Archive - Midwest
Help ProPublica Journalists Investigate the Dairy Industry
We need your help to understand the challenges facing dairy farm workers. We especially want to hear from farmers, medical professionals, regulators and anyone else with perspective from inside the community.
Tragedia en una granja lechera
La verdadera historia del niño nicaragüense que murió en un rancho en Wisconsin, y cómo las autoridades se equivocaron al culpar a su padre.
Death on a Dairy Farm
When an 8-year-old Nicaraguan boy was run over on a Wisconsin dairy farm, authorities blamed his father and closed the case. Meanwhile, the community of immigrant workers knows a completely different story.
A Norfolk Southern Policy Lets Officials Order Crews to Ignore Safety Alerts
In October, months before the East Palestine derailment, the company also directed a train to keep moving with an overheated wheel that caused it to derail miles later in Sandusky, Ohio.
Senators Demand Answers About “Alarming” Reports of Excessive and Risky Artery Procedures on Veterans
Hours after ProPublica and The Wichita Eagle published allegations of kickbacks for the “egregious” use of medical devices at a veterans hospital, Kansas’ Republican senators have questions for the VA secretary.
How ProPublica’s Local Stories Reach the Communities We Report On
Getting our investigation’s findings to the people we write about is just as important as reaching a large audience. Consider these two examples.
New Report Says Nurses at Illinois Facility Forced Patients to Dig Through Their Own Feces
Newly obtained documents echo our reporting on abuse, cover-ups and a “sense of impunity” at an Illinois institution for people with mental illnesses and developmental disorders. The governor has said Choate must be reformed.
How a Tourist Attraction Displaying the Open Graves of Native Americans Became a State-Run Museum
Generations of visitors learned about the history of Native Americans in Illinois through the eyes of amateur archaeologist Don Dickson. Though the exhibit he built closed in 1992, the Dickson Mounds Museum is still grappling with his legacy.
The Museum Built on Native American Burial Mounds
For decades, Dickson Mounds Museum in Illinois displayed the open graves of more than 200 Indigenous people. Thirty years after a federal law required museums to begin returning remains, the statewide museum system still holds thousands.
Watchdog Seeks Harsher Penalties in Wake of Abuse at Illinois Mental Health Center
The official cited investigations into a center for people with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities, where workers lied or conspired to thwart patient abuse inquiries.
Patients Went to This Isolated Facility for Treatment. Instead, Nearly Two Dozen Were Charged With Crimes.
For years, residents at the Illinois facility received scant treatment for their developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, then faced felonies for lashing out at staff.
Some Talk but Little Action on Private Policing in St. Louis
Following a ProPublica investigation, a St. Louis official said the city would review private policing in its wealthier neighborhoods. Three months later, that review has yet to begin.
The School That Calls the Police on Students Every Other Day
An Illinois school for students with disabilities has routinely used the police to handle discipline, resulting in the highest arrest rate of any district in the country. In one recent year, half of Garrison School students were arrested.
Chicago Claims Its 22-Year “Transformation” Plan Revitalized 25,000 Homes. The Math Doesn't Add Up.
Despite the padded figures it gave to federal regulators, the Chicago Housing Authority is not finished fulfilling its obligations to build homes and redevelop communities where its high-rises once stood.
Medical Care and Politics Go Hand in Hand at a Chicago Safety Net Hospital
Under the leadership of CEO Tim Egan, Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital has awarded business to his friends and acquaintances, employees have donated to his political funds and he has appeared in a campaign ad for the state’s comptroller.
A Fifth of American Adults Struggle to Read. Why Are We Failing to Teach Them?
The nation’s approach to adult education has so far neglected to connect the millions of people struggling to read with the programs set up to help them.
St. Louis Can Banish People From Entire Neighborhoods. Police Can Arrest Them if They Come Back.
A St. Louis ordinance lets courts banish people from huge swaths of the city as a punishment for petty crimes. These neighborhood orders of protection often prevent people from accessing the services they need and raise constitutional questions.
A Billionaire Got the Chicago Mayor’s Support to Lease Public Land. Then He Wrote Her Campaign a $25,000 Check.
After the donation from Joseph Mansueto, owner of the Chicago Fire soccer team, a city alderman asked for an independent investigation.
“I Don’t Know Where I’m Going to Go”: HUD Displaces Even More Residents in This Small City
HUD already closed four public housing complexes in the Cairo, Ill., area. Now the federal agency is set to demolish a high-rise, gutting the city of some of its last affordable housing.
Real Estate Investors Sold Somali Families on a Fast Track to Homeownership in Minnesota. The Buyers Risk Losing Everything.
For Somali Muslim families in Minnesota, a contract for deed seems like an easier path to homeownership. But predatory practices and poor regulation can make it a financial trap rather than a good deal.
