center for public integrity - Investigate Midwest

Hidden epidemics: Weather disasters drive a mental health crisis

In 2019, flooding hit the small Mills County, Iowa, town of Pacific Junction. Recovery is slow, Mayor Andy Young said in August 2020, a year after the waters rose 7

By Dean Russell and Jamie Smith Hopkins / Columbia Journalism Investigations and Center for Public Integrity

/ 25 Aug 2020

Hidden epidemics: Weather disasters drive a mental health crisis

Iowa's Parkersburg tornado survivors offer support, hope after derecho turmoil

About this project: Hidden Epidemics IowaWatch reported this story as part of a project on disasters and mental health with the Center for Public Integrity, Columbia Journalism Investigations, California Health

By Pat Kinney / For IowaWatch

/ 25 Aug 2020

Iowa's Parkersburg tornado survivors offer support, hope after derecho turmoil

State Lawmakers Often Blur The Line Between Public's Business And Their Own

A recent change in Iowa’s tax code spared Mark Chelgren’s machine shop, welding company and wheelchair-parts plant from paying sales tax when buying certain supplies such as

By Liz Essley Whyte/Center for Public Integrity and Ryan J. Foley/Associated Press

/ 6 Dec 2017

State Lawmakers Often Blur The Line Between Public's Business And Their Own

Select few 'super polluters' dominate toxic air releases

The investigation dubbed the top 100 emitters as "America's superpolluters" and showed that these facilities, largely coal plants, have a negative impact on human health and climate change.

By Johnathan Hettinger, Investigate Midwest

/ 5 Oct 2016

IowaWatch Sunshine Week Report: The Cost Of Uncertainty In Iowa’s Public Record Laws

Costs and time spent defining what qualifies as an open record in Iowa are the biggest impediments to gaining access to information about how government functions and the way public money is spent. The cluster of rules defining public records in Iowa can be confusing or leave room for uncertainty. W

By Lauren Mills

/ 13 Mar 2016

IowaWatch Sunshine Week Report: The Cost Of Uncertainty In Iowa’s Public Record Laws

Iowa's Judicial Branch Flunks Transparency Survey Despite Landmark Reports Availability

Iowa’s Judicial Branch flunked a recent transparency and accountability study because of barriers to public access to information, a lack of legal requirements for judicial evaluations and issues surrounding potential conflicts of interest. They include limited access judicial officers’ asset disclo

By Lauren Mills

/ 3 Dec 2015

Iowa's Judicial Branch Flunks Transparency Survey Despite Landmark Reports Availability

IowaWatch Connection: Government Transparency

A new Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity survey on state government transparency and accountability is out, and Iowa did not fare well in the State Integrity Investigation.

By Jeff Stein and Lauren Mills

/ 16 Nov 2015

IowaWatch Connection: Government Transparency

Iowa's Bid For Open Government Is Never-Ending

The grade might stun you — Iowa receiving a D-plus for government transparency from the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity Monday morning, Nov. 9, in a government transparency

By Lyle Muller

/ 16 Nov 2015

Iowa's Bid For Open Government Is Never-Ending

Iowa Draws A Lowly D+ In New Government Transparency Report

The fact that state authorities sought to obstruct disclosure of a police shooting in Burlington explains, in part, why Iowa received an overall grade of D+ in a 2015 State Integrity Investigation conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity.

By Lauren Mills/Center for Public Integrity

/ 9 Nov 2015

Iowa Draws A Lowly D+ In New Government Transparency Report

Only three states score higher than D+ in State Integrity Investigation; 11 flunk

The 2015 State Integrity Investigation, a data-driven assessment of state government, found that in state after state, open records laws are laced with exemptions and part-time legislators and agency officials engage in glaring conflicts of interests and cozy relationships with lobbyists. Meanwhile,

By Nicholas Kusnetz/Center for Public Integrity

/ 9 Nov 2015

Only three states score higher than D+ in State Integrity Investigation; 11 flunk

About The State Integrity Investigation

The State Integrity Investigation is an in-depth collaboration designed to assess transparency, accountability, ethics and oversight in state government, spotlight the states that are doing things right and expose practices that undermine trust in state capitals.

By Nicholas Kusnetz/Center for Public Integrity

/ 9 Nov 2015

D.C.-Based Groups Bombarded State High Court Races with Ads

Spending in Iowa’s recent state Supreme Court retention election was the fifth highest of 10 high-profile state supreme court races in 2012 and 2013, a new investigation shows. A Center for Public Integrity investigation shows out-of-state influence likely helped decide races in Iowa, North Carolina

By Alan Suderman and Ben Wieder/Center for Public Integrity

/ 13 Jun 2013

D.C.-Based Groups Bombarded State High Court Races with Ads