How the U.S. Has Struggled to Stop the Growth of a Shadowy Russian Private Army
Vladimir Putin has increasingly relied on the Wagner Group, a private and unaccountable army with a history of human rights violations, to pursue Russia’s foreign policy objectives across the globe.
Why 18-Year-Olds in Texas Can Buy AR-15s but Not Handguns
The massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, highlights disparities in how federal laws regulate rifles and handguns. The shooter bought two rifles days after his 18th birthday.
Mapping Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution
Polluters are turning neighborhoods into “sacrifice zones” where residents breathe in carcinogens. The EPA allows it. We mapped the hot spots.
Federal Probe of COVID Testing Company With Stunning Error Rate Expands to Nevada
A federal investigator emailed Nevada officials, notifying them that he would subpoena documents related to Northshore Clinical Labs’ operations in the state.
Illinois Will Investigate Possible Civil Rights Violations in Student Ticketing
The Illinois attorney general’s office said it is trying to determine if a suburban Chicago school district violated students’ civil rights when police ticketed them for minor misbehavior.
Daniel Taylor Was Innocent. He Spent Decades in Prison Trying to Fix the State’s Mistake.
He was in police custody at the time of the murders, but a dubious confession led to his wrongful conviction while Chicago police and prosecutors turned a blind eye to inconvenient facts that eventually exonerated him.
The U.S. Has Spent More Than $2 Billion on a Plan to Save Salmon. The Fish Are Vanishing Anyway.
The U.S. government promised Native tribes in the Pacific Northwest that they could keep fishing as they’d always done. But instead of preserving wild salmon, it propped up a failing system of hatcheries. Now, that system is falling apart.
The Hypnotherapist and Failed Politician Who Helped Fuel the Never-Ending Hunt for Election Fraud in Wisconsin
How obscure retiree Jay Stone played a crucial, if little-known, role in making Wisconsin a hotbed of conspiracy theories that Democrats stole the state’s 10 electoral votes from Donald Trump.
Why It’s Hard to Sanction Ransomware Groups
The Russia-linked ransomware gang Conti avoided the sanctions that hit Russian banks and businesses after the invasion of Ukraine, spotlighting the difficulty of reining in cybercriminals. Meanwhile, confused victims face uncertainty.
She Warned the Grain Elevator Would Disrupt Sacred Black History. They Deleted Her Findings.
A whistleblower says a plan to build a grain elevator on an old plantation would disrupt important historic sites, and that her firm tried to bury her findings.
Air Monitors Alone Won’t Save Communities From Toxic Industrial Air Pollution
Calvert City, Kentucky, has long had what people in other toxic hot spots have been begging for: monitors to prove they’re being exposed to toxic industrial air pollution. Regulators have years of evidence, but the poison in the air is only growing.
New Documents Show How Drug Companies Targeted Doctors to Increase Opioid Prescriptions
A trove of documents published as part of a legal settlement offers an unvarnished look inside the financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and the medical community.
The COVID Testing Company That Missed 96% of Cases
State and local officials across Nevada signed agreements with Northshore Clinical Labs, a COVID testing laboratory run by men with local political connections. There was only one problem: Its tests didn’t work.
The Plot to Keep Meatpacking Plants Open During COVID-19
Newly released documents reveal that the meatpacking industry’s callousness toward the health of its workers and its influence over the Trump administration were far greater than previously known.
Illinois Will Stop Helping Cities Collect Some School Ticket Debt From Students
Since a Chicago Tribune-ProPublica investigation, school officials say they’re reevaluating when to involve law enforcement in student discipline.
Katrina Survivors Were Told They Could Use Grant Money to Rebuild. Now They’re Being Sued for It.
After Hurricane Katrina, struggling homeowners said, they were told not to worry about the fine print when they received grants to elevate their homes. Now the state is going after them because they did exactly that.
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