Session State - kevinmcnellis-site

Last Updated: 2026-01-30 Session Summary: Added Writing (blog) section with first post on ICE/CBP funding under OBBA

Current Status

Phase: Blog section complete, ready for deployment Branch: main Last Commit: bdc8f4e - Add Writing section with ICE/CBP OBBA funding post

Work Completed This Session

• Added “Writing” link to sidebar navigation
• Created first blog post: ICE and CBP Spending under OBBA
• Extracted 4 figures from Word document to posts/images/
• Created custom EJS listing template for posts page
• Removed thumbnail images from listing (too small for chart legibility)
• Removed placeholder post and introductory text
• Updated CLAUDE.md documentation

Key Decisions Made

• No thumbnails in listing: Chart images aren’t legible at 140-200px; opted for text-only listing
• Custom EJS template: Used custom template to control listing layout (title, description, date only)
• No categories: Removed category display from posts listing for cleaner look

Technical Notes

Quarto EJS Template Gotcha

Quarto processes EJS templates through markdown. HTML with 4+ spaces of indentation becomes code blocks. Keep all HTML at left margin in .ejs files.

Freeze Cache

Files with freeze: true cache rendered output in _freeze/ directory. When content changes don’t appear, delete _freeze/<folder>/ and re-render.

Files Created/Modified

New files: - posts/2026-01-29-ice-cbp-obba-funding.qmd - First blog post - posts/images/figure-1-funding-levels.png - posts/images/figure-2-contract-obligations.png - posts/images/figure-3-spending-categories.png - posts/images/figure-4-top-contractors.png - posts/listing-custom.ejs - Custom listing template

Modified: - _quarto.yml - Added Writing to sidebar - posts/index.qmd - Updated listing config - styles/sidebar.css - Added listing styles

Deleted: - posts/2025-01-01-coming-soon.qmd - Placeholder post

Next Steps (Priority Order)

1. Push commit to GitHub when ready: git push origin main
2. Verify GitHub Pages deployment
3. Consider adding more blog posts

Pending Items

• Source .docx file (ICE and CBP Funding - 2026_01_29.docx) is in repo root but not committed - can be deleted or moved elsewhere