Bethany Raja
City Hall ReporterBethany Raja is WYPR's City Hall Reporter.
Raja was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, and grew up between Homer and Anchorage, Alaska, where she spent summers camping, fishing and playing under the midnight sun, and winters waiting for the school bus under the dancing green and blue Aurora Borealis.
Raja published her first story during journalism school at the University of Alaska, Anchorage in 2013, and since 2015, has been working as a full-time journalist in print and digital mediums.
Her first full-time journalism job was as the crime, courts, breaking news and education reporter at the Roswell Daily Record, in New Mexico. She then worked for a short time in La Grande, Oregon, where she covered education. From Oregon, Raja moved to Kauai, where she covered crime, courts, breaking news and county/state government, and then moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she was the sole crime, courts and breaking news reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News, a USA Today Network paper. She then transferred to the Newport Daily News, where she covered housing, real estate and education.
While in Las Cruces, Raja was awarded a spot at the John Jay/Henry Guggenheim Crime Reporting Fellowship, and was recognized as one of the, “Best of Gannett 2020,” for her reporting that year.
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Maryland voters should expect a slew of questions to amend the state constitution and local charter amendments on the ballot. -
There are dozens of early voting locations statewide, including seven in Baltimore City. -
Officials are making big changes to its Safe Streets initiative but a hearing to discuss it was halted after a public spat over communication. -
Baltimore City Board of Elections director said the city is still short 1,000 judges for the general election. -
Most facial recognition technology has been prohibited in Baltimore City since last year, except for police under state control. -
Top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby said DNA evidence collected from Hae Min Lee’s shoes analyzed for the first time did not match Syed. -
Baltimore City leaders said they were negotiating with homeless residents under the Jones Falls Expressway for a week before police intervened. -
The Baltimore City report created in conjunction with The Department of Justice recommends more compassion and transparency for victims of violence. -
Senior citizens in Baltimore learned about the Inflation Reduction Act and Maryland Board of Prescription Affordability both meant to reduce the price of high-cost prescription drugs. -
A union representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees blames understaffing for unsafe conditions.
