Marisa Peñaloza

1 day ago | wunc.org | Greg Allen |Marisa Peñaloza

SWANNANOA, N.C. -- U.S. Highway 70 is the main road through Swannanoa, a small town in western North Carolina, and it's still a mess almost nine months after Hurricane Helene hit. There are piles of debris and buildings without windows and roofs. Most of the businesses that line the highway are still closed. Many may never reopen. But on a side street in a church parking lot, about two dozen people are lined up holding grocery bags. They are waiting for Bounty and Soul, a local nonprofit.

2 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Greg Allen |Marisa Peñaloza

SWANNANOA, N.C. — Before the remnants of Hurricane Helene swamped this town, the Super 8 Motel, wedged between a highway and the Swannanoa River, provided affordable short and long-term housing for dozens of people who couldn't find affordable housing elsewhere. Now, it's like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie, frozen in time. A thick layer of mud covers the area. Kim Maisch points to a section of the motel that shifted and landed in the river.

Mar 9, 2025 | opb.org | Debbie Elliott |Marisa Peñaloza

Civil rights demonstrators, led by Dr. Martin Luther King (5th R), civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy (5th L), John Lewis (3rd L) and other civil and religious leaders, make their way from Selma to Montgomery on March 22, 1965 in Alabama. AFP / AFP via Getty ImagesPeople make the pilgrimage annually to walk across the iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge, where on March 7, 1965, law officers attacked civil rights activists in an incident that became known as Bloody Sunday.

Mar 9, 2025 | npr.org | Debbie Elliott |Marisa Peñaloza

Civil rights demonstrators, led by Dr. Martin Luther King (5th R), civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy (5th L), John Lewis (3rd L) and other civil and religious leaders, make their way from Selma to Montgomery on March 22, 1965 in Alabama. AFP/via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption AFP/via Getty Images SELMA, Ala.

Nov 8, 2024 | kpbs.org | Marisa Peñaloza

ROCKVILLE, MD — Margarita Womack never imagined she would be making empanadas for a living. She dreamed of spending her life in a lab making life-changing discoveries, she says. Colombian-born Womack is a Ph.D. scientist-turned-entrepreneur. She’s the founder of  MasPanadas, a frozen empanada brand that's distributed nationwide. The empanada is a popular comfort food in Latin cultures, and it’s grown in popularity in the U.S. in the last few years.