MARTHA IRVINE

National writer and visual journalist

Irvine is a national writer and visual journalist for The Associated Press and a member of the AP’s Global Enterprise team.

As more of the world thirsts, luxury water becoming fashionable among the elite

Though the United Nations deemed water a basic human right more than a decade ago, millions of people worldwide still don’t have clean water to drink.

Tribe seeks to adapt as climate change alters ancestral home

SANTA CLARA PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — Raymond Naranjo sings for rain, his voice rising and falling as he softly strikes his rawhide-covered drum.

School gun case sparks debate over safety and second chances

Oak Park, Ill. (AP) — Keyon Robinson was just a month away from graduating from high school when he took a loaded gun, placed it in his backpack and headed to campus.

In the midst of chaotic shooting, strangers save a young boy

In the midst of the chaos of a Chicago-area parade massacre, a woman walked up to Greg Ring and handed him a 2-year-old boy, covered in blood.

Resilience Story: A bullet, a wheelchair, then perseverance

CHICAGO (AP) — There is a large photo of Jonathan Annicks on a wall at the rehab hospital where he was once a patient.

As natural gas expands in Gulf, residents fear rising damage

There are neighborhoods in Southwest Louisiana that have endured seven federally declared disasters in just two years.

Resilience Story: Forget about the leg, just watch him dance

CADILLAC, Mich. (AP) — The high school choir room buzzed with spontaneous song and silliness before the show.

Texas day care gets reprieve after drilling plan is rejected

Parents who send their children to a day care center in Arlington, Texas, will be able to breathe easier after the city refused to let a major energy company drill more gas wells a few hundred feet from the center’s playground.

In shadow of Texas gas drilling sites, health fears escalate

Next to a North Texas day care center is a site where Total Energies is pumping for natural gas. The French energy giant wants to drill three new wells on the property next to the center, which serves mainly Black and Latino children.

Forgotten oil and gas wells linger, leaking toxic chemicals

There are about 2 million abandoned oil and gas wells nationwide that haven’t been properly plugged with cement.

Youth of the pandemic revisited: Hopeful, resilient, nervous

A young woman in California, newly vaccinated, flashes a smile and a peace sign as she poses for a prom photo with her pals.

Public service in the US: Increasingly thankless, exhausting

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — He scurries through his apartment, downing a quick mug of coffee, brushing his teeth, feeding his pet rabbit, Auggie, before leaving.

US climate activists to livestream Earth Day due to virus

As the coronavirus crisis expands, young climate organizers in the United States who’d planned massive marches for Earth Day next month are planning a three-day livestream event instead.

Nathaniel Taylor, who played Rollo on ‘Sanford and Son’ dies

Nathaniel Taylor, the actor best known as Rollo Lawson, the street-smart best friend of the son on the 1970s sitcom “Sanford and Son,” has died.

A sister uses her gifts to send messages to fallen soldier

After a roadside bomb killed her brother in Iraq, a Wisconsin violin maker finds solace, and healing, in the creative process.

Singer-songwriter dumps LA for Iowa farm to do it her way

Singer-songwriter Lissie leaves LA for Iowa farm in an attempt to redefine what it means to make it in the music business.

Dear Candidates: Here’s what girls and young women think

Dear Candidates: Girls and young women write letters to express gratitude and fear after historic presidential election

Divided America: Diverse millennials are no voting monolith

Millennials recently surpassed baby boomers as the largest living generation in U.S. history, and how they vote on Nov. 8 will shape the political landscape for years to come.

Q&A: A look at nonverbal autism, facilitated communication

Here are a few answers to questions about nonverbal autism and facilitated communication as well as the controversy surrounding ‘supported typing.’

‘I am here’ - Silenced by autism, young man finds his voice

Benjamin Alexander has nonverbal autism, but he has found his voice through writing. The 22-year-old Tulane University junior says, ‘I want people to know I am here.’

HIV-positive doctor says his dog saved his life

CHICAGO (AP) — Rob Garofalo was devastated. He’d built his medical and research career on helping young AIDS patients. Then he learned that he, too, was HIV-positive.

‘Happiness advantage’ over age 30 is vanishing, study finds

Are you happy? Very happy? If you’re in your 30s or older, a new study has found that you’re less likely to answer “yes” than your parents were.

Backpage ad site: Aider of traffickers, or way to stop them?

CHICAGO (AP) — Is the huge classified ad site an abettor of sexual trafficking and exploitation, or a beacon of free expression?

Young adults want news every day, survey shows

CHICAGO (AP) — Young adults have a reputation for being connected to one another and disconnected from the news.

Survey: Young adults do consume news _ in their own way

CHICAGO (AP) — Young adults have a reputation for being connected to one another and disconnected from the news.

‘Cadaver dog’ work more accepted by cops, courts

BENTON, Calif. (AP) — The burly Labrador retriever sticks out his wide snout to sniff the dirt and dusty air.

Female fans stand by NFL, if uncomfortably

CHICAGO (AP) — Mary Jo Kane, a lifelong Chicago Bears fan and college professor, settles in to watch a football game and finds herself taking a tally of the players — one she’d rather not do, but can’t help.

Study: Millennials less trusting than Gen X was

CHICAGO (AP) — They’re often pegged as the civic-minded, do-gooding generation. But while they’re still optimistic about their own personal prospects, a new study finds that today’s youth are often more skeptical of the country’s institutions than the young generations that preceded them.

T1red of p@sswords? Y0u @re N*t @lone!

CHICAGO (AP) — Good thing she doesn’t need a password to get into heaven. That’s what Donna Spinner often mutters when she tries to remember the growing list of letter-number-and-symbol codes she’s had to create to access her various online accounts.

Dress codes: Where should schools set limits?

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — They’re called leggings — popular fashion items that are tight-fitting pants to some, and glorified tights to others.