Stephan Bisaha
Stephan Bisaha is the wealth and poverty reporter for the Gulf States Newsroom, a regional collaboration between NPR and member stations in Alabama (WBHM), Mississippi (MPB) and Louisiana (WWNO and WRKF). He reports on the systemic drivers of poverty in the region and economic development.
Before joining the team, Stephan spent three years as an education reporter for the Kansas News Service, a network of member stations in Kansas. He also spent a year as a Kroc Fellow for NPR, where he did the data analysis for an investigation into the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, produced Weekend Edition and reported in Birmingham.
He was born and raised in New Jersey. His hobbies include cooking, improv and physical fitness.
-
The tips Dora Whitfield earned at Harrah’s Casino covered her bills. But like a lot of workers, returning to work is not as simple as following the help wanted signs. -
President Biden has aspirations for a new era of train travel. Amtrak supporters hope that a new line between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, is just the start. But major obstacles stand in the way.
-
In Alabama, about a thousand coal miners have been on strike for several months. They're demanding better pay and benefits. It's one of the rare union actions in the Deep South.
-
Water providers in some rural communities across the region often fail to deliver clean and reliable water. Black Bayou Water Association is addressing that issue by connecting small utilities.
-
Plans for a passenger line connecting New Orleans with Mobile are underway, but opposition from the freight train industry could derail the service — and possibly President Joe Biden’s vision for an Amtrak resurgence.
-
The resounding vote against forming a union at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama is a blow to the labor movement. It has glimmers of hope but in the private sector unions are rare and mostly weak.
-
Those who hoped workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama would vote to unionize are trying to figure out where to go from here, now that workers rejected a union drive.
-
A majority of Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama voted against forming a union. It wasn't that much of a surprise for people who work and live in the state.
-
The final vote tally: 1,798 against unionizing versus 738 in favor of a union. About 500 challenged ballots were not counted, with most challenges coming from Amazon.
-
Politicians across the aisle agree that grocery taxes harm low-income families. And yet the tax remains untouched.
