Archive - Illinois
Maui Residents Have Been Forced From Their Homes to Make Room for Wildfire Survivors. Property Owners Are Profiting.
High prices offered by emergency housing programs have encouraged property owners to chase the money. Housing advocates say state officials haven’t moved aggressively enough to crack down on predatory behavior.
Historic Gun Suit Survives Serious Legal Threat Engineered by Indiana Republicans
A judge ruled that a law passed by Indiana’s GOP supermajority that tried to retroactively prevent cities from suing gun manufacturers goes too far. The decision allows one city’s decadeslong suit against gunmakers to continue.
After Nike Leaders Promised Climate Action, Their Corporate Jets Kept Flying — and Polluting
Nike has staked a claim as a corporate leader on sustainability. Yet company disclosures show that its jets emitted almost 20% more carbon dioxide last year than in 2015. It’s one small factor in Nike’s failure to slash emissions as promised.
A Wisconsin Tribe Built a Lending Empire Charging 600% Annual Rates to Borrowers
The Lac du Flambeau tribe is at the center of a $1 billion class-action settlement that comes after years of fending off claims of predatory lending practices.
Washington State Solar Project Paused Amid Concern About Native Cultural Sites
The decision comes after an investigation by High Country News and ProPublica found that a land survey funded by the developer omitted more than a dozen sites of archaeological or cultural significance.
In Rural Tennessee, Domestic Violence Victims Face Barriers to Getting Justice. One County Has Transformed Its Approach.
Despite being a rural area that’s steeped in gun culture, Scott County has emerged as a model for the state in trying to prevent domestic violence from escalating.
Uvalde City Officials Release Shooting Records That Provide New Details, Reaffirm Previous Reporting
The release is the first major disclosure of documents by a government agency involved in the flawed response to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, and it comes after a yearslong legal battle involving nearly two dozen news outlets.
Inside Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos
“Eradicate climate change references”; only talk to conservative media; don’t leave a paper trail for watchdogs to discover. In a series of never-before-published videos, Project 2025 details how a second Trump administration would operate.
Watch: 14 Hours of Never-Before-Published Videos From Project 2025’s Presidential Administration Academy
The videos are part of an ongoing effort to recruit and train thousands of future conservative appointees. Despite Donald Trump’s efforts to disavow Project 2025, most of the speakers in the videos have previously worked for the former president.
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.
Developers Halt Louisiana Grain Elevator Project That Would Disrupt Black Historic Sites
The grain terminal was the subject of a May 2022 ProPublica investigation that revealed how a whistleblower’s findings had been buried.
The Government Spends Millions to Open Grocery Stores in Food Deserts. The Real Test Is Their Survival.
The community of Cairo, Illinois, once a food desert, welcomed its new market last year with balloons and cheers. But the store is struggling — exposing problems with the programs set up to help.
This Guardian Enriched Herself Using the Finances of Vulnerable People In Her Care. Judges Let It Happen.
Judges allowed one of New York’s most prolific guardians to engage in apparent self-dealing as she transferred $1.5 million of her wards’ money to her own company.
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.
Oklahoma’s Oil Industry Touts a Voluntary Fund to Clean Up Oil Wells. Major Drillers Want Their Contributions Refunded.
Oklahoma’s oil industry pays into a voluntary fund to clean up oil wells, but many drillers opt out. The money that has been refunded to these companies in recent years could have restored an estimated 1,500 orphan well sites.
“A Terrible Vulnerability”: Cybersecurity Researcher Discovers Yet Another Flaw in Georgia’s Voter Cancellation Portal
The flaw would have allowed anyone to submit a voter registration cancellation request for any Georgian using their name, date of birth and county of residence — information that is easily discoverable online.
“Now Is the Time to Take Action”: Carbon Monoxide Poisonings After Hurricane Beryl Are the Highest Since Texas Winter Storm
Little has changed since the 2021 Texas winter storm. Power outages following Beryl’s July landfall led to two deaths and roughly 400 Texans hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning.
How a Washington Tax Break for Data Centers Snowballed Into One of the State’s Biggest Corporate Giveaways
Companies have saved $474 million since 2018, with most of the windfall going to Washington-based tech giant Microsoft. Lawmakers repeatedly expanded who qualifies, and they lowered the number of jobs expected in return.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s and Brad Raffensperger’s Voter Registrations Targeted in Georgia’s New Online Portal
Days after Georgia Democrats warned that the state’s new online portal for canceling voter registrations could be abused, officials have confirmed misuse attempts — including efforts to cancel the registrations of prominent Republicans.
