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: Fentanyl taking hold, taking lives in Butte (May 15, 2022) ‘I hand out NARCAN like Tic-Tacs’: Options for residents with opioid, fentanyl dependence (May 16, 2022) 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.

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

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. Title IX at 50: The law that has revolutionized women's sports Trio played legal hardball when going to bat for Nebraska high school softball Persistent women's athlete gap prompts Title IX review by Trev Alberts and Nebraska 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.

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!

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.

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: Lincoln uses redlining history to help guide its growth plans (Oct 17, 2021) Understanding Lincoln's history of housing segregation will help city planners plan for the future, which is why the update to the city-county comprehensive plan includes a section on equity. City of Lincoln looks 30 years into future, sees growth east, south and building in existing neighborhoods. City of Lincoln looks 30 years into future, sees growth east, south and building in existing neighborhoods (Sep 12, 2021) City officials will release a draft of the 2050 Lincoln-Lancaster County Comprehensive Plan on Monday that emphasizes more housing in existing neighborhoods and new growth mostly to the east and south.

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: 'A perfect storm': Rising stats tell another story of COVID-19 in Cayuga County 5/11/2022 With Cayuga County suicide rate still high, doctor urges mental health care 12/16/2021 Clear path: Auburn wellness center opens as COVID-19 drives need 11/3/2021 As opioids drive overdose deaths, Cayuga County eyes task force 5/25/2021 'Our community is hurting': Cayuga County OD deaths, suicides rise in 2020 2/5/2022 'It's a struggle': Need for help in Cayuga County surges during COVID-19 3/13/2022 Despite COVID-19 mental health crisis, Auburn support group dissolves 2/12/2021 'It scares me': Cayuga County's new drug problem during COVID-19 3/13/2022 In Auburn, some numbers show COVID-19 impact more than others 10/12/2020 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.

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: Bristol Virginia School Board approves new school funding agreement (Apr 5, 2022) State budget stalemate affects school budget plans (Mar 16, 2022) 10% pay increases proposed in school budget (Feb 21, 2022) School leaders advocate for school construction funds (Feb 14, 2022) School Board adjusts school construction agreement (Feb 7, 2022) Bristol Virginia School Board to build 1, close 3 schools (Dec 7, 2021) Bristol, Virginia Council, Board to discuss new school (Nov 23, 2021) School Board urges haste on restarting school construction (Oct 5, 2021)

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: Press of Atlantic City How tidal flooding is impacting students, caretakers and education in Atlantic City Something in the Air podcast

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: Long View area has life expectancy a decade below county average (Sep 19, 2021) Long View pastors aim to help community address poverty (Oct 24, 2021)

When two separate shootings, described as ”suspects firing at each other between cars” by police, resulted in multiple children being shot, including an 8-year-old who was killed, Statesville Record & Landmark reporter Ben Gibson brought the story to readers and continues to cover the case as it follows the suspects through the court system. In this episode of the Behind the Headlines podcast, Teri Barr talks with Ben Gibson about the ways violence affects smaller communities like the one he covers, the weight of responsibility that comes with talking to parents following a tragedy, and where the cases are at present. Links: Addison, Kutteh address city after two shootings on Monday night (Jun 29, 2021) Community mourns child's death after shooting, asks for answers (Jun 29, 2021) Howell family asking for help after shooting (Jun 29, 2021) Statesville police asking for witnesses to come forward (Jul 7, 2021) Subscribe to Behind the Headlines on Apple, Google, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

When Nebraska officials refused to release information related to the number of residents getting COVID-19 vaccinations, Omaha World-Herald reporters Julie Anderson and Henry Cordes dug deep into federal data. What they found last year was the widest gap in the country between urban and rural vaccination rates.  In this episode of Behind the Headlines, Teri Barr talks with Cordes and Anderson to get answers to some of the big questions surrounding their work and check in on how things have been going in the months since their earliest articles about vaccination went up. Links: Nebraska's gap between urban and rural vaccination is widest in nation (June 28, 2021) Omahans hesitant to get COVID vaccine need convincing that the shots are safe, effective (Sep 14, 2021) Vaccinated, boosted Nebraskans 46 times less likely to need hospitals than unvaccinated ones (Jan 12, 2022) Nebraska's COVID case growth at 85% last week, now at unprecedented levels (Jan 17, 2022) COVID cases and hospitalizations up in Nebraska but coming down elsewhere (Jan 24, 2022)

In this episode of Behind the Headlines, host Teri Barr talks with Tulsa World Editor Jason Collington, assistant editor Kendrick Marshall, and and reporter Randy Krehbiel. They share some of the new information learned while covering the anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre this year, along with the many things that remain unknown, and why a search for answers still continues. The horrible historic event, which left 35 square blocks in ashes and hundreds dead over the course of Memorial Day weekend 1921, erased decades of success for African Americans who had built solid homes and prosperous businesses in the Greenwood District of the city, also known as “Black Wall Street.” Many believe it started when a young black man, 19-year-old Dick Rowland, was accused of assaulting the white elevator operator, 17-year-old Sarah Page, triggering the mayhem that followed. "Revisit the history of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre": https://tulsaworld.com/news/revisit-the-history-of-tulsas-race-massacre-of-1921/article_0e9e3208-a109-11ea-8fcb-d779f15e9e22.html

Earlier this year, the Sioux City Journal published Stolen lives: The epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, a special three-part series by reporter Dolly Butz, multimedia producer Jesse Brothers and visual editor Tim Hynds. Dolly Butz spent over a year on the project, investigating the national epidemic affecting Native women and examining steps that tribal officials and others are taking to stop the cycle of violence against Native women. Rooted in conversations with victims’ families, interviews with tribal officials and activists working to raise awareness of ​ missing and murdered Indigenous women, Dolly's articles used profiles of four Native women in Siouxland, whose deaths are either unsolved, or the result of domestic violence, to ground and personalize the series. For the first episode of our show, Teri Barr followed up with Dolly about the work that went into the reporting out the series and where things stand in the wake of her articles. You can find theStolen lives series and more of Dolly Butz's work, along with a full collection of images and videos HERE: https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/special-journal-report---stolen-lives-the-epidemic-of-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women/collection_580ffb59-ceb4-5102-80cd-7639339aebbf.html

We're excited to tell you about a new program we're debuting soon, Behind the Headlines. Hosted by Teri Barr, the show features interviews with journalists from Lee Enterprises newsrooms in 26 states whose dogged reporting has made a valuable impact on the front page… and beyond.