Rachel Cohrs

Multimedia Journalist

Los Angeles, CA

I'm a journalist with a passion to explain complex issues and equip people to make informed decisions.

Rachel Cohrs

Multimedia Journalist

Los Angeles, CA

I'm a journalist with a passion to explain complex issues and equip people to make informed decisions.

Mothers in Texas are dying, Legislature gets second chance to help
As doctors frantically tried to revive her 21-year-old daughter Cassaundra Perkins, Cheryl Givens-Perkins couldn’t watch. She turned her back and looked out the hospital window. “I was just thinking, is this really happening? Is this really fixing to happen?”. Givens-Perkins said. At 1:05 p.m. on Sept. 5, 2014, Perkins was pronounced dead.
Austin American-Statesman
Statesman
In Review: Transgender bathroom policy in the 85th Texas Legislature
Texas’ debate on which public bathrooms transgender people are legally allowed to use has proved polemic. The Legislature didn’t pass any bills on the issue, which deeply divided lawmakers and the public alike, during its 2017 regular session. However, Gov. Greg Abbott decided to resurrect the issue during the special session he called that started July 18.
Austin American-Statesman
Statesman
Trump hasn’t been charged with obstructing justice, but these 5 famous people have
Plenty of celebrities were outraged by President Donald Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey. As the investigation deepens into possible ties between Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government, those opinionated stars (and Democratic politicians and some pundits) have bandied the term “obstruction of justice” around.
Austin American-Statesman
Statesman
Rep. Moody wears Tupac, Notorious B.I.G. socks in name of ‘bipartisanship’
Texas Rep. Joe Moody took to Twitter to show off his, well, distinctive sock choice ahead of another day of the Legislature’s special session Tuesday. This hosiery choice makes quite a fashion statement — Do you see that bandanna on the Tupac sock? but Moody, an El Paso Democrat, claims he’s making a different kind of statement.
Austin American-Statesman
Statesman
A tale of two exonerees: Their struggles to be paid for years spent in prison
When Larry Pohlschneider gets his check for $762,440, he already knows what he’s going to do with the money. He’s going to buy a house, a 4x4 truck with all the features he’s always dreamed of, and a Prius for cruising around town. He can’t wait to give his daughter a wedding present. He wants to pay off his mom’s house and help out family members.
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee
Where did California’s savings from reducing drug penalties go?
Nearly 20 ex-convicts who had been drug addicts, gangbangers and prostitutes strained their eyes in an attempt to grasp the colorful, intricate diagram scribbled on the whiteboard. On a Sunday afternoon in Oakland, the group gathered with community organizers to discuss mass incarceration in a small, fluorescent-lit office tucked in a strip mall.
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee
Trump touts support from ‘my African American,’ says Clintons hate Obama
Presidential candidate Donald Trump said Bill and Hillary Clinton “hate” President Barack Obama and singled out an African American supporter in the crowd during a sweltering campaign stop in Redding on Friday. “Hillary hates Obama, you know that? She has hated him for years,” Trump said. He argued the couple are only pretending to like the president to avoid prosecution for Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state.
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee
Senate bill says religion no excuse for LGBT discrimination
SB 1146 would tighten requirements for university exemptions from anti-discrimination laws. Ricardo Lara says schools use exemptions to discriminate. Republican senators say bill infringes on First Amendment rights. The state Senate passed a bill Thursday that would make it more difficult for universities to get religious exemptions from anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT individuals.
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee
South L.A. Native Kicks Off Grassroots City Council Run
When Jorge Nuño renovated a mansion in South Los Angeles and opened up a space for local kids to go after school, the community couldn't quite believe it. When police cars came over to the house, whispers started that he had the cops in his back pocket. When Nuño bought small skateboard ramps and an Xbox for the kids to use, one neighborhood mother was concerned that that there were some kind of "Michael Jackson shenanigans" going on.
USC Annenberg Media
USC Annenberg Media
Are Artists Being Pushed Out of the Arts District?
The Arts District has undergone rapid changes in recent years, and as upscale lofts and restaurants are built, visitors and longtime residents of the Arts District lament the loss of a mysterious sense of "edginess" in the community. According to art critic and curator Shana Nys Dambrot, a typical Friday night conversation in the "edgy" Arts District back in its heyday in the 1990s might have gone like this.
USC Annenberg Media
Minority groups in Southeast Minnesota remain uninsured
Denise Robertson, Southeast MN regional coordinator/senior MNsure navigator and Jeffrey Jurewicz, MNsure navigator and outreach specialist, help people sign up for health insurance." Navigating the health insurance system is hard enough for native-born English speakers," Robertson said. The overall numbers from the University of Minnesota State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) show an overall 8.2 percent uninsured rate in 2013.
Post-Bulletin
Rochester Post Bulletin
Rochester district to ask voters for more money
The referendum question, which will appear on ballots in November, will ask voters if they support an increase in tax levy funding to keep school district offerings at their current operating levels for the next five years. If it's approved, funding would increase from the current per pupil revenue of $578 to $836.82 and would offset a $3.8 million projected deficit in the 2016-17 school year.
Post-Bulletin
Rochester Post Bulletin

About

Rachel Cohrs

Adobe InDesign

Wordpress

HTML

CSS

Photoshop

Microsoft Office Suite

Drupal

Narrable

Storify

Google Analytics

Dreamweaver

Premiere

Audition

Social Explorer

Google Maps

AP Style

Editing

jQuery

JavaScript

Python

I'm a journalist with a passion to explain complex issues and equip people to make informed decisions.

I have experience with political coverage in both the California and Texas capitols. I have a solid foundation in news writing and can also shoot and produce mobile video, produce interactive story elements and tell stories using social media. These skills make me a versatile storyteller and a productive collaborator in any newsroom.

A comprehensive summary of my work experience is available at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelcohrs/. My Twitter @rachelcohrs features a mix of my interests and links to recent work.