nobody remembers hiring him. Newsroom legend says his mother named him after the first thing she ever read cover to cover.
He is the only reporter in Lee County known to read the entire agenda packet — appendix on sewer easements included — and the only one who winks when a zoning variance gets tabled. The cigar has never been lit; he says chewing on it gets him through the public hearings. His creed is painted on a wall downtown: A well-informed community is a stronger tomorrow.
The real work
Beat: City Council, Planning Commission, Historic Preservation Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment. His stories are built from official agendas, agenda packets and meeting video. Reviewed by editor Jerry Katz before publication.
Read Michael’s stories: opelikadailynews.com/author/michaelagenda/
Helen Holmes — Real Estate
The legend
Helen Holmes has walked every sidewalk in Opelika at least twice — once to look at the houses, and once to meet the people on the porches. She arrived sometime in the 1940s (she won’t say which year) with a tweed coat, a leather satchel and an unshakable belief that every address has a story.
She counts SOLD signs the way other people count sheep and can size up a Craftsman bungalow from across the street. Her first rule is her tagline: Finding the stories behind the addresses. Her second rule, less printable, covers what happens to anyone who hands her a market statistic without a source.
The real work
Beat: home sales, rentals and development in Opelika, Auburn and Lee County. Figures are sourced to the agencies and market reports named in each story. Reviewed by editor Jerry Katz before publication.
Read Helen’s stories: opelikadailynews.com/author/helenholmes/
Bobbi Baller — Sports
The legend
Bobbi Baller has been in the press box so long there’s a folding chair with his name on it. He keeps every box score he has ever been handed, stacked on his desk in an order only he understands, because, as the paper on top of the pile says, scores write history.
He considers Friday nights in the fall a civic holiday, cheers for whoever is wearing the home jersey, and still hasn’t given up hope that Lee County will get a hockey team — he keeps a puck on his desk just in case. The mug reads Eat. Sleep. Sports. Repeat. The motto: Same game, different field.
The real work
Beat: Opelika and Lee County high school football, baseball, basketball and soccer, plus the teams and fans behind them. Reviewed by editor Jerry Katz before publication.
Read Bobbi’s stories: opelikadailynews.com/author/bobbiballer/
Jake Spear — Entertainment
The legend
Jake Spear was born, the story goes, in the back row of a movie palace during a double feature, and he hasn’t left a theater before the credits finished since. The name? His mother loved Shakespeare but was never much of a speller.
He wears a bow tie to the playhouse, the multiplex and the grocery store, keeps a stack of Playbills nearly as tall as he is, and has an opinion about every season finale that he will share whether or not you asked. When something good is playing close to home, Jake tells you about it first.
The real work
Beat: TV, movies, theater, books and video games, starting with the stages and screens in Opelika, Auburn and Lee County. Reviewed by editor Jerry Katz before publication.
Read Jake’s stories: opelikadailynews.com/author/jakespear/
Al K Traz — Police & Crime
The legend
Al K Traz claims he was named for the one place nobody ever got out of, which is also how he describes the police beat. The story around the newsroom is that he was born in the back of a squad car during a routine traffic stop and has been chasing blue lights ever since. He wears sunglasses at night. He says it’s the flashers. Nobody believes him.
Al has a scanner in his car, one in his kitchen and one he swears he doesn’t sleep with. The trench coat has more pockets than a burglary suspect. He covers break-ins, robberies and traffic violations with a straight face, and he takes littering personally. He still says the most notorious trash-picker in Lee County history was a certain pit bull found on a Macon County roadside. Case closed. No charges filed.
The real work
Beat: police reports and public safety in Opelika, Auburn and Lee County, including arrests, investigations, break-ins, robberies and traffic. Stories come from official police releases and public records, and anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Reviewed by editor Jerry Katz before publication.
Read Al’s stories: opelikadailynews.com/author/alktraz/
Miles Abroad — International
The legend
Miles Abroad has never met a departure board he didn’t like. He left Opelika with one suitcase, a library card and a notebook, and he hasn’t stopped moving since. His passport has been re-stitched twice. He says he’s logged enough frequent-flyer miles to get to the moon and halfway back, and he’s still waiting for an airline to add that route.
Miles can order coffee in eleven languages and apologize in fourteen. He keeps a signpost in his head pointing to every continent, but his motto, From Opelika to the ends of the Earth, works in both directions. He always carries a return ticket, because in his experience, every story from far away ends up mattering back home.
The real work
Beat: international news, with a focus on the war in Ukraine, plus diplomacy, conflicts, the global economy and what world events mean for Lee County. Stories are sourced to named news organizations, official statements and public records. Reviewed by editor Jerry Katz before publication.
Read Miles’s stories: opelikadailynews.com/author/milesabroad/
Story tips, corrections and questions for any member of the staff go to jerry@opelikadailynews.com.
