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.

Campaign Finance Disclosure: The Laws States Need To Shine Light On Dark Money In Politics

“There’s a whole list of groups or individuals that provide dark money. People or corporations … the public ought to know who is spending money to influence our votes,” a representative for a group lobbying for honest, open government tells MintPress.

Chris Christie

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Las Vegas. Several possible GOP presidential candidates gathered in Las Vegas as Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino magnate, looks for a new favorite to help on the 2016 race for the White House. MINNEAPOLIS --- As the influence of money

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Housing First: A Different Approach To End Homelessness

The key to effectively reducing homelessness may be just that: a key.

Ion Gardescu

A key difference between maintaining homelessness and ending it in Washington state’s King County is a plan to offer the homeless keys to their own homes and access to support services. “The American people have grown accustomed to modern-day homelessness,” said Michael Stoops, director of community organization for the National Coalition for

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Environmentalist Kicked Out Of Chevron-Sponsored Event

After organizers of a Chevron-sponsored economic development summit learned of a paying attendee’s association with an environmental watchdog, he was forcibly ejected from the event.

Paul Paz y Miño

On Wednesday, Paul Paz y Miño was standing at the back of the ballroom of the Marriott Convention Center during the Economic Development Summit for Energy and Sustainability in Oakland, Calif., when he was approached by a woman. The woman asked Paz y Miño, the online and operations director for the environmental watchdog organization Amazon

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Silent Howls: The Euthanization Of Shelter Dogs

Euthanasia is an unfortunate reality for shelter dogs that don’t get adopted, but spaying and neutering could go a long way in changing this.

For many animal lovers, a pet is a member of the family. The most beloved house pet for one-third of American families is man’s furry, four-legged friend: the dog. Though apparently adored by Americans, dogs in shelters often exceed demand. According to the Humane Society of the United States, 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats enter shelters

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Endangered Wild Cats Harmfully Bred In Zoos For Profit, Not Protection

Inbreeding practices of rare white tigers and white lions have led to birth defects and abnormalities, but is their popularity in zoos more important than their conservation?

white tigers

Although the wild cats on display in zoos seem to be the kings and queens of their exhibits, the reality of their lives in captivity is far from royal. Illegal poaching, trophy hunting, retaliative persecution and habitat loss subjects wildlife species to extinction or captivity, and has brought populations of wild cats in the world to staggering

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Illegal Trash Becomes Shelter For Calif. Homeless

An Oakland, Calif., artist uses trash illegally dumped on the city’s streets to make mini mobile homes for the city’s homeless, effectively addressing two problems at once.

In this April 14, 2006, file photo, a homeless woman seeks shelter under construction scaffolding in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Los Angeles is violating the county health code in its Skid Row area by allowing the nation's densest population of homeless people to live on streets infested with rats, human excrement and used hypodermic needles, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has found, in a survey conducted through May 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

The old proverb says that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, but in one city in the San Francisco Bay Area, many people’s illegal trash has become over a dozen mini shelters for the homeless. Nearly half of the 6,215 homeless people in Alameda County reside in Oakland, where many wander the streets following incarceration,

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The Myth Of The Casino Cash Cow For Native Americans

Contrary to stereotypes about reservation gambling profits, most Native Americans are struggling.

Today’s casinos of flashing lights and slot machines in smoke-filled rooms attract high rollers and bad losers. Many see casinos as a lucrative business for Native American reservations -- but does this myth of money-making match reality? Twenty-five percent of the U.S. population aged 21 and over visited a casino and participated in gambling in

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