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EPA Takes Action to Combat Industrial Air Pollution
The EPA announced a raft of targeted actions and specific reforms in the wake of ProPublica’s investigation into toxic hot spots.
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Lawmakers Propose $600 Million to Fix Housing Program for Native Hawaiians
Hawaii legislators are seeking to infuse $600 million into the state’s native land program. The move follows a Star-Advertiser/ProPublica investigation.
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Tennessee Judge Who Illegally Jailed Children Plans to Retire, Will Not Seek Reelection
Since 2000, Judge Donna Scott Davenport has overseen juvenile justice in Rutherford County. Following reporting from Nashville Public Radio and ProPublica, public outcry and a bill seeking to oust the judge, Davenport announced her retirement.
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Reps for Casino Developer Defend the Destruction of Nearly 600 Housing Units in Reno
At a town hall, Reno residents expressed doubt about developer Jeff Jacobs’ “vision” to contribute land for public housing after he had already razed affordable units. “A vision is something you have before you tear things down,” said an attendee.
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Senate Finance Chair to Billionaire Developers: Explain How Opportunity Zone Tax Break Is Helping the Poor
Citing ProPublica’s reporting, letters to Jorge Perez of Related, Kushner Companies and others request details on projects in opportunity zones created during the Trump administration.
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After Years of Complaints, Florida Improves Pollution Monitoring Near Burning Sugar Cane Fields
Regulators updated air-monitoring equipment following a ProPublica/Palm Beach Post investigation that found shortcomings in the way authorities police air quality during the cane burning season in Florida’s heartland.
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Purdue President Condemns Tactics Used to Censor Chinese Students on U.S. Campuses
After a ProPublica story showed how China is censoring dissenting students on U.S. campuses, including Purdue, university President Mitch Daniels vowed to sanction students who report classmates for exercising free speech.
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What’s Polluting the Air? Not Even the EPA Can Say.
Despite the high stakes for public health, the EPA relies on emissions data it knows to be inaccurate. To expose toxic hot spots, we first had to get the facts straight.
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At Last, Florida Families Hit Hard by Their Children’s Birth Injuries Are Promised More Help
The chairman of Florida’s NICA board gave parents of children born with brain injuries the message some of them waited decades to hear: “You have been heard.”
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A Multimillion-Dollar Settlement for a Young Woman Once Lost in the Shadow Foster System
Days after ProPublica featured Molly Cordell in a story about how a North Carolina county illegally tore her from her family and made her homeless, she got a $4 million settlement.
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Head of New Mexico Child Support Agency Asks State to Stop Intercepting Payments to Poor Families
Following a ProPublica investigation, the New Mexico Child Support Enforcement Division is calling on the state Legislature to stop funding the agency with millions in child support confiscated from single mothers who previously received welfare.
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The EPA Administrator Visited Cancer-Causing Air Pollution Hot Spots Highlighted by ProPublica and Promised Reforms
ProPublica found more than 1,000 hot spots of toxic air pollution across the country, and determined Black residents were disproportionately at risk. Environmental experts called the EPA’s response to our investigation historic and a “radical change in tone.”
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Judge Says NYPD Illegally Withheld Footage in Police Shootings
A New York state judge said the NYPD was operating in “bad faith” when it denied requests to release body-worn camera footage from the killing of Kawaski Trawick.
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A Patient in a Psychiatric Ward Was Seen on Video Possibly Being Sexually Assaulted. No One Reported It.
Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago kept quiet about a possible sexual assault of one patient by another in its psychiatric unit. Only after ProPublica asked questions did Illinois’ public health officials alert law enforcement.
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Former Kentucky Secretary of State Faces Ethics Charges
Alison Lundergan Grimes, a onetime Democratic rising star and subject of a ProPublica series, is accused of using state resources for her political advantage.
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St. Jude Hoards Billions While Many of Its Families Drain Their Savings
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital promises not to bill families. But the cost of having a child at the hospital for cancer care leaves some families so strapped for money that parents share tips on spending nights in the parking lot.
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Senators Call for Federal Investigation Into Liberty University’s Handling of Sexual Assaults. School Promises Independent Probe.
Following a ProPublica report that detailed how the evangelical college discouraged and threatened to punish students who report being raped, Sen. Tim Kaine says his office is “urging the Department of Education to investigate.”
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Lawmakers Call for Immediate Action at Chicago Shelter Housing Afghan Children
After ProPublica’s report that Afghan children at a Chicago shelter were hurting themselves, Sen. Dick Durbin asked federal officials to investigate. In the meantime, Heartland Alliance, the facility’s operator, now has interpreters in its shelters.
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LA Inspector General Looks Into Allegations of Racist Policing by Sheriff’s Deputies on School Grounds
Citing a LAist/ProPublica report that sheriff’s deputies disproportionately stopped and cited Black students, LA County’s Inspector General said he will look into allegations of racial discrimination in California’s Antelope Valley high schools.
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Florida Program to Aid Brain-Damaged Kids Often Told Families No. It’s Promising to Change.
The program promised support while taking away parents’ right to seek justice. Instead, NICA often forced parents to go through the state’s Medicaid safety net first — including appeals. Now, a proposed set of rules could change the approach.
