According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 100,000 people died last year due to a drug overdose. And that was and increase of 15% compared to 2020. What's to blame for this continuing rise in drug use and overdose deaths? Synthetic opioids, specifically fentanyl.

Host Teri Barr is spoke with Kasey Faur and Mike Smith, reporters with The Montana Standard in Butte, Montana, who wrote a recent series on fentanyl use that revealed a similar trend.

While this episode focuses on reporting centered on Butte, it serves as an example of what’s happening across the country. Following their reporting, Butte city leaders decided to take renewed action to fight the use of the drug and by extension the deaths it was leaving in its wake.

Read the articles here:

Behind the Headlines is produced and recorded by Teri Barr and edited by Chris Lay. If you appreciate the show, we encourage you to invest in local journalism and support whichever newspaper serves your community.

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John F. Kennedy College, in Wahoo, Nebraska embraced women's sports early, recruiting and even offering scholarships to athletes years before Title IX . Arguably as a result, they won not only the first ever Women's College Softball World Series in 1969 but successfully defended the title in 1970 and 1971.

For this episode our host, Teri Barr, is talking with Nancy Gaarder, a reporter for the Omaha World Herald and Cathy Buell who played catcher for John F. Kennedy College in those pre-Title IX years and, notably, remains the only John F. Kennedy alum from any year inducted into the Nebraska Softball Hall of Fame.

You can read Nancy's article here:
Lost to history: Nebraska's three-peat championship team paid price for equity

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Part of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives funding from the federal government. 

Five decades on, though, is it working?

This week our host Teri Barr is talking with Henry Cordes, a Senior Enterprise Reporter with the Omaha World Herald in Omaha, Nebraska, who has been digging into recent federal data looking for athletic department numbers and what he found could land some schools in court if changes aren’t put in place, and soon.

Behind the Headlines, a product of Lee Enterprises, is produced and recorded by Teri Barr, with editing and production assistance by Chris Lay.
If you appreciate what we're doing with this program, we encourage you to invest in local journalism and support whichever newspaper serves your community.

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Our host Teri Barr talks with Holly Kozelsky, an Editor with the Martinsville Bulletin in Martinsville, Virginia, who found herself asking if "We buy houses, cash" was legit, or a scam, and decided to use her own home to uncover the truth.

The response from readers to her column, 'How the "We buy houses cash" scam really works,' was overwhelming, so listen in to hear all the details!

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Idaho bowhunter Raymond Jones went missing on his son's 12th birthday, Sept. 7, 1968. Fifty-three years later, Jones' body was found by another bowhunter, solving a mystery that had long haunted his relatives, including his only son.

Our host Teri Barr talks with Brett French, Montana Untamed editor for the Billings Gazette, who covered the story last year. You can read his article at the article at the link below:

'Discovery of bowhunter's remains after 53 years finally gives son closure'

If you appreciate what we're doing with this program, we encourage you to invest in local journalism and support whichever newspaper serves your community.

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Redlining is the discriminatory practice of banks and other institutions “lining off” parts of a community where investments and loans are not approved due to the demographics of the area. And by demographics, of course, we're talking about gatekeeping, class and race.

Redlining as a specific term and policy has been around since 1920 and was the focus of a 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning series The Color of Money by Bill Dedman for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the 2014 essay The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates for The Atlantic magazine.

In this episode, host Teri Barr is talking with Margaret Reist, city government reporter with the Journal-Star in Lincoln, Nebraska, about her coverage that revealed redlining's local history, issues and results, as well as highlighted ways that leaders in Lincoln are attempting to create a better future.

You can read Margaret Reist's articles here:

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On this episode of Behind the Headlines, host Teri Barr is talking with David Wilcox, features editor for The Citizen in Auburn, New York, who realized rising suicide and overdose statistics tell another story about the COVID-19 pandemic.

David had been interested in mental health numbers, both pre-pandemic and during the peak in 2020 and 2021, and you may be surprised by what his reporting uncovered.

David’s planning several follow-ups, including when to ask for help and how to be sure you get it. 

You can catch up on David's work here:

If you appreciate what we're doing with this program, we encourage you to invest in local journalism and support whichever newspaper serves your community.

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Teri Barr is talking with David McGee, a staff writer with the Herald-Courier in Bristol, Virginia. 

David dove into a recent report which shows half of the public schools in Virginia are more than 50 years old, and in Bristol, Virginia, six of the seven schools are even older, including the one that is 107 years old. 

School leaders and lawmakers have blamed the aging buildings issue on budget cuts, but David’s work reveals even bigger problems like student safety, the lack of handicapped accessibility, and even basic routine maintenance.

More from David McGee:

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Host Teri Barr is talking with Press of Atlantic City Meteorologist Joe Martucci about a recent series of stories focused on tidal flooding.

Joe shares why this is a growing problem, and how often schools now have to be closed due to flooding. He also discusses the options city leaders and lawmakers are considering to fix the issue before it's too late.

More from Joe Martucci:

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Residents in Long View, North Carolina, in general, are living 20 years less than those living in neighboring Hickory. No one knew about this and other health data until reporter Virginia Annable dug into it.

Virginia works for the Hickory Daily Record in Hickory, North Carolina and recently looked through health department data for a number of reasons. But what she uncovered, specific to people living in Long View, initially made some readers angry, while others decided to take action.

Host Teri Barr asks her what it was like to share this story and for her to now know, she is getting credit from officials for making a difference.

Links:

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