USA TODAY — Throughout Nebraska’s history, women have forged its course, shaped its identity and recorded its stories. The women who have inspired and led, fought and transformed have come from every corner of the state, and they represent the vastness of Nebraska. Its sprawling geography — from the sparse, open Plains to the undulating Sandhills and bustling cities. Its diversity — from the early pioneers who brought their varied European cultures and languages to the immigrant stockyard workers and African Americans who moved north and settled along the Missouri River.
Author: Robyn Murray
NPR: Native American Tribe’s Battle Over Beer Brews
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Photo by Hilary Stohs-Krause
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO – Lying on sidewalks in Whiteclay, passed out against storefronts day and night, are some Native Americans who come here every day to drink. The town has just one central road, a grocery, a couple of abandoned buildings and four liquor stores. Each year, those four stores sell what amounts to 4 million cans of beer.
PRI: A nation says its final goodbyes to Nelson Mandela
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A minister born and raised in Qunu says a prayer for Madiba. Photo by Robyn Murray.
PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL – By the time Nelson Mandela’s body was laid to rest in his childhood village of Qunu, South Africa, much of the celebratory mood surrounding his funeral had waned.
As his coffin made its way to the final burial ground, the sound of cannons booming in a military salute, thousands of mourners who flooded the remote area to pay their last respects felt a sense of closure.
NPR: Joplin Debris ‘Reborn’ in Kansas City Art Project
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NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO – Pieces of twisted metal and scrap wood left behind by a massive tornado that tore through Joplin, Mo., are now sitting in a gallery in Kansas City. The sculptures and paintings from the wreckage are to be sold at auction Saturday.
KVNO: Child Welfare, Navigating a Fractured System
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The Theye children’s separation from their mother illustrates the brokenness of Nebraska’s child welfare system. Photo by Robyn Murray.
KVNO NEWS – The child welfare system in Nebraska is incredibly complex. But for the families in the system, it’s incredibly personal. In part one of our series: Child Welfare: Navigating a Fractured System, we examine why child welfare in the state has been so notoriously splintered, and how some families feel lost in it.
BUSINESS DAY: INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS GIVE ‘RURAL POOR A FOOTHOLD’ IN URBAN CENTRES
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An informal settlement in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo by Robyn Murray
BUSINESS DAY – In a quiet neighbourhood near Johannesburg, a haphazard collection of shacks sits squeezed beneath the towering brick walls of two gated communities. Wedged in on a red dirt road that forms an alleyway between the secured developments, the settlements are held together by sheets of plywood, black garbage bags and a sky-blue tarp with small, plastic windows — a shelter for about half a dozen residents seated around a makeshift card table.
Stray dogs scrounge around their feet for scraps and two toddlers wander through piles of trash, coils of barbed wire and discarded cement blocks.
It is a singularly South African sight, but the problem behind it — rapid urbanisation and inadequate housing — is far more common globally.
NET Radio: Obama’s Backdrop Of Economic Success Has A Flip Side In Omaha
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President Obama chose Omaha as the first stop after his State of the Union address. Photo by Robyn Murray.
NET RADIO – The atmosphere at Baxter Arena was electric. Close to 11,000 people packed into the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s brand new home for hockey and basketball. “It still has that new arena smell,” the president joked. To cheers, applause and shouts of “We love you!” Obama thanked the crowd and told them, “I love you back, Omaha!”
PRI: Nelson Mandela’s Funeral in Qunu, South Africa
PhotographyPUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL – A photo story of Nelson Mandela’s funeral in his home village of Qunu, South Africa.
Children lined the streets around Qunu and Mthatha to catch a glimpse of the thousands of people pouring into this remote rural area on Saturday in South Africa. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
The villages near Qunu, where Mandela spent his childhood years, remain rural and remote today.Though many of the homes now have electricity, very few have indoor plumbing. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
Helicopters patroled overhead on Saturday as Nelson Mandela’s body was flown into Mthatha in preparation for his burial. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
Signs and photos with messages of remembrance for Madiba lined the streets of Mthatha. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
Cannons were fired outside the funeral site in Qunu as the proceedings began on Sunday. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
Media from around the world gathered at the media center, where they were kept during the funeral proceedings for Nelson Mandela on Sunday. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
Visitors who managed to get into the credentialed media center were dressed for the cameras. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
A local resident, draped in the colors of Mandela’s African National Congress, watched over the funeral below. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
A father showed his son the site of Nelson Mandela’s funeral and the rural village of Qunu below. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
A traditional Zulu warrior dance took place at the media center, just outside of the funeral. Photo credit: Robyn Murray/PRI’s The World
PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL — A nation says its final goodbyes to Nelson Mandela. Photo by Robyn Murray.
MEDILL: Altgeld Gardens, Turning Poverty into Possibility
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MEDILL REPORTS CHICAGO – On a late afternoon in Altgeld Gardens, the neighborhood is quiet and still.
Snow-packed sidewalks muffle the air as one of Chicago’s major snowstorms of the season gets underway. The snow keeps falling as students enter a classroom at Larry Hawkins, a charter school that is the only high school in this Far South Side community. Altgeld Gardens is a sprawling public housing complex – hemmed in by the polluted Calumet River and a sewage treatment plant, in which the average income is less than $10,000 per year.
Robyn Murray 