After returning to the U.S. from Africa, I spent a year working for NPR's Midwest Newsroom as an investigative reporter covering Iowa and Nebraska from my base in Lincoln. Below is a selection of the stories I reported during my tenure there. Click the title or the image to view the stories on the websites of the partner stations for which they were created.
Privatize or downsize the USPS? Rural customers worry that either option will hurt them
Since President Trump began his second term, talks of overhauling the U.S. Postal Service have picked up. A new postmaster general with ties to FedEx deepens concerns about further service cutbacks and even privatization, both of which would hit rural customers hardest.
More Nebraskans need rural transportation but there’s less money to fund it
Rural Nebraskans took 650,000 rides on public transportation in fiscal year 2025, and demand is on the rise. There are more than 50 rural transit agencies in the state, and all of them had to cut their budgets by 30% this year – a hit they didn’t expect.
Iowa schools have 5 years to test for radon. 3 years in, fewer than half have done so
Experts say children are more vulnerable to the radioactive gas. A teacher spent her last years working to pass a law to protect them and her colleagues from Iowa’s deadliest cancer, but it does not yet contain enforcement measures or include private schools.
Strong winds broke records, along with trees, buildings and budgets, in Nebraska this year
High winds broke some Nebraska records, and nearly broke others, in 2025. Trees fell, power cut out, and homes were damaged, while restoration and insurance costs rose.
