Michael Squires

Indigeous communities in northern Arizona have worked for decades to claim a share of the Colorado River. A deal needs only Congress’ approval, but Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming have stepped in to oppose it.

Wildfires are a known threat in the West. But after a fire scars the earth, there's another, underemphasized risk. Severe burns can strip away plants and leave soils that don’t easily absorb water, increasing the potential for catastrophic floods. Towns are often caught unprepared. THREAD ⬇️

“McCurdy has emphasized kratom’s therapeutic potential while downplaying its risks — despite his own published research finding kratom use can lead to severe withdrawal symptoms in newborns exposed in utero, and to dependency and even death in those who take it.” By @anjeanette-damon.bsky.social

The same month Sen. Tim Sheehy’s proposal to end Forest Service inspections of wildfire aircraft leaked, a Forest Service inspector discovered a crack in a wing of an aircraft his former company presented as ready for service — failing the very inspection Sheehy sought to eliminate.

We just announced the launch of a new reporting team in California — our sixth regional investigative hub! It’s the latest step we’re taking to expand ProPublica and meet the moment with more journalism. Here’s why I’m so excited about this… 1/8

“More than 180 facilities in 38 states and Puerto Rico have, by Trump’s unilateral decision, been given a two-year reprieve from following the latest Clean Air Act rules. About 250,000 people live within a mile of these facilities.”

NEW: Fifteen laws in 11 states that could immunize the fossil fuel industry from climate-related legal claims have either been passed or are being debated. Many bills are part of a coordinated effort by groups linked to right-wing activist Leonard Leo.

NEW: In 2023, the FDA deemed 19 peptides too unsafe to be dispensed by compounding pharmacies. Now, under RFK Jr., the agency is poised to reverse itself — despite the fact that few clinical studies support claims of the peptides’ effectiveness or safety.

The agency’s 2023 decision to place 19 peptides on the “unsafe” list was supported by numerous documented safety concerns, former officials said. Even though demand for peptide therapies has exploded since then, there’s been little new science.

About half the jail population in Albuquerque is homeless. The county spends about $169 per night to jail inmates without significant medical or mental health needs. Housing individuals in the city’s year-round emergency shelter costs $44 a night.

Did you catch a mention of ProPublica's reporting on "SNL" Weekend Update last night? 👀 Read the full investigation here: https://propub.li/4bhyCXX

America right now has big “we never use these fire extinguishers, we should get rid of them” energy.

“Email correspondence obtained by ProPublica shows that government officials were alerted to the presence of PFAS in pants used by wildland firefighters as early as 2021.” Via @abestreep.bsky.social

A note from our editors:

1/ BREAKING: Government documents reviewed by ProPublica identify Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, 35, as the two who fired their weapons during the deadly encounter with Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Jesús Ochoa is a Border Patrol agent who joined CBP in 2018. Reymundo Gutierrez joined in 2014 and works for CBP’s Office of Field Operations.

1/ NEW: @propublica.org has obtained a search warrant that the FBI is executing for records related to the contested 2020 election in Fulton County, Ga., which has not yet been widely shared. It’s an extraordinary document. Link: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Residents I’ve spoken to are furious and want the agents out of their city. I’ve seen tense encounters in grocery story parking lots, housing developments, and neighborhoods. I've covered unrest around the world and the anger among protesters here is among the most intense I've ever experienced.

I’ve been in Minneapolis the last few days reporting on the ICE raids happening across the city. This morning federal agents shot and killed a man, identified by the AP as Alex Pretti. This marks the third shooting by federal agents since Operation Metro Surge started in Minnesota last month.

Drug-testing labs typically report results in black and white: positive or negative. But a little-known fact about the industry is that those results are often based on standards that are wholly discretionary. www.propublica.org/article/drug...

THREAD: It was supposed to be a routine surgery. So when the doctor stepped out, Sandra Parker wasn’t sure she heard right. Her husband’s heart couldn’t have stopped for more than 5 or 6 minutes, the doctor was saying. “That’s not a lot of time,” Mrs. Parker thought. “Is it?”

“The Department of Homeland Security spent $220M but has kept at least one beneficiary of the nine-figure ad deal a secret, records and interviews show: a Republican consulting firm with long-standing personal and business ties to Kristi Noem and her senior aides at DHS.”

Amazing kicker on @robwdavis.bsky.social’s story about Fox News’ misleading coverage of Portland before Trump sent in troops. www.propublica.org/article/port...

Every oil state disposes of toxic wastewater underground. But in Oklahoma, it hasn't been staying there, creating large, ongoing pollution events known as "purges." An investigation a year in the making for @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...

More than a decade ago Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies carried out immigration raids. Now hundreds of departments are partnering with ICE. AZ Latinos see Arpaio as the beginning of what playing out nationally. “They did the experiment, and basically now they’re implementing it at the national level.”

More than a decade ago Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies carried out immigration raids. Now hundreds of departments are partnering with ICE. AZ Latinos see Arpaio as the beginning of what playing out nationally. “They did the experiment, and basically now they’re implementing it at the national level.”

Said it a thousand times, but the fact that the general public does not understand the difference between an opinion writer and a reporter is a real fucking problem.

Our latest on Boring Co.’s alleged flouting of environmental regulations as it builds a tunnel-transportation system beneath Las Vegas. www.propublica.org/article/elon...

There are 600,000 of you who now follow us on Bluesky 🦋 As journalists ourselves, we understand that regularly reading stories about broken systems can take a toll, and we never take the community here for granted. Thank you to all of you who care deeply about the work we do.

NEW: Ignoring urgently needed reforms in favor of fruitlessly trying to find evidence of fraud, DOGE descended on the Social Security Administration “thinking it should work like a McDonald’s,” the agency’s former acting chief reveals to ProPublica.

Department of Gore

NEW: The oil industry touts Texas as a success story in controlling climate-warming methane emissions. The state’s regulator, however, grants nearly every request to burn or vent gas into the atmosphere.

I'm going to publish the entirety of an exchange I just had with the press office of the DOJ. I want you to see how they are talking about truth.

Spend some time with the handwritten notes on what people lost in sweeps. Heart-wrenching and infuriating.

Seizure medication, wheelchairs, Social Security cards, dentures, urns of ashes, work uniforms — just some of what's been thrown away during cruel, degrading, utterly counterproductive homeless sweeps. A good time to revisit this gutting @propublica.org story:

In June, the Forest Service claimed it had reached 99% of its hiring goal for its wildland firefighting workforce. But ProPublica’s reporting indicated that the agency was selectively counting firefighters, presenting an optimistic assessment to the public.

NEW from me: The CFPB's consumer complaint system is more popular than ever, fielding over 2.7M complaints last year. But Republican lawmakers still voted to slash the CFPB's budget, even after referring thousands of their own constituents' issues to the agency. www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...

The doctor doesn’t believe peptides were the cause of the patients’ severe illness after receiving injections at a Las Vegas casino. He asked AI and it responded with a report that “basically says that it is impossible it was the peptides.”

This CEO co-owned a company that pleaded guilty in 2019 to a scheme to hire and conceal undocumented workers. Now he’s profiting off the construction of an immigrant detention camp. Such critical reporting from Avi Asher-Schapiro + @jeffernsthausen.bsky.social: www.propublica.org/article/nath...

“I’ve been warned my entire life, ‘The FBI’s watching us.’”

The Forest Service claims it’s fully staffed for fire season, saying it has reached 99% of its hiring goal. But internal data, which has not been previously reported, shows more than 4,500 Forest Service firefighting jobs — as many as 27% — remained vacant as of July 17. via @abestreep.bsky.social

“On the way to fudging the math necessary to defend the border against marauding produce pickers and securing a multitrillion-dollar tax break for the wealthiest Americans, the…OBBB managed to botch the commonsense tax deduction for personal gambling losses.” Nevada lawmakers are pushing for a fix.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee says he’ll continue pursuing a sell-off of public land to address the affordable-housing crisis — an idea that has some support across the political spectrum. But as @abestreep.bsky.social reports, similar efforts have created little attainable housing.

Have we diagnosed the origin of the bro-who-backs-into-parking-spaces trend?

Wowser, this story: Kristi Noem Secretly Took Personal Cut of Political Donations @justinelliott.bsky.social @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

NY bans anonymous child welfare reports thanks, in part, to Eli Hager’s reporting on a Brooklyn mother whose apartment was searched dozens of times — by police and caseworkers who never had a warrant — because an angry former acquaintance kept anonymously calling the hotline about her.

Prosecutors in Arizona's largest county pursue the death penalty frequently, at a cost of many millions of dollars, but are unusually ineffective. @nicolesantacruz.bsky.social @davebiscobing15.bsky.social found a secretive panel won't explain how it decides what cases warrant the death penalty.

I still think this is one of the most gutting notes I’ve ever read.