Kathy Lohr

Whether covering the manhunt and eventual capture of Eric Robert Rudolph in the mountains of North Carolina, the remnants of the Oklahoma City federal building with its twisted metal frame and shattered glass, flood-ravaged Midwestern communities, or the terrorist bombings across the country, including the blast that exploded in Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta, correspondent Kathy Lohr has been at the heart of stories all across the nation.

Lohr was NPR's first reporter based in the Midwest. She opened NPR's St. Louis office in 1990 and the Atlanta bureau in 1996. Lohr covers the abortion issue on an ongoing basis for NPR, including political and legal aspects. She has often been sent into disasters as they are happening, to provide listeners with the intimate details about how these incidents affect people and their lives.

Lohr filed her first report for NPR while working for member station KCUR in Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and began her journalism career in commercial television and radio as a reporter/anchor. Lohr also became involved in video production for national corporations and taught courses in television reporting and radio production at universities in Kansas and Missouri. She has filed reports for the NPR documentary program Horizons, the BBC, the CBC, Marketplace, and she was published in the Saturday Evening Post.

Lohr won the prestigious Missouri Medal of Honor for Excellence in Journalism in 2002. She received a fellowship from Vanderbilt University for work on the issue of domestic violence. Lohr has filed reports from 27 states and the District of Columbia. She has received other national awards for her coverage of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Midwestern floods of 1993, and for her reporting on ice storms in the Mississippi Delta. She has also received numerous awards for radio pieces on the local level prior to joining NPR's national team. Lohr was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She now lives in her adopted hometown of Atlanta, covering stories across the southeastern part of the country.

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The Salt
2:51 pm
Wed December 12, 2012

Georgia Town Makes Claim For Fruitcake Capital Of The World

Originally published on Wed December 12, 2012 4:29 pm

In the small town of Claxton, Ga., two bakeries make more than 4 million pounds of fruitcake each year. Both bakeries say Claxton is the fruitcake capital of the world, despite a similar claim made by a company in Corsicana, Texas.

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Around the Nation
1:58 pm
Thu December 6, 2012

To Trim Down, Spelman Trades Sports For Fitness

Credit Courtesy of Spelman College
Spelman College has dropped NCAA athletics in favor of a comprehensive fitness program. The school now offers classes like Zumba to help encourage all students to exercise more.

Originally published on Thu December 6, 2012 4:40 pm

For the past decade, Spelman College, a historically black women's school in Atlanta, has fielded NCAA teams in basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball and other sports. But when its small Division III conference started dwindling, college President Beverly Tatum says the school decided it was time to change focus.

"We have to ask ourselves: What is the cost of the program and who is benefiting? How many people are benefiting? Is the benefit worth the cost?" Tatum asks.

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Election 2012
3:51 am
Thu November 8, 2012

2012 Election Highlights Divide Over Abortion

Credit Scott Sonner / AP
On Oct. 24, women backing President Obama protest outside a convention center in Reno, Nev., where Republican Mitt Romney was giving a campaign speech. Exit polls show significant support from women was a key factor in Obama's victory over Romney in Nevada.

Originally published on Thu November 8, 2012 10:47 am

In an election that highlighted the political divide over abortion, female voters turned out to be a key to victory for President Obama.

Public outcry over Republican Todd Akin's comments on "legitimate rape" ultimately gave Democrat Claire McCaskill a U.S. Senate victory in Missouri. And in Indiana, Republican Senate hopeful Richard Mourdock lost his race at least in part because of his comments about pregnancy resulting from rape.

The Republicans' comments pushed the abortion issue to the forefront — and also united and motivated abortion rights activists.

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Superstorm Sandy: Before, During And Beyond
2:12 pm
Sat November 3, 2012

Crews Work To Restore Power, And Explain The Delay

Originally published on Sat November 3, 2012 3:45 pm

More than 8 million people lost power after Superstorm Sandy. Five days later, 2.5 million are still waiting as power companies across the region continue to say that restoring power is more complicated than it seems.

The storm packed a one-two punch. First, it flooded several switching stations including one hidden under the New Jersey Turnpike in Newark, says Art Torticelli, who was out with his crew from Public Service Electric and Gas at a switching station in Essex, N.J.

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Education
2:03 pm
Sun October 28, 2012

Undocumented Students Take Education Underground

Originally published on Fri November 9, 2012 2:19 pm

About 35 students meet every Sunday at an undisclosed location in Georgia to study. They are undocumented and banned from attending some of the most prestigious colleges in the state.

Georgia is one of three states to bar undocumented students from attending schools. But a group of professors at the University of Georgia has created a fledgling school to provide a place for students to learn.

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Presidential Race
2:14 pm
Tue September 18, 2012

Some Florida Seniors Divided On '47 Percent'

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 4:09 pm

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The fundraiser where the Romney video was recorded was held in Florida. And today, in that politically important state, reaction was mixed about Romney's unscripted remarks. NPR's Kathy Lohr gathered some views from people at a retirement community.

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Deceptive Cadence
12:31 am
Tue September 11, 2012

Atlanta Symphony Locked Out

Credit Jennifer Taylor
The Atlanta Symphony performs at New York City's Carnegie Hall in 2011.

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 12:49 pm

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and its musicians are at an impasse. The players' contract expired at the end of last month. The symphony is facing a $20 million budget deficit, and it's seeking millions in concessions from the musicians. Both sides say they want to reach an agreement, but they've left the bargaining table, putting the orchestra's 68th season in jeopardy.

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Election 2012
2:06 pm
Fri August 24, 2012

In Akin's Wake, Ryan Defends Anti-Abortion Record

Originally published on Fri August 24, 2012 5:27 pm

Since Republican Rep. Todd Akin first said the words "legitimate rape" Sunday, just about everyone in the Republican Party has condemned those comments.

The Missouri Senate candidate later apologized, but his remarks continue to drive the political debate. They've also raised questions about the anti-abortion record of the Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

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Around the Nation
2:14 pm
Thu August 23, 2012

A City Leveled By Hurricane Andrew Rebuilds — Again

Originally published on Thu August 23, 2012 3:43 pm

Twenty years ago, Homestead, Fla., was in the eye of what was then the worst storm to hit the United States.

Fifteen people died directly from Hurricane Andrew and a few dozen more died from injuries later. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed. Andrew's 165-mile-per-hour winds took out nearly every building in Homestead, leaving tens of thousands homeless. Families spent hours in lines to get water and ice.

National Guard troops handed out bags of ice but limited how much each family could get.

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Around the Nation
2:25 am
Tue August 21, 2012

Rice, Moore Invited To Wear Green Jackets

Originally published on Wed August 22, 2012 6:01 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Change comes slowly at Augusta National. Study the 80-year history of the golf course, and you'll find dramatic finishes at the Masters tournament, but not all that much else. Occasionally, the club adds a couple of sand traps, but they don't lightly change the azaleas, the sense of tradition or the exclusive private club membership: not until now has the club admitted women members. A South Carolina banker and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice become the first. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.

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