Diane Orson
Diane Orson is CT Public Radio's Deputy News Director and Southern Connecticut Bureau Chief. For years, hers was the first voice many Connecticut residents heard each day as the local host of Morning Edition. She is a longtime reporter and contributor to National Public Radio. Her stories have been heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition and Here And Now. She is the co-recipient of a Peabody Award. Her work 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 and her husband are the parents of two very cool adult children.
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Sawney Freeman may be America's first Black composer. He was likely enslaved in Connecticut, and his music has been performed there for the first time in two centuries.
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For centuries, stories of northern slavery were not easy to find. Understanding slavery in this project involves learning the stories of those enslaved — and bearing witness.
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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. -
In Connecticut, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to deport a legal permanent resident even though her record has been cleared.
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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.
