Crypto ignites conflict

In upstate New York, cryptocurrency mining causes rifts between local businesses and an enterprising corporation.

‘Haunting’ turmoil remains

The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued.

‘It was just a matter of time’

Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then disaster struck. On March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks.

A city split in two

Texarkana is split into twin cities — one in Arkansas with Medicaid expansion, one in Texas without it. More than a decade after the Affordable Care Act was signed, differences have emerged.

Waiting for water

When Ward Walker moved to the seaside village of Stebbins, Alaska, in 1995, he was told there would be running water within the next five years. The 63-year-old, who recently retired as vice mayor of the village of roughly 650, now says he’ll be happy if it happens before he dies. Stebbins became Walker’s home …

Tainted History

Update as of Dec. 18: About 450 composers, musicians, educators and arts leaders signed an open letter, published on Medium, to the administration, calling on the Juilliard School to take disciplinary action against composer Robert Beaser for alleged “decades-long abuse of women and power.” The reaction to charges of abuse and harassment were published by …