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KCUR Reporters Receive Awards

KCUR and Harvest Public Media reporters recently received several journalism awards for their reporting.

Elana Gordon won an Edward R. Murrow Award for her story Helping The Homeless One Ride At A Time.
Until 1 a.m. every day,Kar Woo, a slender man with dark shoulder length hair that’s greying around his ears, drives around this brightly painted mini-van, with the Gandhi quote, “Be the Change,” printed in big red letters on the side.  He drives it between hospitals, domestic violence shelters, schools, bridges, treatment centers, and even jails, helping people who are homeless.

Sylvia Maria Gross and Susan B. Wilson won an Edward R. Murrow for their story New Curfew Prompts Debate About Parenting, Violence.
The city council took an aggressive step to try and stop large numbers of young people from congregating on the Plaza and other entertainment zones last week. The new weekend curfew appears to be working, at least if this weekend is any indication. But some people are concerned that the curfew is aimed more at protecting the Country Club Plaza than young people.

Harvest Public Media's Jessica Naudziunas won an Edward R. Murrow for The Curious Case of the Cattle Rustler.
For two years, mustachioed and smooth-talking Kevin Ray Asbury ran a racket that went a little something like this: He lured customers with top-shelf Angus cattle. They would buy into the herd, or sell their own for breeding.

Laura Spencer won a Missouri Broadcasters Association Award for her story Revisiting Robert Altman's Kansas City.
The 1920s and '30s marked the heyday of Kansas City jazz. Political boss Tom Pendergast tolerated drinking in an era of prohibition. And musicians flocked to play the dozens of clubs in this "wide open town." But today, in the city's historic 18th and Vine jazz district, fake storefronts, including movie facades, have been in place longer than many businesses last, almost as long as the heyday itself.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
Sylvia Maria Gross is storytelling editor at KCUR 89.3. Reach her on Twitter @pubradiosly.
Jessica Naudziunas is Harvest Public Media's connection to central Missouri, working out of the KBIA offices in Columbia, Mo. She joined Harvest in July 2010. Jessica has spent time on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday and WNYC's Soundcheck, and reported and produced for WNIN-FM in Evansville, Ind. She grew up in the city of Chicago, studied at the University of Tulsa and has helped launch local food gardens in Oklahoma and Indiana.
Kansas City is known for its style of jazz, influenced by the blues, as the home of Walt Disney’s first animation studio and the headquarters of Hallmark Cards. As one of KCUR’s arts reporters, I want people here to know a wide range of arts and culture stories from across the metropolitan area. I take listeners behind the scenes and introduce them to emerging artists and organizations, as well as keep up with established institutions. Send me an email at lauras@kcur.org or follow me on Twitter @lauraspencer.
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