Katie Lentsch

Katie Lentsch is a MintPress editorial assistant and community manager. Her work has appeared in the Twin Cities Daily Planet & MintPress. Her desire to expose awareness of national and global issues began while backpacking through western Europe where she gained international perspectives on politics and culture, as well as from her experiences residing in an abandoned school in volunteering for Hurricane Katrina relief in New Orleans. Her reports include coverage on the social and legislative debates between Second Amendment rights and gun control, and has profiled various stories of people facing struggles such as homelessness, addiction and violations of their human rights.

Gun Control After Sandy Hook: Is There A Middle Ground?

One Sandy Hook dad is an advocate for expanding background checks — but is also a supporter of gun rights.

Katie Lentsch
Por Katie Lentsch
Barbara Wells of Shelton, Conn., holds her daughter Olivia, 3, as she pays her respects Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 at one of the makeshift memorials for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in Newtown, Conn., last December, a single gun carries the weight of much more than a few pounds. In memory of the lives of 20 children and six educators lost in the mass shooting, issues revolving gun restrictions and gun rights have become the center of a national debate. There have been 6,386 gun

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US Forces Targeted Amid Afghanistan’s Increasingly Difficult Security Transition

Afghanistan’s poorly equipped military, its reliance on U.S. troops, and a persistent campaign attacks are making the transition a struggle.

Katie Lentsch
Por Katie Lentsch

The U.S. Army began the integral process of formally handing over security responsibility to Afghan forces in the country last month, but the war-torn nation’s poorly equipped military, its reliance on U.S. troops, and a persistent campaign of Taliban attacks since the initial U.S. invasion into Afghanistan are making the transition a

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Citing Cancer Risk, FDA Cuts Back On Arsenic In Apple Juice

The acceptable amount has been lowered to 10 parts per billion of arsenic, the same level allowed in drinking water.

Katie Lentsch
Por Katie Lentsch

The Food and Drug Administration is cutting back on the level of arsenic that is allowed in apple juice, one of the most popular fruit drinks among American children, due to long-term carcinogenic effects from the poison. The acceptable amount has been lowered to 10 parts per billion of arsenic, the same level allowed in drinking water. The

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BP Claims Deepwater Horizon Spill Compensation Scheme Is Abused By Claimants

The London-based company has filed a contentious appeal to go back on the terms of an agreement they drafted themselves.

Katie Lentsch
Por Katie Lentsch

In a New Orleans court this week, the petroleum giant BP argued that fraudulent and improper claims have tarnished the agreement that led the company to pay millions of dollars to victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A fund of $20 billion was set aside to settle claims and costs from the disaster, which killed 11 and spilled more than

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Hunger-Striking Gitmo Inmates Pose Legal Challenge To Being Force-Fed During Ramadan

Of the 166 prisoners in the facility, 106 are on hunger strike for being indefinitely detained without charge, trial or release.

Katie Lentsch
Por Katie Lentsch

Force-feeding at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has been the U.S. military’s way to prevent deaths among hunger striking prisoners. Detainees, however, have filed a lawsuit with federal courts demanding that authorities stop the practice. “I do not want to be force-fed. I don’t want to die either, but this is a living death here in Guantanamo,” said

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Budget Cuts Threaten Recovery Schools For Teen Addicts

Since many teens’ addictions begin at their regular high school, these recovery schools try to end them.

Katie Lentsch
Por Katie Lentsch

Two million teenagers across the U.S. between the ages 12-17 struggle with addictions each year. For Amelia DeCoster, a recovered alcoholic since the age of 19, being an active addict was difficult and exhausting. “I was able to hold some things together during high school, but these things would slip away year by year,” she said. “Sooner rather

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Stories Behind The Faces: In Shelters And On The Street, Homeless Women Survive

The reality of homelessness is far different than the picture most Americans hold in their head.

Katie Lentsch
Por Katie Lentsch

Of the estimated 3.5 million people likely to experience homelessness in America each year, 47 percent are female. While many are single women struggling on their own while, most homeless women have families to support, usually with children. Besides the difficulty of finding a stable place to live, these women are fighting the stigma of what it

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