Population growth has slowed overall, but the West continues at a fast pace, adding three congressional seats.
Public health
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
Americans go on a gun-buying frenzy
Gun-related violence soars along with sales.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
Will COVID-19 vaccinations mean more prison overcrowding deaths?
California’s decades-old ‘tough on crime’ laws still fill prisons, creating disease danger zones.
Posted inArticles
The health hazards of California’s neighborhood drilling
Much of the state’s oil extraction takes place in residential areas, often in Spanish-speaking communities, but there’s a lack of research detailing its impact.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
The Colorado town that became a transgender haven
In ‘Going to Trinidad,’ histories illuminate — and obscure — the outcomes of gender transition.
Posted inArticles
What is the pandemic’s lasting impact on first responders?
In Los Angeles County, as COVID-19 surged, EMTs faced the unimaginable, forcing them to take unimaginable measures.
Posted inArticles
New federal funding for police alternatives
The latest COVID-19 relief bill provides a ‘down payment’ for crisis response programs.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Did James Plymell need to die?
How homelessness is criminalized in small cities and towns across the West.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Foreign-born doctors fill physician shortages in the West
Some find a permanent home; others languish in a visa holding pattern.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
A rural remedy to health care access
A virtual telementoring program helps the West respond to the pandemic.
Posted inArticles
Rural communities grapple with COVID-19 immunization rollout
Far-flung populations and limited cold-storage resources present challenges to clinics.
Posted inArticles
Indigenous fishers on the Columbia River confront new challenges
Beyond depleted salmon runs, the pandemic has created occupational hazards and a depressed salmon market.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
In cash-strapped Wyoming, a community votes for a new hospital
As the state cuts funding for public services, cities and counties are figuring out how to go it alone.
Posted inArticles
A crude virus: How ‘man camps’ can cause a COVID surge
The Keystone XL Pipeline threatens to spread more than just oil through Indigenous communities.
Posted inArticles
California farmworkers aren’t staying in free quarantine hotel rooms
Fear, testing barriers and miscalculations have hobbled the statewide program.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
How the Zoom boom is changing the West
Remote workers are flocking to Western towns.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
When COVID hit, a Colorado county kicked out second-home owners. They hit back.
How a group of nonresident homeowners tried to influence a rural Colorado election.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
Rebel eviction-enforcers are helping tenants stay in their homes
In Tucson, a group of constables went rogue and stopped enforcing evictions.
Posted inArticles
Wyoming’s last contact tracers
After an astronomical rise in COVID-19 cases, the state is no longer contact tracing — but some counties and tribes continue their own programs.
Posted inArticles
Ski communities are ‘getting crunched on all sides’
The pandemic has heightened cost-of-living issues in resort towns.