Topher Sanders

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

After brakeman Chris Cole lost both his legs on the job, railroad officials removed evidence before state regulators could see it, omitted key facts in reports and suspended him from a job he could never return to.

Thanks to government loopholes, rail companies haven’t been scrutinized by the Federal Railroad Administration for scores of alleged worker injuries and at least two deaths.

A new federal rule requires that local officials in flood-prone areas consider safety features for drain openings. In 2021, ProPublica reported that uncovered storm drains were responsible for at least three dozen deaths over six years.

The underregulated toxic chemical can be found in common household items from couches to clothes. We asked experts how you can reduce your exposure.

Federal investigators had identified at least eight police departments with patterns of unlawful behavior. But Trump’s freeze on oversight activities leaves many reform efforts in the hands of local leaders.

A draft executive order viewed by ProPublica directs the secretary of transportation to “use all available authorities to eliminate or expedite” environmental reviews for launch licenses — a change Elon Musk’s SpaceX and others have long sought.

The mayor of Hammond, Indiana, says the rail company had promised to help pay for a pedestrian bridge after ProPublica and InvestigateTV documented dozens of children crawling through trains to get to school. The company denies making this pledge.

Some cities celebrated when the Trump administration ended federal oversight of several police departments, but Louisville, Kentucky's mayor said the city would be “moving ahead rapidly” with reforms. One year in, activists say the plan is lacking.

Police forces with records of unconstitutional policing continued to engage in excessive force even as the Trump administration declared federal oversight unnecessary, according to a new yearlong review by the ACLU.