Archive
Banks' Self-Dealing Super-Charged Financial Crisis
As investors left the market in the run-up to the meltdown, Wall Street created fake demand, increasing their bonuses — and ultimately making the crisis worse.
Take It With a Grain of (Sea) Salt: Gulf Microbe Study Was Funded by BP
Scientists at Berkeley this week announced that microbes had eaten oil so quickly the Gulf's oil plumes are now undetectable. They disclosed that BP funded their research. The media didn't.
SEC's New Ruling Cheers Investors, Irks Business Groups
Despite not making it into the financial reform bill, a contentious rule giving shareholders more clout over company leadership has been approved by regulators. It makes it easier for large shareholders to nominate board members.
Faced With Backlog, Feds Dismiss Deportation Cases Against Non-Criminal Immigrants
Homeland Security is reviewing and moving to dismiss deportation cases against suspected illegal immigrants without serious criminal records. While deportations overall are much higher under Obama, so are backlogs of immigration cases.
Documents Tie German Company to Chinese Subsidiary That Produced Defective Drywall
Documents tie a German company to a Chinese subsidiary that produced defective drywall, but family-owned Knauf Gips says it’s not legally responsible for the millions of pounds of defective drywall that was used to build U.S. homes.
California City's Officials Earned Thousands for One-Minute Meetings (or None at All)
The Los Angeles suburb of Bell has been roiled by the disclosure of extravagant pay for some of its top officials. Members of the city council have agreed to a 90 percent pay cut, and prosecutors are investigating.
Congress Slow to Act on Food Safety, Despite Outbreaks and Frequent Warnings
Calls to overhaul a broken food safety system haven't yet resulted in broad reform. Will half a billion recalled eggs do the trick?
Profiled Homeowner Gets a Mortgage Modification
Wells Fargo has finally given a loan modification to a long-frustrated homeowner who had feared foreclosure. The good news for Suzanna Wertheim came after ProPublica told her story and she appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show."
Local Officials: Lack of Oxygen Likely Killing Thousands of Fish in the Gulf
A fish kill at the mouth of the Mississippi River raises questions about whether oil played a role. Areas of depleted oxygen occur in the Gulf of Mexico annually, but some scientists have predicted a bigger "dead zone" this year.
Loan Mod Profiles: Fed Up, Giving Up
A Baltimore homeowner tells why he walked away from his home rather than continue to deal with the loan modification program. His story is all too common.
Company Owned By Cancer Research Donor Lobbied Against Designation of Formaldehyde as Carcinogen
A New Yorker profile of David Koch, a promiment donor to cancer research, raises questions about conflicts between his business and philanthropic interests.
For Mosques, 'Anywhere But There' Echoes Far Beyond Ground Zero
Opponents of the Islamic center planned near ground zero argue that it would be appropriate elsewhere. But proposed mosques have run into stiff opposition across the country, not just Lower Manhattan.
As Gulf Spill Claims Czar Takes Over, a Checklist of Promised Changes
Kenneth Feinberg takes over as the paymaster for the Gulf oil spill, and has promised new rules to speed the process. ProPublica will be watching.
For Gov't Mortgage Mod Program, New Numbers Show Old Problems
Homeowners still have long, costly waits in the federal foreclosure-prevention program. And for many seeking mortgage modifications, the final answer is no.
BP Claims Tracker
Follow the damage claims from the Gulf Oil Spill paid by HP.
