Cities Say They Store Property Taken From Homeless Encampments. People Rarely Get Their Things Back.
Storage programs are meant to protect people’s property rights and allow them to reclaim their possessions. But they rarely accomplish either objective, according to a ProPublica investigation of cities with the largest homeless populations.
Reporting From the Southwest
ProPublica’s seven-person reporting unit based in Phoenix covers the Southwest, including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Many of these states are among the fastest-growing in the country, and the region is experiencing rapid changes to the climate, economy, demographics and other trends that will shape the nation’s future.
Despite Trump’s Win, School Vouchers Were Again Rejected by Majorities of Voters
In several Republican-led states, popular sentiment on the voucher issue has been overridden by the efforts of special interest groups and powerful governors who have enacted sweeping voucher programs that often benefit affluent families.
Trump Says He’ll Move Thousands of Federal Workers Out of Washington. Here’s What Happened the First Time He Tried.
The Bureau of Land Management’s headquarters moved from the capital to Colorado in 2020, causing an exodus of leadership. If elected, Trump plans to use the same tactic across more of the federal government.
Tribal College Campuses Are Falling Apart. The U.S. Hasn’t Fulfilled Its Promise to Fund the Schools.
Decades ago, Congress made a commitment to fund a higher education system for Indigenous communities. But a quarter-billion-dollar annual shortfall has led to crimped budgets and crumbling buildings, even as enrollment rises.
Southwest News Staff
- Southwest Editor
- Michael Squires
- Reporters
- Anjeanette Damon, Eli Hager, Mary Hudetz, Mark Olalde and Nicole Santa Cruz
Local Reporting Network Partners
ProPublica is supporting local and regional newsrooms as they work on important investigative projects affecting their communities. Some of our past and present partners in the region:
- Arizona Daily Star
- Tucson, Arizona
- Arizona Republic
- Phoenix, Arizona
- New Mexico In Depth
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Searchlight New Mexico
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Santa Fe New Mexican
- Sante Fe, New Mexico
- Rocky Mountain PBS
- Denver, Colorado
Denver Rallied Behind Arriving Immigrants. Now Its Homeless Population Feels Shortchanged.
When Mike Johnston became the mayor of Denver, he was determined to do right by the migrants arriving in his city. But it wasn’t long before he felt the full weight of that commitment.
Nevada Says It Worked Out the Kinks in Its New Voter System in Time for The Election, but Concerns Remain
After recent practice runs showed significant problems in transferring data accurately, the battleground state’s new centralized voter registration system will get its first real-world test in a major presidential election.
Who’s Mailing the Catholic Tribune? It’s Not the Church, It’s Partisan Media.
ProPublica has traced these mass-mailed newspapers to a “pink slime” network known for misinformation and its financial ties to right-wing super PACs and billionaires.
FEMA Told Victims of New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire It Can’t Pay for Emotional Harm. A Judge Will Likely Rule It Must.
Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire victims sued the agency because it will compensate them only for losses that come with a price tag. Victims say the law allows them to be paid for the stress of fleeing the blaze and the toll of losing their possessions.
In a State With School Vouchers For All, Low-Income Families Aren’t Choosing to Use Them
Working-class parents often express interest in vouchers. But in Arizona, the nation’s school choice capital, these families aren’t using them due to the inaccessibility of private schools and the costs of transportation, meals and uniforms.
Arizona Cracked Down on Medicaid Fraud That Targeted Native Americans. It Left Patients Without Care.
Arizona suspended scores of behavioral health providers as authorities investigated them for defrauding the American Indian Health Program. The state’s actions left patients homeless and without treatment.
“I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network
Ravi Coutinho bought a health insurance plan thinking it would deliver on its promise of access to mental health providers. But even after 21 phone calls and multiple hospitalizations, no one could find him a therapist.
Utah Supreme Court Rules That Alleged Sexual Assault by a Doctor Is Not “Health Care”
The decision revives a lawsuit filed by 94 women who said their OB-GYN sexually abused them. Previously, a lower court determined that the actions they alleged had to be treated as medical malpractice.
How a Green Tech Startup With No Climate Experience Secured Millions of Dollars in Government Contracts
Founded by lobbyists, NZero convinced Nevada government officials, including administrations from two political parties, to pay more and more money despite its struggles to deliver promised real-time carbon emission data.
School Vouchers Were Supposed to Save Taxpayer Money. Instead They Blew a Massive Hole in Arizona’s Budget.
Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, has spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it’s now facing hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state programs and projects.
Utah OB-GYN David Broadbent Charged With Forcible Sexual Abuse
More than 100 women have publicly accused the doctor of touching them inappropriately, but this is the first time he has faced a criminal charge.
How America’s “Most Powerful Lobby” Is Stifling Efforts to Reform Oil Well Cleanup in State After State
In New Mexico, oil companies agreed to work with regulators to find a solution to the state’s more than 70,000 unplugged wells. After months of negotiations, the industry turned against the bill it helped shape.
When Therapists Lose Their Licenses, Some Turn to the Unregulated Life Coaching Industry Instead
Despite past misconduct, some former therapists have continued their careers as life coaches. Now, after a high-profile conviction in Utah, legislators are asking whether it’s time for more oversight.
Judge Lifts Order That Mandated Albuquerque Stop Throwing Away Homeless People’s Belongings
A district judge stood by his previous finding that the city has seized and destroyed personal property during its homeless encampment removals but said a pending Supreme Court ruling could make his order “unworkable.”
Albuquerque Is Throwing Out the Belongings of Homeless People, Violating City Policy
The city has violated a court order and its own policies by discarding the personal property of thousands of homeless people, who have lost medications, birth certificates, IDs, treasured family photos and the ashes of loved ones.
