He returned to New York in 1999 , working as an investigative journalist in the Sports Department then as a political reporter in the Albany Bureau between 2000 and 2004 where he covered the Pataki administration , the budget and dysfunction in the state legislature . In 2004 , he was named Mexico City Bureau chief , a position he held until 2008 , covering the election of President Felipe Calderón and his government ’s war against drug cartels . He was Houston Bureau Chief between 2009 and 2012 and covered events such as the Fort Hood shootings , Hurricane Ike and the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf . He then became the '' Times '' pop music reporter and returned to New York City
oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
James C. McKinley Jr.