Diane Orson
Diane Orson is WNPR's local host for Morning Edition. She's also a reporter for WNPR, as well as a contributor to National Public Radio. Her stories are heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition and Here And Now. Diane began at WBUR in Boston and came to Connecticut in 1988 as a co-producer for Open Air New England. She shared a Peabody Award with Faith Middleton for their piece of radio nostalgia about New Haven's Shubert Theater. Her reporting has been recognized by the Connecticut Society for Professional Journalists and the Associated Press, including the Ellen Abrams Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism and the Walt Dibble Award for Overall Excellence.
Diane is also an active professional musician. She lives in Hamden with her husband and two children.
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Hank Bolden is one of thousands of U.S. soldiers exposed to secret nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s. He's now using compensation money from the federal government to focus on his first love: music. -
A Connecticut attorney has opened a shop that combines his passion for the law with his barber skills. Donald Howard says he first got the hybrid-business idea working as a paralegal for a personal injury attorney who doubled as a sports agent. And, a California attorney opened Legal Grind, a coffee house and law office.
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In the weeks following the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, more than a quarter-million cards, letters and gifts have arrived in Newtown, Conn. The town is trying to decide what to do with a collection that quickly outgrew its storage at the municipal building and now fills a warehouse. -
Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, gifts have come into the grief-stricken Connecticut community by the truckload. Parents say they're not sure how to celebrate, but some hope the traditions will bring back some sense of normalcy. -
The test long used to demonstrate high school equivalency is getting an overhaul. Many educators agree it's time for an update, but the new GED will be much more expensive and administered only on computers. Some are worried the new exam will be out of reach for many test takers. -
The town of East Haven, Ct., has reached a proposed agreement with the U.S. government to settle claims that police discriminated against Latinos there. Citizens accused the police of excessive force, intimidation and unlawful search and seizure.
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Many cities spend millions on prisons annually, and often those moving in and out of jail come from the same neighborhoods. The Justice Mapping Center maps those costs, block by block, to help policymakers visualize where those public dollars are going — and determine if they could be better spent. -
A legal case under way in Connecticut, involving a group of death row inmates, has attracted some national attention. The trial resumes Tuesday and centers on whether there's been race, gender and geographic bias in Connecticut's death penalty cases. Diane Orson of member station WNPR reports
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Connecticut is on track to become the next state to abolish the death penalty, following a vote this week by the state Senate. Supporters say the law will apply only to future cases, but critics say it could be used by current death row inmates to challenge their sentences. -
Objects excavated from the Machu Picchu ruins in the early 1900s have finally come home. The artifacts were taken by Yale explorer Hiram Bingham III. After 100 years, an international custody battle and an angry letter from Yale alumni, they're are back on display in their country of origin.
