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A St. Louis cop says he’s too sick to testify. Now murder cases are crumbling
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Prosecutors routinely find ways to get key detectives to testify in criminal trials, even when they are retired, sick or otherwise reluctant. Some fly retirees in from Florida or other retirement locales […]
St. Louis police detective sabotaged his own case in order to undermine Kim Gardner
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The voicemail left on St. Louis police detective Roger Murphey’s cellphone carried a clear sense of urgency. A prosecutor in the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office was pleading with Murphey to testify […]
Clean energy lender will stop making high-interest PACE loans in Missouri
This story was originally published by ProPublica. One of the nation’s biggest residential “clean energy” lenders has suspended making loans to homeowners in Missouri, citing economic conditions and a new state law that mandated more consumer protections and oversight. Ygrene Energy Fund, based in California, said it will also stop lending in California, but will […]
How Missouri helps abortion opponents divert state taxes to crisis pregnancy centers
This story was originally published by ProPublica. In the final days of Missouri’s legislative session in May 2019, lawmakers turned their focus to a bill that would outlaw abortion in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade. The abortion ban passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Mike […]
St. Louis’ murder total has fallen, but some killings went uncounted
This story is a collaboration between ProPublica and APM Reports. When the final numbers showed that St. Louis had reduced its murders last year while other big cities were hitting records, city officials said their success was due to smart use of crime data and effective anti-violence programs. But over the past two years, St. Louis […]
GOP legislators in Missouri oppose vaccine efforts as state becomes COVID hotspot
This story was originally published by ProPublica Amid the current surge in COVID-19 cases in Missouri, a recent Facebook conversation between two Republican state lawmakers is telling. Around Independence Day, State Rep. Bill Kidd, from the Kansas City suburbs, revealed that he has been infected by the coronavirus. “And no, we didn’t get the vaccine,” he […]
Missouri lawmakers seek to rein in clean-energy loan program
This story was originally published by ProPublica Officials in Missouri have begun to examine and are considering measures to rein in programs that make high-interest “clean energy” loans to homeowners in the state, after a ProPublica investigation found the programs disproportionately burden borrowers in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The Missouri Senate last week voted 31-1 on […]
State-supported ‘clean energy’ loans put Missouri borrowers at risk of losing their homes
This story was originally published by ProPublica. Diana Thomas needed a new furnace and four small basement windows for her two-story home on the east side of Kansas City. But she had little cash and bad credit. In late 2016, a contractor told her about a loan program that required no money down and would […]