Texas is among at least 11 states that have agreed to distribute fingerprinting kits sold by Kenny Hansmire’s Waco-based National Child Identification Program. Some are spending millions even though similar kits are available for free.
Kiah Collier
Kiah Collier was a reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative initiative from 2020 through 2023. She previously worked at the Tribune as a reporter and associate editor, covering energy and the environment through the lens of state government and politics. Kiah has reported for numerous other publications across Texas since 2010, including the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. Her beats also have included government and politics, public education and business. Kiah’s work has been honored with numerous prizes, including a George Foster Peabody Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism, the National Edward R. Murrow Award for best investigation and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. A seventh-generation Texan, she grew up in the Austin area and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in journalism and philosophy.
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
EPA proposes major air pollution reforms to lower residents’ cancer risk near industrial facilities
The EPA has proposed tougher air pollution rules for chemical plants and other industrial facilities after ProPublica found an estimated 74 million Americans near those sites faced an elevated risk of cancer.
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Closing a critical loophole for gun background checks has gained bipartisan support in Texas
After a ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigation found courts failed to report juvenile mental health hospitalizations to the federal firearm background check system, lawmakers from both parties are backing bills to ensure compliance with the law.
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The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Laredo approves air pollution monitoring following ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation
Two air monitoring initiatives are moving forward in Laredo after an analysis by the news outlets showed that a plant emitting ethylene oxide elevated the estimated lifetime cancer risk for nearly 130,000 people, including over 37,000 children.
Posted in
Environment
The EPA has identified 23 U.S. facilities that are emitting toxic air pollution that puts people at risk
One of them is in Laredo, which has elevated rates of cancer, according to a recent state analysis. The findings come after reporting by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
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Uvalde school shooting
Texas’ law on gun background checks plagued by critical omissions of minors’ mental health records
Lawmakers tried in 2009 to require that the state report all court-ordered mental health hospitalizations to a federal gun background check system. Juveniles have been left out.
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Uvalde school shooting
Why 18-year-olds can buy AR-15s in Texas but not handguns
This week’s massacre in Uvalde highlights disparities in how federal laws regulate rifles and handguns. The shooter bought two rifles days after his 18th birthday.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
EPA rejects Texas’ more lenient standard for highly toxic air pollutant
In the wake of an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune into the widely used chemical ethylene oxide, the EPA has moved to reject a less protective standard crafted by Texas regulators and backed by the chemical industry.
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Texas 2022 Elections
Texas says supply chain issues have limited the number of voter registration forms it can give out
The secretary of state’s office says it has been forced to limit the amount of forms it gives out to no more than 2,000 per request, which has affected groups that help people register to vote.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
A Laredo plant that sterilizes medical equipment spews cancer-causing pollution on schoolchildren
Nobody told Yaneli Ortiz’s family that the factory they lived near emitted ethylene oxide. Not when the EPA found it causes cancer. Not when she was diagnosed with leukemia. And not when Texas moved to allow polluters to emit more of the chemical.