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The Commercial Development Company (CDC), which calls itself “North America’s leading brownfield developer,” acquires environmentally-impacted lands from industrial operators, pledging to clean them up and sell them for redevelopment. But residents are often left frustrated when the properties remain undeveloped, sometimes for decades. In a six-month investigation supported by the Fund – involving property records, court documents, site visits and ...

Local governments across California are ignoring a state law that was supposed to add oversight to crowded homeless shelters after reports of violence, vermin and health hazards, according to a CalMatters investigative series with support from the Fund. While cities scramble to address sprawling street encampments, the most immediate alternatives – homeless shelters promising nightly refuge – continue to generate ...

Seven years after the devastation of Hurricane Maria – and with continued blackouts caused by storms and spotty coverage – the government of Puerto Rico has not created a comprehensive plan to identify and notify people with special needs who could die without electricity to run dialysis machines and other equipment. With support from the Fund, the nonprofit Centro de ...

Chicago police officers who knowingly lie or conceal evidence in criminal cases are supposed to be put on a list that the State’s Attorney’s Office maintains, so that defendants can question their credibility if they’re called to the stand. But in an investigation for the Chicago Reader and the Invisible Institute, with support from the Fund, reporters Max Blaisdell and ...

California sharply cut back its enforcement of outdoor heat-protection laws as extreme heat intensified in recent years, endangering farmworkers and others who toil in scorching temperatures, according to an investigation by Robert J. Lopez, with support from the Fund. The report, co-published in the Los Angeles Times and Capital & Main, found that on-site safety inspections by Cal/OSHA dropped by ...

First session, on April 26, focuses on investigation of forced labor that sparked corporate and congressional action  WASHINGTON, DC; APRIL 12, 2024 – The Fund for Investigative Journalism is launching a series of free webinars featuring reporters who will share how they did groundbreaking investigations. Reporters who produced investigations with the Fund’s support will share concrete tips and resources that ...

A new report in InvestigateWest, with support from the Fund, found extensive evidence of rape, sexual assault, race-based harassment and attempted suicide in a publicly funded residential facility for vulnerable girls and young women in Idaho – and a lack of oversight of the company that owns the facility. Girls ages 11 to 17 live in the facility; most have ...

In Iowa and other corn-growing states, nitrogen increasingly is spread on fields to keep nutrients in the soil in the event of heavy rain. But the chemical ends up in waterways and harms the environment. Veteran environmental reporter Keith Schneider, writing in Circle Blue, is reporting on the dangers of toxic pollution from farmland runoff. He found that many farmers often apply ...

Groups in former President Donald Trump’s political network have reported using about $130 million in donor funds to pay lawyers and cover legal costs since he began running for office, according to an analysis by OpenSecrets supported by the Fund. As the former president faces mounting legal issues, his political operation steered more money than ever into covering legal fees. Some ...

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in Florida said it has stopped keeping a list of people deemed likely to commit future crimes and repeatedly sending deputies to their homes, according to documents filed in a federal lawsuit. The agency’s practice of targeting people deemed at risk of committing crimes was the subject of a 2020 Tampa Bay Times investigation, supported by ...