Joanne Elgart Jennings

Among more than 20 of the major U.S. symphony orchestras, only one woman has the top job of principal conductor. But women are making better gains in the nation's smaller ensembles. Jessica Bejarano is leading the San Francisco Civic Symphony, as well as the path for other women like her trying to reconfigure gender roles. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings reports

After years of pleading for a bigger chunk of the Louisiana's tight budget, Jimmy LeBlanc is now overseeing an effort to invest millions — savings from Louisiana’s 2017 criminal justice overhaul, which slashed the overall prison population by more than 12% — into programs to better prepare people for life after release.

The rapid expansion of ICE detentions in Louisiana has injected depressed rural communities with a new source of income while increasing profits for private companies. With more than 51,000 migrants detained by ICE, upwards of 8,000 are being held in Louisiana jails and prisons. Joanne Elgart Jennings reports in the second of a two-part series in partnership with The New Orleans Advocate and ITVS. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6 Follow us: Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/newshour Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour Snapchat: @pbsnews Subscribe: PBS NewsHour podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts Newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is currently detaining more than 51,000 people. But with detention centers near the U.S.-Mexico border at capacity, more than half of those detainees are being held in remote prisons and jails, often far from legal representation. In the first of a two-part series, Joanne Elgart Jennings reports from Louisiana in partnership with The New Orleans Advocate and ITVS. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6 Follow us: Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/newshour Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour Snapchat: @pbsnews Subscribe: PBS NewsHour podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts Newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe

Rick Prelinger produces a film series called “Lost Landscapes," montages that present city life across 100 years. These portraits tell hidden histories of American cities through the most personal of lenses: home movies. So far, he’s presented films about San Francisco, Detroit, Oakland, Los Angeles, and New York. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings reports.

Oregon photographer Christopher Burkett is best known for producing large-format film prints of American landscapes, some of the highest resolution color photographs ever created without computer technology. But he only has a limited supply of the materials, which have been discontinued, making his current work a race against the clock. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings reports.

Faced with some of the most expensive rental housing in the nation, some Bay Area residents are feeling priced out and are seeking low-cost alternatives. In Silicon Valley, a hub of computer and technology companies, some people are even turning to cars, vans and RVs for housing. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings has the story.

Gun violence claims over 33,000 lives a year in the U.S., but the idea of bolstering gun laws remains deeply divisive. After the Las Vegas shooting, 61 percent of Americans said they prefer stricter laws while 11 want fewer restrictions, according to Gallup. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Jennings traveled to Oregon, where a group of gun owners say they want to find middle ground.

Wildfires in northern California have caused about 95,000 residents to evacuate and killed at least 36 people, making them the deadliest in the state’s history. As firefighters make progress containing the flames, some residents are returning home to ruins. PBS NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings reports from Kenwood, California.

Troy Williams did his time -- 18 years of a life sentence in California prison -- and he survived by using his experiences as bases for podcasts, videos and other valuable documentation on the inside. Continuing these pursuits after an unexpected parole in 2014, his acclaim and contributions have only grown, most recently as a Soros Justice Fellow. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings reports. This is part of an ongoing series of reports called 'Chasing the Dream,' which reports on poverty and opportunity in America.

Firefighters are making progress taming the wildfires that have consumed more than 220,000 acres across Northern California and killed at least 41 people. Special correspondent Joanne Jennings reports from Napa County, where crews are battling shifting winds, and owners and workers from wine country return to determine how much damage has been done.

In a bid to meet the demand for long-term care in the U.S., which is expected to grow in the coming years, some states are turning to adult foster care to offer aging adults physical assistance and emotional support. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings reports from Oregon, where adult foster care has existed for more than 40 years, as part of an ongoing series of reports called "Chasing the Dream," which reports on poverty and opportunity in America.