Laura Fay

award-winning digital journalist & audience strategist

Instagram •

Police say they've identified dozens of people in documents from Olney house

Philadelphia police say they've identified dozens of people seen in videos they recovered from the Olney house at the center of a massive investigation. Several missing women, including some who are believed to be dead, are linked to the house, and police say the footage they found inside is disturbing and violent. The house belongs to Eugene Horsch, who is in federal custody on gun and drug charges. His father, Raymond "R.C." Horsch, previously lived in the house and died in 2025. Reporter Joe Holden has the latest on the continuing investigation. See the full story at the link in our bio.
CBS Philadelphia •

University of Pennsylvania agrees to ban trans women from women's sports in agreement with federal government

The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to ban transgender women from women's sports, the Department of Education said Tuesday, resolving a civil rights case that centered around swimmer Lia Thomas competing for the university's women's teams in 2021 and 2022. Penn agreed to a number of "action items" to resolve what the department calls Title IX violations, the Education Department said in a statement. Those items include restoring "to female athletes all individual UPenn Division I swimming...
CBS Philadelphia •

Why does it take more than one day for votes to be counted in Pennsylvania?

All eyes will be on Pennsylvania on Election Day and possibly for days to come because the commonwealth is a key battleground in the race for the White House. The winner of the Keystone State's 19 electoral votes might not be clear on election night, though. State law does not allow Pennsylvania election workers to start opening or counting mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day, the same time polls open for in-person voting. More than two million voters in the state requested mail-in ba...
CBS Philadelphia •

Why Kamala Harris picked Pennsylvania for her first campaign rally with VP running mate Tim Walz

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Vice President Kamala Harris will hold her first campaign rally with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, by her side tonight in Philadelphia. The rally at the Liacouras Center on Temple University's campus starts at 5 p.m. Harris named Walz as her vice presidential pick Tuesday morning, according to CBS News. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was reportedly among the top two finalists for the job, is scheduled to speak at the rally in Philadelphia before Harris ta...
CBS Philadelphia •

After measles exposures in Philadelphia region, what you need to know about the virus, symptoms and vaccine

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Local health departments have reported measles cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and several people were exposed to the disease in Delaware, according to state officials. Although most people are vaccinated against this highly contagious virus, it can spread rapidly among those who are unprotected and can cause dangerous complications for some groups. Measles is caused by a virus. Children younger than 5 and people older than 20 are most likely to experience complicat...
The 74 •

‘This Is the Reality I Go Home To’: Students at Virtual Town Hall Urge Educators to Talk About Race and Racism. Here Are Some Starting Points for Teachers

The 2020-21 school year will be unlike any other in history, with many students learning online from home, and with those who are in school wearing masks and taking other precautions against the coronavirus pandemic. After an intense summer of protests for racial justice in response to high-profile incidents of Black people being killed and injured by police, students would like to see another difference at school this year: frank and honest conversations about race and racism.
The 74 •

As School Board Members Across the Country Share Racist Social Media Posts, Current Students and Recent Grads Push Back

When Emily Sullivan saw that a school board member from her district had posted conspiracy theories about George Floyd’s death on Facebook and suggested protesters should be “hosed,” her first thought was, “This is unacceptable,” she said. The rising high school junior in Brewster Central School District in Putnam County, New York, started an online petition June 11 calling on the board member, Krista Berardi, to resign, not expecting many people to pay attention.
The 74 •

Ambitious Research Project — to Review How Every School in America Responded to COVID-19 — Aims to Deliver Its First Findings in Early July

A new research effort underway at Tulane University aims to track how every K-12 school in the United States — district, charter and private — responded to the coronavirus pandemic and the abrupt shift to remote learning that came with it. Led by economist and education researcher Douglas Harris, the project is part of REACH, the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice, based at the university in New Orleans.
The 74 •

Will ‘Free College’ Survive COVID-19? How the Pandemic Could Devastate College Promise Programs — and Why the November Election Might Be Their Only Hope

Timari Ray, who recently finished her first year at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee, says she probably wouldn’t be able to afford higher education without the Tennessee Promise, which in 2014 made community college free for most students in the state. Thanks to the Promise, she’s planning to transfer to the University of Tennessee after her second year and eventually open her own public relations firm. “I at least would have tried [to go to college without the Promi
The 74 •

Coronavirus Separates Student Teachers From Their K-12 and College Classrooms, Forcing Them to Scramble and States to Change License Rules

On a Friday afternoon in early April, a group of student teachers joined a Zoom call hosted by Joy Ross, who coordinates student teacher programming in the Cherry Creek School District outside of Denver. After a body scan meditation exercise, the teachers-in-training entered how they were feeling on a scale from 1 to 5 in the chat section of the app. A few share that they’re worried about their students and family members amid the spreading coronavirus pandemic.

How a News Site for Kids Is Providing Comfort — and Free Educational Content — in a Time of Uncertainty and Anxiety

North Carolina teacher Sabrina Spada and her students found comfort in an unlikely place when their school shut down because of coronavirus: Newsela. Logging on to the online education tool, known for providing news articles and short quizzes tailored by grade level, was something familiar her students could do amid all the uncertainty and chaos, said Spada, who teaches fourth grade at Foust Elementary School in Greensboro.
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