ISA LUZARRAGA
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Immigrant farmers often can't get federal grants to start businesses. These nonprofits are helping
Published by NPR's Midwest Newsroom
Photograph by Isa Luzarraga
Sandro Lopes and his 11-year-old daughter Maria, ambled through their nine-acre property in David City, Nebraska, discussing the future of their family farm. A dilapidated white and red farmhouse sagged to the right of the driveway, and their newly repaired barn sat a couple of yards to the left. The two eventually came to a stop under a willow tree, one Maria said she imagines reading a book under, though she would rather be doing other things like practice presenting her ducks for 4-H shows.
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“I’d rather be doing stuff on the farm than being inside all day,” she said, already walking back towards the farmhouse her family plans to restore over the next two years.
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The farmhouse will take around two years and $60,000 to refurbish, and Lopes plans on doing most of the repairs himself. It will be one of the final parts of the family’s “Little Amazon,” a place to honor his Indigenous culture.​
Which surprise songs could Taylor Swift play in Kansas City? The Eras Tour visualized
Published in The Kansas City Star
No one does suspense quite like Taylor Swift.
From her extensive use of Easter eggs in music videos to the creative promotion of her most recent album “Midnights,” this queen of pop can send millions of fans into a tizzy with a single, cryptically-placed exclamation point.
Eras Tour concerts are filled with carefully choreographed references that Swifties dissect in group chats, TikTok videos and Twitter threads. The set lists for the three-hour concerts are the same from city to city with one exception: the surprise songs.
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Design by Isa Luzarraga
‘I’m not leaving’: How a 21-year-old Salvadoran immigrant is fighting for medical justice
Published in Keke Magazine
Design by Isa Luzarraga
The biting November wind propelled 17-year-old Katherinne Zabaleta through the doors of the emergency facility at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center. Her clothes were soaked with sweat, her dark hair plastered to her forehead. She adjusted her sweater, preparing to be sent home—for the third day in a row.
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Zabaleta initially went to the ER in late 2020 because of shortness of breath she believed to be a symptom of COVID. At the center, she tested negative for COVID. The doctor sent her home and told her to rest—even though she had been feeling faint and lost feeling in her fingers and toes. The next day, she returned to the center, only to be told that she would be fine with rest. On the third day of her relentless sickness, a pediatrician called her back to the ER because of her abnormal vitals.
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After being passed off to multiple ER staff, a pediatrician wrapped a blood pressure snugly around Zabaleta’s arm. Despite her blood pressure of 240/160, Zabaleta didn’t feel sick anymore. The three days of non-stop fatigue, perspiration, and tingling had rendered her body numb. The ER staff called an ambulance for a confused Zabaleta. A pediatrician told her that her life was in danger and that she was at risk of having a heart attack.
“I’m Just Ready To Get On-Stage:” Youth-led Bands Take on the Omaha Music Scene
Published in The Reader
Photograph by Isa Luzarraga
Like most bands, UN-T.I.L. owes its origin to a concert. The only thing is, the three members weren’t even there.
It was their moms who met each other weaving through the crowd of an Ex Hex show at Reverb. They struck up a conversation, bonding over being too short to see through the crowd, their music taste and, most importantly, their daughters.
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“I don’t really know what they were talking about, but somehow it got back to us,” 14-year-old drummer Tierney Coughlin said. “They were like, ‘Our kids should play together. You guys can meet each other and play some music.’ So we did, and the first few times were really, really awkward.”
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But once they pushed past the discomfort, Lena Seavey, 14-year-old bassist/singer; Inara Seavey, 12-year-old guitarist/singer and Tierney bonded over their love for “Stranger Things,” the Pixies and of course, playing music and formed UN-T.I.L. About a year later, they found themselves playing to a crowd of hundreds at the 2021 Maha Music Festival.
“I’m Still Gasping For Air:” Chemical List Released after Nox-Crete Fire, Residents Still Concerned
Published in The Reader
Photograph by Chris Bowling
When Nancy Valentino stepped outside to smoke a cigarette the evening of Memorial Day, she didn’t expect to see anything out of the ordinary. The residents on 19th and Dorcas streets heard pops, but they all assumed they were firecrackers. Then she saw black, billowing clouds of smoke.
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“There was all that smoke over those trees,” she said looking south toward the charred remains of the Nox-Crete chemical warehouse about 2,000 feet from her home. “There were car crashes because they had to detour traffic. I was concerned about what was in the air. I have grandkids in the house.”
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On May 31, Nox-Crete Manufacturing reported a three-alarm chemical fire in its warehouse near 20th and Woolworth streets, which houses concrete sealant chemicals. It took more than a week for the Omaha company to provide a list of what chemicals burned in the fire, despite making one days earlier, and local agencies are still determining potential effects.
“What if it was you”: A Nebraskan student body’s movement to dismantle campus rape culture
Published in Keke Magazine
Photograph by Will Ramsey
“…and after he was done, he threw her on the lawn.” Students around campus describe the assault to one another. Women clutch their keys like weapons. Many take detours around Greek row. They fear the vulnerability that comes with nightfall. They prepare for the worst.
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On Tuesday, August 24th, a 17-year-old female student from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was raped by a member of the UNL’s chapter of fraternity Phi Gamma Delta. Reports from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Police Department (UNLPD) detail the woman getting picked up by a friend and escorted to a local hospital. She talked with authorities after receiving medical attention.
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Following this incident, thousands have been advocating for the termination of UNL’s chapter of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) across social media and in the streets of Lincoln.
In a statement released by the fraternity, members said they were working closely with police to investigate the matter.
Among friends, the Millard mask debate has a different tone
Published in Flatwater Free Press
Design courtesy of Flatwater Free Press
Sarah Moore and Amber Lichti have lived in the same Millard cul-de-sac for seven years, separated by one house. They share the occasional glass of Prosecco and chat about parenting their school-aged children. Their daughters, Lily and Annabelle, are self-declared best friends, most of the time, and go to fourth grade at Bess Streeter Aldrich Elementary School, a three-minute drive from home.
They are similar in parenting style. And yet these two Millard moms disagree about whether their daughters should have to wear masks to attend fourth grade — even as they both worry about the Delta variant and the school year ahead.
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