Sarah Volpenhein, My Work

Still little follow-up in child migrant cases after forced labor ring probe

April 26, 2018
The Marion Star

Federal officials still don't keep track of child immigrants who enter the country alone and are placed in communities across the country after eight Guatemalan teenagers were placed with their traffickers and forced to work on Marion-area egg farms. Read original

Photo by Sarah Volpenhein / The Marion Star

City's recycling program could be in jeopardy

Aug. 16, 2018
The Marion Star

Curbside recycling could end in Marion after year's end unless the city decides to pay processing fees to the local recycling company, fees that recyclers across the country have begun asking for in light of market upheaval. Read original

Ex-attorney convicted of rape keeps 13-year sentence

March 27, 2018
The Marion Star

A once-prominent Marion defense attorney convicted of sexually assaulting his clients will keep his original prison sentence after being re-sentenced. Read original

Photo by Sarah Volpenhein / Grand Forks Herald

Muslims in Grand Forks going through a 'testing time'

Dec. 6, 2015
Grand Forks Herald

An arson attack last week on a Somali business in Grand Forks raised questions among local Somalis, most of whom are Muslim, about whether they are safe here, a question Muslims across the country may be asking themselves. It is still not clear what the motive behind the attack was, but some residents are counting Grand Forks among... Read original

Photo by Logan Werlinger / Grand Forks Herald

Communication breakdown: Grand Forks jail visitors upset over cut visiting hours

Feb. 28, 2015
Grand Forks Herald

Katie Knudson has been traveling more than 30 miles to the Grand Forks jail five days a week for the past three months, where she waits in line for up to an hour and a half before getting to see her incarcerated husband. "I'm usually here at 6," Knudson said one evening last week from in line at the jail, where visiting hours... Read original

Court sides with man claiming privacy rights were breached