My story on prediction market wildfire wagers exposed the gamification of natural disasters.
Economy
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
The Chinese immigrants trafficked on New Mexico’s weed farms
Migrant workers were trapped in the Southwest’s illicit cannabis boom and treated as criminals — until investigators began chasing their bosses.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Let’s go in on the American dream, together
Samantha Paige Rosen’s anthology offers communal living as affordability solution.
Posted inArticles
The Deschutes River goes to the water-rich few during drought. Farmers are paying the price
A century-old Oregon water law lets one wealthy region turn the desert green while water-starved ag fallows commercial crops.
Posted inArticles
White Salmon has been fighting for free mail for decades
The small Washington town exemplifies a broader problem across the West, where some pay for a service others get for free.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Billions in border wall contracts are going to a Montana firm run by a Trump donor
Barnard Construction’s leadership donated over $1 million to the president’s campaign. They’re among the administration’s top wall contractors.
Posted inArticles
Can resistance stop a massive data center next to the Great Salt Lake?
Utah has become the latest front in a high-stakes fight to build the infrastructure powering the A.I. boom.
Posted inArticles
Elk herd habitat near Dinosaur National Monument to open for drilling
On June 16, the feds will open Colorado’s biggest public land sale in modern history, threatening wildlife and recreation.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Dredging the Columbia River at the expense of tribal and aquatic communities
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has transformed the estuary and robbed the river of sediment over the last century.
Posted inMay 2026: Pinecone Cowboys
The Death Valley opera house that’s sinking back into the earth
The people trying to save a singular arts landmark face scarce funding, extreme flooding and aging adobe.
Posted inArticles
Controversial gas pipeline across Navajo Nation to begin
The pipeline would eventually cross 234 miles of tribal land. The hearing initiating the project caught community members off guard.
Posted inArticles
Wildfires are torching state budgets
Oregon allocated $10 million for the 2024 wildfire season. It cost more than $350 million.
Posted inArticles
Emergency plans for the Colorado River buy time, not solutions
The federal government ordered Flaming Gorge water released and cuts to Lake Powell releases, to prevent collapse.
Posted inArticles
Tribal leaders reflect on a year of uncertainty — and possibility
Federal turnover and policy shifts have forced Indigenous communities to adapt.
Posted inArticles
New nuclear safety rules reduce protections for workers, the public
‘They’re pulling away from what’s kept us safe all these years.’
Posted inArticles
Skimo is hot, in hot times
The newest Olympic winter sport arrives just as snow droughts are becoming more likely.
Posted inArticles
These meatpacking workers may be deported. They voted to strike anyway.
The largely immigrant workforce at JBS’s flagship U.S. plant, in Greeley, Colorado, is refusing to back down after accusing the company of poor working conditions.
Posted inFebruary 2026: The Recording Artists
As the planet heats, insurance premiums rise
Charting the extreme weather-driven insurance crisis.
Posted inArticles
Would you pay 1% more for wildlife?
A bill in the Oregon Legislature would tax tourists for conservation.
Posted inArticles
Congress passes environmental funding without Trump’s deep cuts
But the bipartisan effort still trimmed climate research and fails to solve agencies’ chronic underfunding.