Peter Kalmus, out of his mind, stumbled back toward the car. It was all happening. All the stuff he’d been trying to get others to see, and failing to get others to see — it was all here. The day before, when his family started their Labor Day backpacking trip along the oak-lined dry creek bed in Romero Canyon, in the mountains east of Santa Barbara, the temperature had been 105 degrees. Now it was 110 degrees, and under his backpack, his “large mammalian self,” as Peter called his body, was more than just overheating. He was melting down. Everything felt wrong. His brain felt wrong and the...…Peter Kalmus, out of his mind, stumbled back toward the car. It was all happening. All the stuff he’d been trying to get others to see, and failing to get others to see — it was all here. The day before, when his family started their Labor Day backpacking trip along the oak-lined dry creek bed in Romero Canyon, in the mountains east of Santa Barbara, the temperature had been 105 degrees. Now it was 110 degrees, and under his backpack, his “large mammalian self,” as Peter called his body, was more than just overheating. He was melting down. Everything felt wrong. His brain felt wrong and the...WW…

President Donald Trump promised to reduce the national debt but instead increased it. It is now at its highest level relative to the U.S. economy since the end of World War II.Examining the NewsProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This story was co-published with The Washington Post.One of President Donald Trump’s lesser known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that he’s inflicted on our government will wreak havoc...…President Donald Trump promised to reduce the national debt but instead increased it. It is now at its highest level relative to the U.S. economy since the end of World War II.Examining the NewsProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This story was co-published with The Washington Post.One of President Donald Trump’s lesser known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that he’s inflicted on our government will wreak havoc...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Ten years ago, the Department of Labor wrapped up a lengthy investigation of Arise Virtual Solutions, a company that recruited customer service agents to work from home fielding calls for big brand names like Disney and AAA. The so-called gig economy was in its infancy, with Uber launching and TaskRabbit starting to go national.The question for the Obama administration’s Labor Department: Did Arise employ those customer service agents? Arise trained the agents and exercised...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Ten years ago, the Department of Labor wrapped up a lengthy investigation of Arise Virtual Solutions, a company that recruited customer service agents to work from home fielding calls for big brand names like Disney and AAA. The so-called gig economy was in its infancy, with Uber launching and TaskRabbit starting to go national.The question for the Obama administration’s Labor Department: Did Arise employ those customer service agents? Arise trained the agents and exercised...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.The Trump administration is charging ahead with plans for three back-to-back executions this week, even though two of the condemned prisoners are sick with COVID-19 and multiple courts have objected to the government’s aggressive maneuvers.Despite multiple court orders blocking all three executions as of Tuesday, the executions and the administration is hoping to win at the Supreme Court. The high court’s conservative majority did not intervene to stop any of the previous 10...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.The Trump administration is charging ahead with plans for three back-to-back executions this week, even though two of the condemned prisoners are sick with COVID-19 and multiple courts have objected to the government’s aggressive maneuvers.Despite multiple court orders blocking all three executions as of Tuesday, the executions and the administration is hoping to win at the Supreme Court. The high court’s conservative majority did not intervene to stop any of the previous 10...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.When I first heard E. Yvonne Lewis tell the story, it was a hot July day in downtown Flint, Michigan. We and about 70 others had gathered in the high-ceilinged ballroom of the Northbank Center, just west of the river, where the Michigan Civil Rights Commission was conducting its 2016 on how this Great Lakes city learned that its own water was a threat.Lewis, a community health worker and mother of three, testified that she kept a Crock-Pot in her bathroom. To take a bath,...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.When I first heard E. Yvonne Lewis tell the story, it was a hot July day in downtown Flint, Michigan. We and about 70 others had gathered in the high-ceilinged ballroom of the Northbank Center, just west of the river, where the Michigan Civil Rights Commission was conducting its 2016 on how this Great Lakes city learned that its own water was a threat.Lewis, a community health worker and mother of three, testified that she kept a Crock-Pot in her bathroom. To take a bath,...WW…

Inside New York’s Deadly Private Garbage IndustryShortly before 5 a.m. on a recent November night, a garbage truck with a New York Yankees decal on the side sped through a red light on an empty street in the Bronx. The two workers aboard were running late. Before long, they would start getting calls from their boss. “Where are you on the route? Hurry up, it shouldn’t take this long.” Theirs was one of 133 garbage trucks owned by Action Carting, the largest waste company in New York City, which picks up the garbage and recycling from 16,700 businesses.Going 20 miles per hour above the city’s...…Inside New York’s Deadly Private Garbage IndustryShortly before 5 a.m. on a recent November night, a garbage truck with a New York Yankees decal on the side sped through a red light on an empty street in the Bronx. The two workers aboard were running late. Before long, they would start getting calls from their boss. “Where are you on the route? Hurry up, it shouldn’t take this long.” Theirs was one of 133 garbage trucks owned by Action Carting, the largest waste company in New York City, which picks up the garbage and recycling from 16,700 businesses.Going 20 miles per hour above the city’s...WW…

The Effort to Overturn the ElectionProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.During the past two years, U.S. counterterrorism officials held meetings with their European counterparts to discuss an emerging threat: right-wing terror groups becoming increasingly global in their reach.American neo-Nazis were traveling to train and fight with militias in the Ukraine. There were suspected links between U.S. extremists and the Russian Imperial Movement, a white supremacist group that was training foreigners in its St....…The Effort to Overturn the ElectionProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.During the past two years, U.S. counterterrorism officials held meetings with their European counterparts to discuss an emerging threat: right-wing terror groups becoming increasingly global in their reach.American neo-Nazis were traveling to train and fight with militias in the Ukraine. There were suspected links between U.S. extremists and the Russian Imperial Movement, a white supremacist group that was training foreigners in its St....WW…

The U.S. Response to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.As reports emerge across the country of health facilities throwing out unused and spoiled COVID-19 vaccines, some state governments are failing to track the wastage as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving officials coordinating immunization efforts blind to exactly how many of the precious, limited doses are going into the trash and why.In Washington, a health facility allegedly some COVID-19 vaccine doses at the...…The U.S. Response to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.As reports emerge across the country of health facilities throwing out unused and spoiled COVID-19 vaccines, some state governments are failing to track the wastage as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving officials coordinating immunization efforts blind to exactly how many of the precious, limited doses are going into the trash and why.In Washington, a health facility allegedly some COVID-19 vaccine doses at the...WW…

Inside Arizona’s Division of Developmental DisabilitiesWe wrote this story in plain language. Plain language means it is easier to read for some people. .ProPublica is a group of reporters. We write stories that look at how the people in charge behave. We make sure they are not doing anything wrong or unfair. .The Arizona Daily Star worked with us to write this story. They are part of .Subscribe to the Big Story newsletter.In 2018, a crime happened in Arizona. A woman was raped. Raped means someone had sex with her when she did not want to.The woman lives in a long-term care facility. She...…Inside Arizona’s Division of Developmental DisabilitiesWe wrote this story in plain language. Plain language means it is easier to read for some people. .ProPublica is a group of reporters. We write stories that look at how the people in charge behave. We make sure they are not doing anything wrong or unfair. .The Arizona Daily Star worked with us to write this story. They are part of .Subscribe to the Big Story newsletter.In 2018, a crime happened in Arizona. A woman was raped. Raped means someone had sex with her when she did not want to.The woman lives in a long-term care facility. She...WW…

Examining the NewsSubscribe to the Big Story newsletter.It’s become for our president, Richard Tofel, who wrote a on President Kennedy’s inaugural address, to offer an instant analysis of such speeches. Here are his thoughts for today.If President Joe Biden’s inaugural address was drafted more than two weeks ago, it was certainly rewritten after the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6.Biden’s setting of the scene as “our winter of peril and significant possibilities” may have been the speech’s original theme, but its more stark call for an end to “this uncivil war” was surely more recent.The...…Examining the NewsSubscribe to the Big Story newsletter.It’s become for our president, Richard Tofel, who wrote a on President Kennedy’s inaugural address, to offer an instant analysis of such speeches. Here are his thoughts for today.If President Joe Biden’s inaugural address was drafted more than two weeks ago, it was certainly rewritten after the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6.Biden’s setting of the scene as “our winter of peril and significant possibilities” may have been the speech’s original theme, but its more stark call for an end to “this uncivil war” was surely more recent.The...WW…

A pharmacy technician holds a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in December.The U.S. Response to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Hospitals and clinics across the country are canceling vaccine appointments because the Trump administration tells states how many doses they’ll receive only one week at a time, making it all but impossible to plan a comprehensive vaccination campaign.The decision to go week by week was made by Operation Warp Speed’s chief operating officer, Gen. Gustave Perna, because he didn’t...…A pharmacy technician holds a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in December.The U.S. Response to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Hospitals and clinics across the country are canceling vaccine appointments because the Trump administration tells states how many doses they’ll receive only one week at a time, making it all but impossible to plan a comprehensive vaccination campaign.The decision to go week by week was made by Operation Warp Speed’s chief operating officer, Gen. Gustave Perna, because he didn’t...WW…

by , , , and , January 17, 2021ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.As supporters of President Donald Trump took part in a violent riot at the Capitol, users of the social media service Parler posted videos of themselves and others joining the fray. ProPublica reviewed thousands of videos uploaded publicly to the service that were archived by a programmer before Parler was taken offline by its web host. Below is a collection of more than 500 videos that ProPublica determined were taken during the events of Jan....…by , , , and , January 17, 2021ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.As supporters of President Donald Trump took part in a violent riot at the Capitol, users of the social media service Parler posted videos of themselves and others joining the fray. ProPublica reviewed thousands of videos uploaded publicly to the service that were archived by a programmer before Parler was taken offline by its web host. Below is a collection of more than 500 videos that ProPublica determined were taken during the events of Jan....WW…

The Effort to Overturn the ElectionProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.The man’s smartphone camera pans the crowd on the east side of the U.S. Capitol. It’s smaller than what had amassed on the west side, but still an impressive sight. As he pans from atop the steps, he gives a front-line dispatch at 2:10 p.m., an hour after President Donald Trump had finished his remarks goading on the thousands of supporters who had come to Washington to protest the official certification of his electoral defeat.“The cops...…The Effort to Overturn the ElectionProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.The man’s smartphone camera pans the crowd on the east side of the U.S. Capitol. It’s smaller than what had amassed on the west side, but still an impressive sight. As he pans from atop the steps, he gives a front-line dispatch at 2:10 p.m., an hour after President Donald Trump had finished his remarks goading on the thousands of supporters who had come to Washington to protest the official certification of his electoral defeat.“The cops...WW…

The Effort to Overturn the ElectionProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This article was produced in partnership with , which was a member of the in 2019.In 2009, Kevin Greeson traveled from Alabama to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama, at the time one of his political heroes. Twelve years later, a stone’s throw from where Obama had been sworn in, Greeson died of a heart attack while demonstrating in support of President Donald Trump during the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol.Greeson had undergone...…The Effort to Overturn the ElectionProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This article was produced in partnership with , which was a member of the in 2019.In 2009, Kevin Greeson traveled from Alabama to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama, at the time one of his political heroes. Twelve years later, a stone’s throw from where Obama had been sworn in, Greeson died of a heart attack while demonstrating in support of President Donald Trump during the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol.Greeson had undergone...WW…

The Effort to Overturn the ElectionProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.When Kim Dine took over as the new chief of the U.S. Capitol Police in 2012, he knew he had a serious problem.Since 2001, hundreds of Black officers had sued the department for racial discrimination. They alleged that white officers called Black colleagues slurs like the N-word and that one officer found a hangman’s noose on his locker. White officers were called “huk lovers” or “FOGs” — short for “friends of gangsters” — if they were...…The Effort to Overturn the ElectionProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.When Kim Dine took over as the new chief of the U.S. Capitol Police in 2012, he knew he had a serious problem.Since 2001, hundreds of Black officers had sued the department for racial discrimination. They alleged that white officers called Black colleagues slurs like the N-word and that one officer found a hangman’s noose on his locker. White officers were called “huk lovers” or “FOGs” — short for “friends of gangsters” — if they were...WW…

Children Locked Away in Illinois SchoolsProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Illinois lawmakers had the support to ban schools from locking students alone in a room or physically restraining them face down. But they didn’t have the time.A yearlong legislative effort to end decades of controversial practices that often left confined children crying for their parents and tearing at the walls ended without a vote in the Illinois House on Wednesday as the legislative session expired.The bill had unanimously passed...…Children Locked Away in Illinois SchoolsProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Illinois lawmakers had the support to ban schools from locking students alone in a room or physically restraining them face down. But they didn’t have the time.A yearlong legislative effort to end decades of controversial practices that often left confined children crying for their parents and tearing at the walls ended without a vote in the Illinois House on Wednesday as the legislative session expired.The bill had unanimously passed...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.After agonizing about the decision, the top financial adviser had finally gone to the Securities and Exchange Commission with proof of wrongdoing at his firm.He’s blunt about why: the roughly $50 million he stood to make under the agency’s whistleblower program, his calculation based on what kind of settlement he thinks the government could extract. It would be enough to offset any lost earnings in the likely event that his former colleagues figured out he’d turned them in...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.After agonizing about the decision, the top financial adviser had finally gone to the Securities and Exchange Commission with proof of wrongdoing at his firm.He’s blunt about why: the roughly $50 million he stood to make under the agency’s whistleblower program, his calculation based on what kind of settlement he thinks the government could extract. It would be enough to offset any lost earnings in the likely event that his former colleagues figured out he’d turned them in...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.In the midst of Wednesday’s assault on the U.S. Capitol, Twitter user gave voice to the outrage many felt at the stark difference between what appeared to be the accommodating treatment of the rioters by the Capitol Police and the brutal treatment of peaceful protesters by armor-clad officers in cities like Ferguson, Missouri, and Minneapolis in the past few years.. On the left was a photograph of a Black man being tackled by riot police. It was made by photojournalist...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.In the midst of Wednesday’s assault on the U.S. Capitol, Twitter user gave voice to the outrage many felt at the stark difference between what appeared to be the accommodating treatment of the rioters by the Capitol Police and the brutal treatment of peaceful protesters by armor-clad officers in cities like Ferguson, Missouri, and Minneapolis in the past few years.. On the left was a photograph of a Black man being tackled by riot police. It was made by photojournalist...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.President Donald Trump met with top military officials and gave his approval to activate the D.C. National Guard three days before he encouraged a mob of angry protesters to take their grievances to the U.S. Capitol.A Pentagon released Friday offers these insights, as well as the first detailed timeline of the bungled law enforcement response to Wednesday’s insurrection.The timeline shows that the planning started at least as far back as Dec. 31 and included discussion with...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.President Donald Trump met with top military officials and gave his approval to activate the D.C. National Guard three days before he encouraged a mob of angry protesters to take their grievances to the U.S. Capitol.A Pentagon released Friday offers these insights, as well as the first detailed timeline of the bungled law enforcement response to Wednesday’s insurrection.The timeline shows that the planning started at least as far back as Dec. 31 and included discussion with...WW…

Technology, algorithms, social media and platforms play central roles in our democracy. The giants of technology decide the news we see, the connections we keep and the shape of our politics. We’re looking for a reporter who will help us hold them accountable, particularly when it comes to their role in spreading the disinformation and misinformation that affects elections.The question of how or whether to regulate the tech giants is being fought out in the courts, Congress and state legislatures. We’re looking for someone who can mine stories from the intricacies of legal briefs and...…Technology, algorithms, social media and platforms play central roles in our democracy. The giants of technology decide the news we see, the connections we keep and the shape of our politics. We’re looking for a reporter who will help us hold them accountable, particularly when it comes to their role in spreading the disinformation and misinformation that affects elections.The question of how or whether to regulate the tech giants is being fought out in the courts, Congress and state legislatures. We’re looking for someone who can mine stories from the intricacies of legal briefs and...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This story was in Raleigh, North Carolina.In early April, before COVID-19 hit her state hard, Palestine Howze was in a Durham, North Carolina, nursing home, living in pain.She had lost her legs to diabetes, and for months she had been suffering through a bedsore. In her medical records, staff noted that Howze, 71, would moan through the night.Her daughters had been told about the bedsore back in August 2019, and it was a small spot, no bigger than a quarter when Howze’s...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This story was in Raleigh, North Carolina.In early April, before COVID-19 hit her state hard, Palestine Howze was in a Durham, North Carolina, nursing home, living in pain.She had lost her legs to diabetes, and for months she had been suffering through a bedsore. In her medical records, staff noted that Howze, 71, would moan through the night.Her daughters had been told about the bedsore back in August 2019, and it was a small spot, no bigger than a quarter when Howze’s...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.The grieving family of a slain Capitol Police officer says he was a private man whose death shouldn’t be politicized. But now it is forced to make sense of the reality that he is a victim of political violence, his legacy forever linked to an insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.“He spent his life trying to help other people,” the officer’s eldest brother told ProPublica. “This political climate got my brother killed.”Brian David Sicknick, 42, died Thursday of injuries he...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.The grieving family of a slain Capitol Police officer says he was a private man whose death shouldn’t be politicized. But now it is forced to make sense of the reality that he is a victim of political violence, his legacy forever linked to an insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.“He spent his life trying to help other people,” the officer’s eldest brother told ProPublica. “This political climate got my brother killed.”Brian David Sicknick, 42, died Thursday of injuries he...WW…

The U.S. Response to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Nurse Kristen Cline was working a 12-hour shift in October at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when a code blue rang through the halls. A patient in an isolation room was dying of a coronavirus that had raged for eight months across the country before it made the state the brightest red dot in a nation of hot spots.Cline knew she needed to protect herself before entering the room, where a second...…The U.S. Response to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Nurse Kristen Cline was working a 12-hour shift in October at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when a code blue rang through the halls. A patient in an isolation room was dying of a coronavirus that had raged for eight months across the country before it made the state the brightest red dot in a nation of hot spots.Cline knew she needed to protect herself before entering the room, where a second...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.Dozens of consumer advocacy organizations and Latino civil rights groups are contesting an effort by Oportun Financial Corp. to become a national bank, citing an published last year by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.The monthslong probe showed the loan company had sued...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.Dozens of consumer advocacy organizations and Latino civil rights groups are contesting an effort by Oportun Financial Corp. to become a national bank, citing an published last year by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.The monthslong probe showed the loan company had sued...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for , a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country.They poured millions into deals with giant corporations. They propped up small businesses. They changed the tax code. They expanded mass transit.In cities as distinctly different as Washington; Newark, New Jersey; Chicago and Pittsburgh, government officials have found ways to restore essential goods and services to neighborhoods devastated by population loss and the flight of business.In November, how long-term urban decline played out on Madison...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for , a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country.They poured millions into deals with giant corporations. They propped up small businesses. They changed the tax code. They expanded mass transit.In cities as distinctly different as Washington; Newark, New Jersey; Chicago and Pittsburgh, government officials have found ways to restore essential goods and services to neighborhoods devastated by population loss and the flight of business.In November, how long-term urban decline played out on Madison...WW…