News Reporting
¡Alerta! Variations in Spanish dialects complicate emergency messaging
Meteorologists call to standardize Spanish advisory terms for weather-related emergencies
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Professionaljournalist
Experienced, accurate, ethical, versatile
Kay Nolan combines solid research and thorough reporting with impeccable writing skills and journalistic integrity to produce top-quality writing, from brief articles to entire publications.
Kay tackles the difficult subjects, such as scientific research, medical and health issues, government regulation and business and financial news in a way that is accurate and truly informative, while at the same time easy for the average reader to understand.
Publications where my articles appeared
Portfolio
News Reporting
In weather emergencies, a lack of Spanish-language information endangers the public
Weather officials, media recognize call; taking action
News Reporting
Women and minorities in weather and climate fields confront harassment, lack of inclusion
Last year the Black Lives Matter movement that intensified with the high-profile deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others led to heightened conversations nationwide around institutional discrimination against marginalized groups in workplaces, academia and government.
New York Times
Trump Questions Biden’s Mental Abilities and Calls Harris Biden’s ‘Boss’
The president made three campaign rally-like appearances at airports in Minnesota and Wisconsin in an attempt to counterprogram the first night of the Democratic National Convention. President Trump questioned former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s mental capabilities and mocked Senator Kamala Harris of California as an extreme liberal in three campaign rally-like appearances on Monday as Democrats began their four-day national political convention nominally in Milwaukee but largely online.
Diversity IS
The Independent School Mindset on Physical Disabilities Is Still Behind the Times, Experts Say
Independent K-12 schools have been required by law to open their doors to people with physical disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs, for nearly 30 years. Though they provide physical accommodations for students with disabilities, some schools struggle to overcome a “mindset” that prevents them from even considering enrolling such students, says Tom Glassberg.
Christian Science Monitor
The new classroom is a factory
Former lab technician Annette Helmich is thrilled to have a new, in-demand skill and a full-time job to go with it – welding machinery.
While Ms. Helmich started learning her new craft by spending four weeks
at a local community college, she says she polished her welding skills on the factory floor of her new employer, AGCO Corp.
CQ Researcher
Domestic Poverty, Can stricter work mandates reduce the poverty rate?
A decade after the 2007-09 financial crisis and the weak recovery that followed, the U.S. poverty rate has reverted to prerecession levels, but extreme poverty is worsening.
Economists attribute this situation to widening
income disparity, wage stagnation, a scarcity of affordable housing and the growing prevalence of part-time or temporary employment.
CQ Researcher
Foster Care, Can the System Handle Soaring Demand?
Increasing demand for foster care and adoption services is overwhelming state and private child-placement agencies across the country, a trend stemming largely from parental opioid abuse that has shattered families and orphaned thousands of children.
Overworked caseworkers are boarding children in hotels, state offices and even cars while they scramble to find homes for them, even as many states cut spending on programs that benefit children and families.
News Reporting
How can a reporter not versed in military terms, bureaucracy and sources best get the info?
Not everyone — or every outlet — covers the armed services regularly. But aspects of the military pop up in many regular coverage areas.
When a standoff by armed activists at eastern Oregon’s Malheur Wildlife Refuge made international headlines in January, an aspect of the story referenced the U.S. military.
New York Times
Milwaukee Officer is Acquitted in High Profile Trial
When the police officer went on trial for first-degree reckless homicide in a shooting that touched off riots in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park, body camera footage became key evidence. I covered this trial, leading to three stories, the final one making page 1A. I was the only member of the media to coax an interview from the mother of the officer on trial. I also covered the emotional reaction outside the courthouse after the verdict.
Milwaukee Magazine
Around the Clock: The 12-hour shift is now the norm in the nursing profession. Although many nurses welcome a flexible schedule, is it good for the patients?
The Facebook post — uploaded in November 2014 — had been shared 636,912 times by the afternoon of July 9, 2015. And the momentum was still going.
A few hours later, there were 2,500 more “shares,” and by July 10, another 11,151 people had shared the post, which attracted more than 5,000 comments. The hot topic? Nurses and their long hours.
News Reporting
Obama calls for tax changes to help companies that stay in U.S., punish those moving jobs overseas
President Obama Wednesday called on Congress to overhaul the tax code to eliminate breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and instead reward companies that stay and hire in the U.S.