Investigate Midwest (Page 104)

U.S. Department of Agriculture Announces Heather Dawn Thompson as Director, Office of Tribal Relations

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the appointment of Heather Dawn Thompson as Director of the Office of Tribal Relations (OTR) reporting to the Secretary of Agriculture. Thompson is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, a Harvard Law School graduate, and an expert in American

By cvoelkl

/ 25 Jan 2021

COVID on Campus: Containing hot spots a difficult challenge

When universities across the U.S. reopened and welcomed tens of thousands of students back to campus this fall, students partied in apartments, at pools and on the lawns of Greek houses — celebrating as if COVID-19 did not exist. Local public health departments and universities alike received thousa

By Gavin Good/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, Julia Morrison/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, Hali Tauxe/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, Danielle DuClos/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, Chris Martucci/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and Dylan Tiger, CU-Citizen Access

/ 25 Jan 2021

COVID on Campus: Containing hot spots a difficult challenge

COVID on Campus: Unprecedented challenges, mixed results

But an analysis of the efforts at four major Midwestern universities shows that no matter what schools tried — whether it was Illinois’ much-touted testing program or Missouri’s lack of comprehensive or random testing — the results were much worse than predicted. At those campuses and the flagship u

By Danielle DuClos/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

/ 24 Jan 2021

COVID on Campus: Unprecedented challenges, mixed results

Biden administration reviews Trump regulatory rollbacks likely to harm farmworkers

In one of his first acts Wednesday, President Joe Biden ordered federal agencies to review Trump-era rules that advocacy groups said harmed public health and the environment.

By Johnathan Hettinger, Investigate Midwest

/ 22 Jan 2021

Biden administration reviews Trump regulatory rollbacks likely to harm farmworkers

Building Trust Is Key To Ensuring Farmworker Access To COVID Testing, Vaccine

The rollout of coronavirus vaccines provides hope that the end of the pandemic is near. But the virus is still spreading across the U.S. and efforts to expand access to testing and build trust with the farmworker community are still needed, Tellefson Torres says.

By Christine Herman, Illinois Newsroom and Dana Cronin, Illinois Public Media

/ 22 Jan 2021

Building Trust Is Key To Ensuring Farmworker Access To COVID Testing, Vaccine

Rural schools battled bad internet, low attendance in the pandemic. Will spring semester be better?

Andy and Amy Jo Hellenbrand live on a little farm in south-central Wisconsin where they raise corn, soybeans, wheat, heifers, chickens, goats, bunnies, and their four children, ages 5

By Peter Cameron / Wisconsin Watch

/ 21 Jan 2021

Rural schools battled bad internet, low attendance in the pandemic. Will spring semester be better?

Evans: Needless confusion about First Amendment

Forty-five words that were first written with a quill pen 230 years ago form what may be the most consequential sentence in United States history. But that sentence also

By Randy Evans / Stray Thoughts

/ 18 Jan 2021

Evans: Needless confusion about First Amendment

The Trump Administration told an Illinois health department to leave Rochelle Foods alone. Then a second COVID-19 outbreak struck the plant.

A May 1 conference call with federal, state and local health officials sent one message: Despite a COVID-19 outbreak amongst it workers, Rochelle Foods was to remain open. This fall, a second outbreak at the plant wasn’t publicly reported.

By Derek Kravitz, Brown Institute for Media Innovation, Georgia Gee, Stabile Center Investigative Journalism, Columbia Journalism School, Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest and Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY Network Agriculture Data Fellow, Investigate Midwest

/ 17 Jan 2021

The Trump Administration told an Illinois health department to leave Rochelle Foods alone. Then a second COVID-19 outbreak struck the plant.

Iowa food pantries weather COVID, face unprecedented storm coming this winter

In March, Kelli Greenland faced a devil of a choice – should she accept a retail job as an essential worker, or should she remain home to keep her medically fragile

By Nicole Grundmeier / IowaWatch

/ 14 Jan 2021

Iowa food pantries weather COVID, face unprecedented storm coming this winter

USDA Secretary nominee will need to change his spots to meet unprecedented challenges

Big Ag must have breathed a huge collective sigh of relief when President-elect Joe Biden tapped Tom Vilsack to be secretary of USDA. For Big Ag Vilsack is like your grandfather's favorite slippers – comfortable, cuddley warm, and dependable.

By Dave Dickey, Columnist

/ 13 Jan 2021

USDA Secretary nominee will need to change his spots to meet unprecedented challenges

COVID-19 deaths go uninvestigated as OSHA takes a hands-off approach to meatpacking plants

OSHA has not inspected 26 out of the 65 meatpacking plants where reporters found at least one worker died of COVID-19.

By Kyle Bagenstose, USA TODAY, Rachel Axon, USA TODAY and Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest

/ 12 Jan 2021

COVID-19 deaths go uninvestigated as OSHA takes a hands-off approach to meatpacking plants

Transparency: View our 2019 tax return here

You may read here the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism's 990 tax return for 2019. It covers our work at the IowaWatch.org news website and our educational programming for student journalists who produce in-depth reporting with IowaWatch staff journalists.

By IowaWatch