How Arizona Stands Between Tribes and Their Water
As it negotiates water rights with tribes, Arizona goes to unique lengths to extract concessions that limit tribes’ opportunities for growth and economic development, according to a ProPublica and High Country News investigation.
Reporting From the Southwest
ProPublica’s seven-person reporting unit based in Phoenix covers the Southwest, including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Many of these states are among the fastest-growing in the country, and the region is experiencing rapid changes to the climate, economy, demographics and other trends that will shape the nation’s future.
Las Vegas Needs to Save Water. It Won’t Find It in Lawns.
Drought-plagued Nevada pledged to do away with 3,900 acres of grass in the Las Vegas area within six years, but a ProPublica analysis found that the state grossly overestimated how much of that grass would likely be removed.
Colorado Becomes the First State to Limit Court Use of Family Reunification Camps
A new bill restricts the use of reunification programs and requires domestic violence training for experts in custody cases. Lawmakers credit ProPublica’s reporting for exposing the need for reforms in the family court system.
A Court Ordered Siblings to a Reunification Camp With Their Estranged Father. The Children Say It Was Abusive.
Family courts are increasingly using programs like Turning Points for Families to treat the disputed psychological theory of parental alienation. But little is publicly known about the programs’ controversial methods.
Southwest News Staff
- Southwest Editor
- Michael Squires
- Reporters
- Anjeanette Damon, Eli Hager, Mary Hudetz, Mark Olalde and Nicole Santa Cruz
- Abrams Reporting Fellow
- Hannah Dreyfus
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:
- Arizona Daily Star
- Tucson, Arizona
- Arizona Republic
- Phoenix, Arizona
- New Mexico In Depth
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Searchlight New Mexico
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Santa Fe New Mexican
- Sante Fe, New Mexico
- Rocky Mountain PBS
- Denver, Colorado
Colorado Law Will Require Homes to Be More Wildfire Resistant
The state will develop building standards for homes in high-risk areas after ProPublica’s reporting showed previous efforts to require fire-resistant housing materials had been repeatedly stymied by developers and municipalities.
Coverage of Gender-Affirming Care Is an Unequal Patchwork
Lawsuits brought by transgender employees show how state agencies fight against paying for gender-affirming care for some people while others are covered.
How Regulation Makes Preventing Colorado Wildfires Difficult
Even though the 2021 Marshall Fire made it clear that the fire threat posed by Colorado’s grasslands endangers large urban areas, federal, state and local rules continue to make it difficult to address the risk.
Colorado Lawmakers Mandate Audit of Halfway Houses Following ProPublica Investigation
The facilities often lack adequate employment training and effective drug treatment while residents are burdened with debt. A lack of transparency, limiting lawmakers’ ability to gauge their effectiveness, has been a barrier to reform.
The Federal Government Accidentally Burned Down Their Houses, Then Made It Hard to Come Home
FEMA told survivors of the largest wildfire in New Mexico history that it aimed to put temporary housing on their land. But because of its strict, slow-moving bureaucracy, that has happened only twice.
Utah’s Secretive Medical Malpractice Panels Make It Even Harder to Sue Providers
Prelitigation panels are meant to judge the merit of a complaint against a provider ahead of a lawsuit. But some attorneys see them as “nothing more than an obstruction” for victims.
Homeless Shelters Aren’t Equipped to Deal With New Mexico’s Most Troubled Foster Kids. Police See It for Themselves.
New Mexico places foster teens with serious mental health conditions in shelters that don’t offer psychiatric services. When a crisis erupts, they call 911. “This happens all the time,” said one officer.
Juveniles Locked Up for Life Will Get a Second Chance in New Mexico. But the State Must Locate Them First.
A new law will grant parole hearings for prisoners given life or long sentences as children. But our reporting showed that New Mexico officials weren’t aware of at least 21 “juvenile lifers” in the state’s custody.
Have a Student in New Mexico Schools? Here Is What to Know About How School Discipline Works.
We heard from families who said the school disciplinary process is hard to understand. Here is what you need to know about discipline in Gallup-McKinley County Schools and other school districts in New Mexico.
This Georgia County Spent $1 Million to Avoid Paying for One Employee’s Gender-Affirming Care
Officials in Houston County, Georgia, said gender-affirming surgery for sheriff’s deputy Anna Lange was too costly. They spent more than $1 million on private lawyers in a fight to keep transition-related care from being covered by their health plan.
Judge Pauses Order to Return Siblings to Father They Say Abused Them
Utah lawmakers call for examination of court-ordered reunification after a judge was persuaded by the theory of “parental alienation” to order Ty and Brynlee Larson back into their father’s custody.
Ayude a ProPublica y The Salt Lake Tribune a investigar las agresiones sexuales en Utah
Estamos reportando sobre las agresiones sexuales por parte de profesionales. Puede llenar nuestro formulario confidencial que incluimos a continuación para informarnos acerca de profesionales e instituciones de atención médica sobre los que piensa que deberíamos informar.
94 mujeres alegan que un médico de Utah las agredió sexualmente. Esta es la razón por la que un juez desestimó su caso.
Cuando docenas de mujeres demandaron a su ginecoobstetra por agresión sexual, un juez dijo que el caso estaba bajo la ley estatal de negligencia médica. Mientras las mujeres apelan, los legisladores se están preguntando si esa ley debería modificarse.
Are Colorado’s Efforts to Curb HOA Foreclosures Working?
Homeowners associations have filed far fewer foreclosure cases since the state enacted a law aimed at protecting residents in disputes with their HOAs, according to a ProPublica-Rocky Mountain PBS analysis.
HOA Foreclosures Are a “Lose-Lose” Game for Coloradans, but These Lawyers Win Regardless of the Outcome
A retired NFL player’s legal battle with a homeowners association spotlights why critics say Colorado law incentivizes attorneys to advise that HOAs foreclose on residents rather than find less expensive solutions.
