More states strive to make parks, trails accessible to people with disabilities
By Tom Peterson, Michigan Advance
A young girl looks on during a funeral for three people killed at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Yavoriv outside of Lviv near the border with Poland on March 15, 2022. It was held at the Church of the Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Lviv, Ukraine. // Nick Childers
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By Carmen Gentile
In 2022, Postindustrial ventured well beyond the boundaries of Postindustrial America to cover communities facing deadly strife around the world.
The war in Ukraine threw a once-vibrant nation into disarray and forced millions from their homes. Postindustrial contributors chronicled the Russian aggression at the outset of the war, producing stories that brought the conflict to the pages of our award-winning magazine.
Soldiers are pictured March 23 outside a shopping mall ruined as a result of a missile strike carried out by the Russian troops in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv. // Photo by Yuliia Ovsiannikova/Ukrinform/Abaca/Sipa USA via AP Images
Meanwhile, Postindustrial also continued to chronicle the lives of Afghans who were forced from their homeland and started new lives in America.
Zubair Babakarkhail with three of his children Omair, and Khadija and Javeria in front Pittsburgh Colfax K-8 School, in October, 2022, where the kids attend school. They settled in Pittsburgh after escaping their homeland, with Zubair's wife, amid the choatic drawdown of US troops and the takeover the Taliban. Attending school in Afghanistan is something that the girls likely wouldn't be able to do had they not escaped: the Taliban restricts women and girls from attending secondary schools. // Martha Rial
We also brought you fun stories from abroad, like the tale of a delightful couple whose next chapter entails traveling and living in an old Belgian Army vehicle, turned into a modern-day tiny home.
Mark and Jaqueline Lambert in a converted military vehicle, parked in Sarajevo. After losing their jobs, they decided to downsize and began to travel in a 1990 Volvo N10 Army truck. Says Lisa: "In a postindustrial world, we may all have to live with less. Yet, when circumstances imposed it upon us, far from feeling deprived, our minimal lifestyle has been an outstandingly positive experience." Photograph by Lisa Rothig
The most popular images included a shocking bridge collapse in Pittsburgh and photographs from a contentious midterm election.
A Port Authority bus was on Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh's East End when the bridge collapsed Friday Jan. 28, 2022. Rescuers rappelled nearly 150 feet while others formed a human chain to help rescue people from a dangling bus. The rufurbished bridge reopened in December. The collapse also prompted Pittsburgh City Council to examine the condition of other bridges for potential repairs. // Gene J. Puskar / AP
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has been re-elected, this time to a full six-year term in an historic runoff, against GOP challenger Herschel Walker. // Win McNamee/Getty Images via Georgia Recorder
We also took a close look at the armed militant groups in our region in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol coup attempt, through the podcast, Extremely American.
Lee Miracle with an array of guns he owns at his home in Sterling Heights, Mich., on January 12, 2022. Lee is an active member of the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia — which began in his living room. In 1994, a group gathered there, angry about the deadly government sieges at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas. They agreed they'd want a system of self-defense, if the federal government tried to enter their property. Miracle was interviewed for the podcast Extremely American, which explored the anti-government movement, produced by Postindustrial Media. Though its numbers have dwindled significantly, movements like Miracle's are increasingly on the radar of the federal government and watchdog groups. // Brittany Greeson
Finally, we finished out the year with simple, yet beautiful images from the Postindustrial town of New Castle, Pennsylvania, that have seemingly struck a chord with so many of you.
Western Pennsylvania native Willis Bretz turned his lens on New Castle, Pennsylvania to depict a Postindustrial city proud of its past but seeking a transition to the future. Above, Philip Victor Sunseri opened this New Castle barber shop in 1935. His son, Philip Salvatore Sunseri, took over the shop in 1961 and is still cutting hair today in the same location. At 83, Sunseri has lived in New Castle his entire life. From his shop window since 1961, he has watched New Castle transform from a once-bustling city to one of despair. Discussing the lack of industry there, Phil Sunseri recalls, “At one time in this town, you could quit your job in the morning and be working somewhere else in the afternoon.”
Carmen Gentile is founder and editor-at-large of Postindustrial. He has worked for some of the world’s leading publications and news outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, CBS News and others. His book, “Blindsided by the Taliban,” documents his life as a war reporter and the aftermath of his brush with death after being shot with a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan.
By Tom Peterson, Michigan Advance
By Robert Zullo, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
By Rachana Pradhan, KFF Health News
By Kellie B. Gormly
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