DNA Finally Tied a Man to Her Rape. It Didn’t Matter.
Seventeen years after Louise was raped, Boston police told her they had a DNA match for her alleged rapist. But under Massachusetts state law, the case would be almost impossible to prosecute.
Local Reporting Network
“Just Let Me Die”: After Insurance Repeatedly Denied a Couple’s Claims, One Psychiatrist Was Their Last Hope
After a North Carolina man attempted suicide twice, his wife tried to get him help at an inpatient clinic. But their insurance provider refused to cover the treatment, deeming it “not medically necessary.”
These Charter Superintendents Are Some of the Highest Paid in Texas. Their Districts Are Among the Lowest Performing.
Three charter school districts in Texas underreported the compensation paid to their top leaders. The same three districts have also had failing or near-failing performance ratings in recent years.
Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push
Citing concerns about DEI, the U.S. Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states. “How low can you go?” one advocate asked. “How can you do this to children?”
“Material Support” and an Ohio Chaplain: How 9/11-Era Terror Rules Could Empower Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
The U.S. government is trying to deport Ohio children’s hospital chaplain Ayman Soliman, alleging tenuous connections to terrorism. If DHS succeeds, experts say it could hand the Trump administration a “sledgehammer” to use on mass deportations.
Connecticut DMV Committee Expands Study of Towing Law to Help Low-Income Residents Get Their Cars Back
The working group was created as part of a towing reform law passed in response to a ProPublica and Connecticut Mirror investigation into towing practices in the state.
Local Reporting Network
What We’re Watching
During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.
Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.
Sharon Lerner
I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.
Andy Kroll
I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.
Melissa Sanchez
I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.
Jesse Coburn
I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.
If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.
Three Chicago Schools Get Expensive STEAM Makeovers. Can the Effort Reverse Declining Enrollment?
After years of allowing chronically underenrolled public schools to struggle, Chicago is spending millions to transform three into STEAM academies, hoping to draw families back to the neighborhood schools that many of them abandoned.
Trump Wants to Crack Down on “Debanking,” but He’s Dismantling a Regulator That Was Doing Just That
An executive order seeking to stop banks from discriminating against customers could be undermined by the administration’s gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which had been investigating the practice.
The Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social Security
DOGE has ignored urgently needed reforms and upgrades at the Social Security Administration, according to dozens of insiders and 15 hours of candid interviews with the former acting chief of the agency, who admits he sometimes made things worse.
New Uvalde Records Reveal How the School District Changed Course on Supporting Police Chief
The previously unreported details were revealed in the over 25,000 pages of records the school district has disclosed since Aug. 26 in response to a yearslong legal fight by news outlets, including ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
The Floods Kept Coming. He Needed to Grow a Crop That Would Thrive in Water — or to Quit.
One Illinois man’s decadeslong fight to convert his fields into rice paddies demonstrates how it’s possible to bring diversity to the Corn Belt, but improbable so long as federal farm policy remains focused on soybeans and corn.
Local Reporting Network
Trump Is Accusing Foes With Multiple Mortgages of Fraud. Records Show 3 of His Cabinet Members Have Them.
The White House has targeted opponents, including a Fed governor, for having more than one primary residence on their loan papers. ProPublica found that, in one case, a Trump cabinet secretary got two such mortgages in quick succession.
The Federal Farm Policy Trap: Why Some Farmers Are Stuck Raising Crops That No Longer Thrive
Some farmers keep growing in flood- and drought-prone fields because subsidies soften the losses, while federal programs meant to help them change course have been underfunded and mired in bureaucracy. Under Trump, those programs may weaken further.
Local Reporting Network
Trump Says America’s Oil Industry Is Cleaner Than Other Countries’. New Data Shows Massive Emissions From Texas Wells.
The oil industry touts Texas as a success story in controlling climate-warming methane emissions. The state’s regulator, however, grants nearly every request to burn or vent gas into the atmosphere.
What ProPublica Is Doing to Build a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace
ProPublica is committed to increasing the diversity of our workplace and our industry, while ensuring equal opportunities for all. Read our annual report detailing these efforts.
What One Man’s 45-Year-Old Case Tells Us About the “Jim Crow Juries” Haunting Louisiana
Today, a split verdict would mean a mistrial. But in 1980s Louisiana, when nonunanimous juries were still legal, 19-year-old Lloyd Gray, a Black man, was sentenced to prison for life — even though the only two Black jurors had voted not guilty.
Local Reporting Network
Pentagon Warns Microsoft: Company’s Use of China-Based Engineers Was a “Breach of Trust”
The Defense Department is opening an investigation to determine if the tech giant’s use of overseas engineers to maintain sensitive U.S. government computer systems compromised national security.
Alaska Vowed to Resolve Murders of Indigenous People. Now It Refuses to Provide Their Names.
When the nonprofit Data for Indigenous Justice filed public records requests with the Alaska Department of Public Safety concerning cases it had investigated, the state rejected them.
Local Reporting Network
Sept. 11 Victims’ Lawsuit Against Saudi Government Can Go to Trial, Judge Rules
Information uncovered by plaintiffs has already undermined the FBI’s conclusion that two U.S.-based Saudi officials “unwittingly” helped al-Qaida hijackers after they arrived in America.
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