Molly Parker — ProPublica

They Said a 3D Printer Would Bring Housing to This Town. It Was Yet Another Broken Promise.

I spotted the printer abandoned off a country road. Finding out how it got there is a whole other story of tangled politics, tiny banks with big business deals, and the future of a town some say cannot be saved.

April 22, 2026, 5:00 am EDT

3D-Printed Homes, an Abandoned $590,000 Deposit, the FBI: What Really Happened in This Small Town?

April 16, 2026, 5:30 am EDT
The Floods Kept Coming. He Needed to Grow a Crop That Would Thrive in Water — or to Quit.

September 5, 2025, 7:00 am EDT
The Federal Farm Policy Trap: Why Some Farmers Are Stuck Raising Crops That No Longer Thrive

September 4, 2025, 7:00 am EDT
A University, a Rural Town and Their Fight to Survive Trump’s War on Higher Education

March 27, 2025, 6:00 am EDT
We Found Widespread Abuse of Disabled Patients at an Illinois Facility. The DOJ Is Investigating.

March 24, 2025, 6:00 am EDT
Illinois Has Virtually No Homeschooling Rules. A New Bill Aims to Change That.

March 3, 2025, 7:00 am EST
Five Big Obstacles to Opening Child Care Facilities in Rural Illinois

January 21, 2025, 9:00 am EST
“All Our Future Money Is Gone”: The Impossible Task of Providing Child Care in Rural Illinois

January 10, 2025, 7:00 am EST
The Government Spends Millions to Open Grocery Stores in Food Deserts. The Real Test Is Their Survival.

August 9, 2024, 9:00 am EDT
How Illinois’ Hands-Off Approach to Homeschooling Leaves Children at Risk

June 5, 2024, 8:00 am EDT