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Pam Bondi Dismissed Charges Against a Surgeon Who Falsified Vaccine Cards. It Emboldened Others With Similar Cases.
A Utah surgeon’s victory in a vaccine fraud case has encouraged other “medical freedom” advocates to consider seeking leniency for similar charges. “This undermines every layer of the system that protects us from infectious disease,” an expert said.
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.
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Featured Stories
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Utah Leaders Are Hindering Efforts to Develop Solar Despite a Goal to Double the State’s Energy Supply
Solar power accounts for two-thirds of the new projects waiting to connect to the state’s power grid. Utah Republicans’ hard turn against solar mirrors President Donald Trump’s hostile approach to the industry.
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The Indian Health Service Is Flagging Vaccine-Related Speech. Doctors Say They’re Being Censored.
Officials have deemed terms like “immunizations” and “vaccines” risky “buzzwords” that require approval to be used in social media posts, pamphlets and presentations.
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Las agencias policiales de Arizona estuvieron a la vanguardia en la aplicación de leyes migratorias, ahora la mayoría las evitan
En enero, la administración Trump lanzó una campaña nacional de reclutamiento para entrenar a oficiales locales como agentes de deportación. Se han sumado más de 900 agencias a nivel nacional, pero solo cuatro están en Arizona.
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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
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New Mexico In Depth
Albuquerque, New Mexico
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More Stories
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U.S. Postal Service Cuts Funding for a Phoenix Mail Room Assisting Homeless People
The loss of support comes at a time of uncertainty for one of Arizona’s largest homeless services providers as the Trump administration calls for reducing and restructuring homelessness assistance grants.
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This County Was the “Model” for Local Police Carrying Out Immigration Raids. It Ended in Civil Rights Violations.
Under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County was one of the first testing grounds for ICE’s 287(g) program, which lets local police enforce immigration laws. Many Arizonans say those abuses parallel what’s playing out now under Trump.
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Arizona Police Agencies Were Once at the Forefront of Local Immigration Enforcement. Now Most Are Avoiding It.
In January, the Trump administration launched a national recruitment campaign to deploy local officers as deportation agents. It has added more than 900 agencies, but only four in Arizona have signed on.
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Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Accused of Nearly 800 Environmental Violations on Las Vegas Project
Nevada could’ve fined the company more than $3 million, but regulators are seeking a reduced penalty of $242,800, citing an “extraordinary number of violations.”
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Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived.
ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the administration’s cuts.
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Failed Root Canals, Lost Implants: How a Utah Dentist Accused of Substandard Care Was Allowed to Keep Practicing
Utah’s dentistry board urged the state to revoke Nicholas LaFeber’s license after repeated reports of poor dental work. Instead, regulators reinstated it. Now new patients say they’ve been hurt by his practice.
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A Las Vegas Festival Promised Ways to Cheat Death. Two Attendees Left Fighting for Their Lives.
Authorities are investigating why two women fell ill at the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival. They both received peptide injections, an alternative therapy promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a way to fight aging and chronic disease.
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“Under the Microscope”: Activists Opposing a Nevada Lithium Mine Were Surveilled for Years, Records Show
Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have collaborated with private security to surveil largely peaceful protesters opposed to the Thacker Pass mine, according to a ProPublica review of thousands of pages of law enforcement communications.
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Utah Sen. Mike Lee Says Selling Off Public Lands Will Solve the West’s Housing Crisis. Past Sales Show Otherwise.
Last month, Lee introduced a now-removed amendment to Trump’s policy megabill that mandated the sale of up to 3 million acres. It did little to address the challenges of building affordable housing on public land.
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Tennessee’s Law on School Threats Ensnared Students Who Posed No Risks. Two States Passed Similar Laws.
Despite an outcry over increased arrests in Tennessee, two states — Georgia and New Mexico — followed its lead by passing laws that will crack down harder on hoax threats.
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Arizona’s Largest County Frequently Pursues the Death Penalty. It Rarely Secures That Sentence.
In nearly 350 death penalty cases Maricopa County prosecutors pursued over 20 years, just 13% ended in a death sentence. The numbers indicate the need for a more deliberate and transparent process to decide capital charges, experts say.
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He Died Without Getting Mental Health Care He Sought. A New Lawsuit Says His Insurer’s Ghost Network Is to Blame.
The mother of Ravi Coutinho, the subject of a recent ProPublica investigation, is suing Centene for publishing “misleading” information that gave her son a false impression about the kinds of mental health care that were actually available.
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DOJ Abandons Effort to Address Phoenix’s Treatment of Homeless People
The Justice Department retracted findings of constitutional violations in Phoenix and five other jurisdictions. Advocates say the move could further embolden cities and police departments to marginalize homeless people.
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Arizona Has Recovered Just 5% of Taxpayer Dollars Lost in a $2.5 Billion Medicaid Fraud Scheme
The state has so far indicted more than 100 individuals and recouped $125 million. But despite state and federal efforts, it’s likely that most of the stolen taxpayer money won’t be recovered, officials say.
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Director of Arizona Medicaid Agency Resigns Following Fraud Scheme Response
Under Carmen Heredia’s leadership, the agency withheld payment to more than 300 businesses as it investigated fraud allegations. The state’s swift response left patients homeless, ProPublica and the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting found.
