December 2021 Archive
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.
The Extortion Economy Podcast: Exploring the Secret World of Ransomware
The technology that enables ransomware may be new, but extortion and ransom are not. So why is this happening now? And can it be stopped? A new podcast from ProPublica and MIT Tech Review aims to find out.
“Get This Thing Out of My Chest”
A life-sustaining heart pump was taken off the market after years of problems and FDA inaction. Thousands of people are now stuck with it embedded in their hearts.
Carbon Monoxide From Generators Poisons Thousands of People a Year. The U.S. Has Failed to Force Safety Changes.
Portable generators are among the deadliest consumer products. Two decades after the government identified the danger, and as climate change leads to more power outages, people are left vulnerable by a system that lets the industry regulate itself.
Boston Police Bought Spy Tech With a Pot of Money Hidden From the Public
Massachusetts police can seize and keep money from drug-related arrests. No one has publicly reported how that money gets spent. A WBUR/ProPublica investigation found that Boston police used over $600,000 of it on a controversial surveillance device.
Testing Rape Kits Can Deliver Exonerations, Closure and Cost Savings. Why Does It Still Take So Long to Do?
DNA evidence has helped overturn convictions and identify serial rapists, but even with recent reform laws, only a tiny fraction of Maryland’s backlog has been tested.
Why the Second-Driest State Rejects Water Conservation
Utah has some of the highest per-capita water use and is the fastest-growing state. Yet a powerful group that steers Utah’s water policy keeps pushing for costly infrastructure over meaningful conservation efforts.
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.
Reno May Use Federal Funds to Address Housing Crisis
At a recent ProPublica event, Reno council member Devon Reese said the city will announce its plans to alleviate the city’s housing crisis next month. The event followed a ProPublica investigation on redevelopment’s impact on lower-income residents.
The Great Inheritors: How Three Families Shielded Their Fortunes From Taxes for Generations
In the early 1900s some of the wealthiest Americans claimed their fortunes would never last through the generations. A century of tax avoidance later, the dynasties are going strong.
When Home Is a Toxic Hot Spot
More than a thousand people talked to ProPublica about living in hot spots for cancer-causing air pollution. Most never got a warning from the EPA. They are rallying neighbors, packing civic meetings and signing petitions for reform.
Years Before a Police Union Leader Was Raided by the FBI, Local Investigators Didn’t Pursue Allegations Against Him
City agencies were aware of misconduct claims against Sgt. Ed Mullins, the powerful leader of the NYPD’s sergeants union, but did not investigate. Years later, his home and union headquarters were raided by federal agents.
Veneno en el aire
La EPA permite a los contaminadores que conviertan barrios en “zonas de sacrificio” donde los residentes respiran carcinógenos. ProPublica revela dónde están esos lugares en un mapa, el primero de este tipo, y con análisis de datos.
Citizens Hide From Active Shooters as Alaska Is Slow to Deliver on 2019 Promise of Village Troopers
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy pledged to add state troopers to villages off the road system. Two years later, many communities are still waiting. “I’m very disappointed, obviously,” one village president said.
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.”
Legislator Pushes for Law Requiring Illinois Hospitals to Report All Assaults to Police
In response to a ProPublica investigation, Illinois State Sen. Julie Morrison said she will propose a law mandating that hospitals notify police about suspected patient-on-patient sexual assaults.
Storm Drains Keep Swallowing People During Floods
An alarming number of people (especially children) have drowned after disappearing into storm drains during floods. The deadly problem should be easy for federal, state and local government agencies to fix, but tragedy strikes again and again.
A Massive Oil Spill Helped One Billionaire Avoid Paying Income Tax for 14 Years
Phyllis Taylor’s company is responsible for the longest-running oil spill in U.S. history. That’s been a disaster for the Gulf of Mexico — but a tax bonanza for Taylor.
