By Rachel Crumpler Retired couple Karon and Leo Mertens, who live in Fuquay-Varina, are traveling more than they ever have. Since the beginning of 2020, they’ve gone on 48 trips, flying thousands of miles all over the United States. To Washington, Ohio, Texas and many more destinations. But they are not taking personal vacations to […]
Author Archives: Rachel Crumpler
Rachel Crumpler is our Report for America corps member who covers gender health and prison health. She graduated in 2022 from UNC-Chapel Hill with a major in journalism and minors in history and social & economic justice. She has worked at The Triangle Business Journal and her college newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel.
She was named a 2020-21 Hearst investigative reporting award winner for her data-driven story spotlighting funding cuts at local health departments across North Carolina and the impact it had on Covid responses. Her work has appeared in The News & Observer, WRAL, Greensboro News & Record, NC Policy Watch and other publications.
