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Lee Murray

Youngstown, Ohio

Lee Murray

Youngstown, Ohio

Featured
(Photo: DUSTIN LIVESAY) Sarah Fowler: Ohio State School Board
District 7: Elected in November 2012 to fill unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2014, representing Akron and southeast Summit County and the rest of Ohio from Portage County north and east to the borders. School board committees: Appointments; Achievement; Operating standards. Occupation: Clerical and marketing work at family-owned farm.
Akron Beacon Journal
Featured
Ask a Practitioner: Apitherapy
"I’m an apitherapist, and I sting people with bees." - Floyd Alexander
Spirituality & Health
Featured
Vindy.com - Anti-fracking groups dismiss drilling certification as ‘publicity stunt’
The proposed gas-drilling certification process created by a partnership of the fracking industry and regional environmental groups is getting harsh criticism from grass-roots activists throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio. The newly formed Center for Sustainable Shale Development, based in Pittsburgh, announced March 20 that it will create a testing and certification program to codify industry “best practices” and hold fracking companies to a high standard to protect communities from environmental damage.
The Vindicator
News
Featured
Exotic animal owner hisses at new state ban
Dee cradles one of her 8-week-old alligators in her hands. At 12 inches, George is a manageable and fascinating exotic pet, not noticeably different in size or temperament from any other pet reptile for sale in Ohio’s pet stores. “Everything I own, I guess you could say, is kind of outrageous,” laughed Dee.
TheNewsOutlet.org
News
State raises doubts about Liberty's future
A state auditor’s report found several problems in Liberty Township’s accounts that raised “substantial doubt” about the township’s “ability to continue as a going concern.”. Officials blame severe cuts in state tax revenue, the elimination of estate taxes and a reduction in the property tax base for a 22.4 percent cut in the township’s general-obligation fund budget, which led officials to borrow from one account to cover another.
The Vindicator
Same Pig. Different Motel.
Penelope the pig takes the weight off her hooves. The hefty swine was quite comfortable hogging the pillow in her room at Super 8 on Belmont Avenue after her owner abandoned her. She eventually was enticed out late last week with a bag of candy and returned to an Animal Welfare League shelter in Warren.
The Vindicator
Hubbard cops train for lethal threats
Hubbard City Police Sgt. Christopher Moffitt, left, instructs while Detective David Oaks listens during an active shooter scenario training at Hubbard Middle School. Hubbard Police Officer Adam Hess checks every room along the central hallway of Hubbard Middle School with his gun drawn. He is searching for a gunman who may or may not have taken hostages.
The Vindicator
Water department bills church $93,000
The July water bill Monsignor John Zuraw received for St. Rose Catholic Church on State Street was, in a word, hellacious. “We must have used $93,000 in holy water,” he told the Sunday congregation, poking fun at the errant bill. There was not a vast increase in baptisms, nor an excessive increase in the amount of tea consumed in the rectory.
The Vindicator
Drugs, aliases, and a very angry pig
Penelope the 300-pound potbellied pig was found in a ground-floor room of Hotel 30 on Motor Inn Drive when Liberty police checked a tip that a wanted man was staying there. After someone squealed to police, officers knocked on the door of a ground-floor room of Hotel 30 on Motor Inn Drive. Liberty Township police were following up Saturday night on a tip that a wanted man was staying there.
The Vindicator
Hattie’s harvest
When she is not attending classes at YSU, Hattie Wilkins spends a lot of time with her hands in the dirt.
Jambar
News
Youngstown Complaints Choir
Audio slideshow of a unique art exhibit, part of "Living as Form: The Nomadic Version."
Jambar
Multimedia
New thrift stores open on Mahoning Avenue
During a down economy, few businesses can claim to be thriving. One exception to this rule is the burgeoning thrift store industry. Lee Murray brings us the story. A stretch of Mahoning Avenue less than a mile long has seen two new thrift store locations open within the past two months. Johnny Rivers owns the fledgling People Thrift Store.
WYSU/TheNewsOutlet.org
Radio
From pop to prof
On Oct. 8, Brian Bonhomme, an assistant professor of history at Youngstown State University, donned a gray hoodie, jeans and a salt-and-pepper beard as he lectured to his environmental history class.
Jambar
News
Vindy.com - Solar-powered Volt stops in Valley
Greg Kuss of Green Energy Ohio stopped by the Warren Joint Apprenticeship Training Center to recharge his Chevrolet Volt. Green Energy Ohio stopped in Champion today on a 534-mile trip around Ohio promoting the electric Chevy Volt. Green Energy Ohio board member Greg Kuss has owned a Volt for one year and takes us for a ride.
The Vindicator
News
Sites on Washington Avenue looking brighter
Girard’s Washington Avenue is looking up. As old buildings are replaced with new developments, and abandoned houses are refitted by the local authority, Lee Murray takes a look back at how the street has changed over the past four years. This small, single-story house in Girard sits a stone’s throw from the library.
WYSU/TheNewsOutlet.org
Radio

About

I am a student writer and editor from Bournemouth, England. I moved to Youngstown, Ohio in 2008 to build a life in a foreclosed home in the heart of America's rust belt.

I write for newspapers, magazines, literary publications, and radio. I'm academically and professionally ambitious, and I'm actively seeking paid freelance work.

I have interned for The (Youngstown) Vindicator, producing daily stories, and I have written and produced radio stories for WYSU, Youngstown’s NPR affiliate. I worked with BBC Worldwide on a radio documentary during the run-up to last year’s presidential election, and around the same time I volunteered for ProPublica as part of a vast open-source project analyzing campaign contributions.

I recently completed an internship at TheNewsOutlet.org. They specialize in enterprise reporting.

Thanks for checking out samples of my work.

Lee