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Three Months After Missouri Voted to Make Abortion Legal, Access Is Still Being Blocked

Reproductive rights are now enshrined in the state constitution, but Missouri’s main abortion provider is fighting legal hurdles to resume offering the procedure. Meanwhile, anti-abortion lawmakers strategize to prevent a return of abortion services.

Reporting From the Midwest

Our team in the Midwest covers Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri. Based in Chicago, it grew out of our first regional publishing operation, which focused on people living and working in Illinois. Read more.

The Price Kids Pay

Hoping to “Trump Proof” Students’ Civil Rights, Illinois Lawmakers Aim to End Police Ticketing at School

The latest version of a bill spurred by a 2022 ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation would explicitly prevent police from ticketing students for violations such as vaping or truancy, and require districts to track and disclose police activity.

The New Immigration

Boxed Up: A Portrait of an Immigrant Community Living Under Threat of Deportation

The Nicaraguans who keep Wisconsin’s dairy farms, restaurants and factories working are sending home their most prized possessions, bracing for potential mass deportations. “We don’t have much, but what we do have is important.”

Gretchen Whitmer’s Chance for Wide-Ranging Legacy Derailed by Botched Legislative Session

Michigan Democrats controlled all three branches of government, but party infighting and moderate policy decisions resulted in what some have dubbed “one of the least productive legislative sessions in history.”

Local Reporting Network Partners

ProPublica is supporting local and regional newsrooms as they work on important investigative projects affecting their communities. Some of our past and present partners in the region:

Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Illinois
The Southern Illinoisan
Carbondale, Illinois
WBEZ
Chicago, Illinois
The Daily Herald
Arlington Heights, Illinois
The Business Journal
Youngstown, Ohio
Outlier Media
Detroit, Michigan

Empacados: Retrato de una comunidad de inmigrantes que viven bajo la amenaza de ser deportados

Los nicaragüenses que sostienen las granjas, los restaurantes y las fábricas de Wisconsin han empezado a enviar a su país natal sus más preciadas posesiones, preparándose contra posibles deportaciones masivas.

Madison and Nashville School Shooters Appear to Have Crossed Paths in Online Extremist Communities

A month after a student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, another killed a classmate at Antioch High School. Both were active in an internet subculture that glorifies mass shooters and encourages young people to commit attacks.

Five Big Obstacles to Opening Child Care Facilities in Rural Illinois

Though the state faces a critical child care shortage, the government has not made it easy to open new facilities. These are the biggest roadblocks for providers.

On a Mission From God: Inside the Movement to Redirect Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Private Religious Schools

Private letters reveal the strategy behind the decadeslong quest — successful in 12 states and counting — by politicians, church officials and activists to make taxpayer-funded school vouchers available not just to the poor but to the wealthy.

“All Our Future Money Is Gone”: The Impossible Task of Providing Child Care in Rural Illinois

Though the governor promised to make Illinois “the best state” to raise young children, child care continues to disappear. And, as one couple learned, there’s almost no help for those building a child care facility from the ground up.

Feds Fine Baker College $2.5 Million for Deceptive Marketing That Left Students With Debts and Regrets

A 2022 investigation detailed how the once-growing Michigan school built its reputation on slick advertising despite low graduation rates and leaving many students burdened with heavy debt.

He Frantically Called 911 to Revive His Infant Son. Now He Could Face 12 Years in Prison.

Exonerations and new science continue to raise questions about shaken baby syndrome, a diagnosis that lives on under a different name: “abusive head trauma.” Critics say the name deflects scrutiny while leaving parents vulnerable to criminal charges.

Billy Long, Trump’s Nominee to Lead the IRS, Touts a Credential That Tax Experts Say Is Dubious

The former representative from Missouri, who once pushed to abolish the IRS, has marketed himself as a certified tax and business advisor after attending only a three-day seminar.

A Tribal Lender Charging 800% APR Has Agreed to Stop Operating in Minnesota

The Lac du Flambeau tribe of Wisconsin settled a civil suit filed by Minnesota’s attorney general that alleged its triple-digit interest rates violated state caps. The tribe is under increasing legal pressure nationally over its lending practices.

Illinois’ AG Said It’s Illegal for Schools to Use Police to Ticket Students. But His Office Told Only One District.

Despite the attorney general’s declaration that Illinois schools should stop using police to discipline students, officers statewide continue to ticket kids with costly fines. One lawmaker will again pursue legislation to end the practice.

In Five Years, Chicago Has Barely Made Progress on Its Court-Ordered Police Reforms. Here’s Why.

Chicago police agreed to judicial oversight in 2019. Since then, a series of mayors and police chiefs let efforts languish and no one in a position of oversight has pushed forcefully to keep the process on track, WTTW News and ProPublica found.

Finding Focus: How a Visual Storyteller Gets the Right Image — and the Right Tone

Photography is a powerful journalistic tool, providing visual evidence and evoking emotions that urge us to understand the experiences of others. Here, ProPublica’s Sarahbeth Maney offers suggestions for aspiring visual storytellers.

El jefe de policía y el inmigrante

Antes de que Springfield, Ohio, se convirtiera en un punto central en el debate sobre la inmigración, Trump instrumentalizó la solicitud de recursos de un jefe de policía para asegurar que Whitewater sufría una “invasión”. La verdad es más compleja.

In Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic Sometimes Called the Shots With Gov. Tim Walz

The governor’s ties to the Mayo Clinic raise questions about the world-renowned hospital’s potential influence on federal health care reform.

Election Skeptics Are Targeting Voting Officials With Ads That Suggest They Don’t Have to Certify Results

The ads, which have been placed in swing states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, come from a new group with deep ties to activists who have challenged the legitimacy of recent elections.

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Most Read

    “We’ve Been Essentially Muzzled”: Department of Education Halts Thousands of Civil Rights Investigations Under Trump

    Since Inauguration Day, the Office for Civil Rights has only opened about 20 investigations focused on Trump’s priorities, placing more than 10,000 student complaints related to disability access and sexual and racial harassment on hold.

    How Trump’s Federal Funding and Hiring Freezes Are Leaving America Vulnerable to Catastrophic Wildfire

    Uncertainty over funding and hiring stemming from the president’s executive orders has limited wildfire training and postponed work to reduce flammable vegetation. It has also led some firefighters to leave the force, their colleagues said.

    The New Immigration

    U.S. Claims Immigrants Held at Guantanamo Are “Worst of the Worst.” Their Families Say They’re Being Unfairly Targeted.

    ProPublica and The Texas Tribune have identified nearly a dozen immigrants who have been flown to Guantanamo Bay. Government officials have refused to release the names of detainees or provide details about the crimes that landed them in detention.

    The Housing Loophole That Lets Wealthy Investors Raise Rents on Poor Tenants

    As the U.S. struggles with a housing shortage, investors continue to exploit a gap in an affordable housing law to raise rents on 115,000 apartments. Congress has repeatedly failed to act.

    What a $2 Million Per Dose Gene Therapy Reveals About Drug Pricing

    Taxpayers and charities helped develop Zolgensma. Then it debuted at a record price, ushering in a new class of wildly expensive drugs. Its story upends the widely held conception that high prices reflect huge industry investments in innovation.