Claude, moments after California presses the "kill switch"

🎧It's ALIVE!🎧 Hear a little bit of BTS on the jaw-dropping reporting on Donald Trump Jr.'s secret wedding guest from the reporters themselves, @justinelliott.bsky.social and Brett Murphy www.propublica.org/podcast/dona...

The Russian Benefactor Who Funded Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding

propublica.org

Jessica Lussenhop@jlussenhop.bsky.social · 3w ago

It's true...

Congratulations to #NIHCMs 2nd Annual Local Media Award Winners @sfchronicle.com, Cynthia Dizikes and Joaquin Palomino for their piece “Failed to Death”. Read the piece here: bit.ly/NIHCM2026LMA...

🚨 We've seen instances of people impersonating ProPublica reporters on Signal and over email. Reminder: Our reporters have their Signal handles listed on their bio pages. They will always have an active @propublica.org email address. ➡️ How to verify: https://www.propublica.org/staff#news-staff

NEW INVESTIGATION: Insurance companies use hidden rules to slash disaster survivors' payouts. The @sfchronicle.com obtained hundreds of internal records showing how insurers including State Farm cut claims payments to LA fire victims. Read more (gift link): tinyurl.com/y4fpza2p 1/

California insurers slash wildfire claims with hidden rules

California insurers use these hidden rules to slash wildfire payouts. Lawmakers are largely unaware.

tinyurl.com

Following the LA fires, a California panel is working on rules for how home insurers handle smoke damage. Insurance industry voices appear to dominate. A banger story from @saradinatale.bsky.social @meganmunce.bsky.social @susien.bsky.social www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...

California is drafting new rules for wildfire smoke cleanup. Are home insurers calling the shots?

A state-led task force assembled to issue smoke damage guidelines includes technical experts who have spent years helping insurers dispute consumers’ smoke-damage claims.

sfchronicle.com

We have progressed from data collection to data analysis.

In January while reporting on the Palisades Fire, @mgafni.bsky.social and I heard from fire survivors about a coincidence. The Palisades Fire started in the same spot as a fire that burned less than a week earlier on New Year's Day. They wondered if the two fires might be connected 🧵

This exists! It’s called Local Matters. We are sponsored by @ire.org & @knightcolumbia.org. Local Matters is a free, weekly newsletter that is curated by myself and three other working journalists. This is our 8th year! Anyone can sign up here: visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin...

Joshua Benton@joshuabenton.com · 12mo ago

You know what I wish someone would make? A daily (or weekly, I suppose) compilation of the most kick-ass stories in local TV news. Like, the ones that show real tenacity and enterprise, investigations and watchdog stuff. It’s still out there! Everybody like catching a corrupt mayor, bad cops, etc.

Whoa. Looks like Exeter Finance, the subprime auto lender I investigated with @ryangabrielson.bsky.social for @propublica.org, is under investigation by 42 state AGs. www.propublica.org/article/tom-...

Portland Trail Blazers Buyer Tom Dundon Built His Fortune on Subprime Loans

In 2020, the state sued Santander Consumer USA for allegedly preying on Oregonians through high-interest car loans they couldn’t afford in a case involving more than 265,000 borrowers nationwide.

propublica.org

Congrats to my former student @susien.bsky.social for investigating how a flawed estimation tool leads to victims of California wildfires being under-insured businessjournalism.org/2025/09/2025...

Public-health focused investigations take top awards in the 19th annual Barlett and Steele Awards | The Reynolds Center

Promoting the importance of business journalism among journalism students, giving journalists tools to improve their business coverage, and helping

businessjournalism.org

In 2000, rookie Oakland cop Aaron McFarland wrote report saying he arrested man w drugs. His probable cause for stop: the man had crossed a solid red light. The problem: At that time of night the lights blink red. Katey & I obtained new records: www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...

An FBI agent killed a man after the Boston Marathon bombing. Oakland PD had helped hide his past

A trove of internal police files provides a more complete accounting of the early episode that could have jeopardized Aaron McFarlane’s career before a high-profile shooting.

sfchronicle.com

Texas is about to give more than $1 billion in public money to private schools. We found that they routinely engage in nepotism and enrich insiders in ways that would be illegal for public and charter schools. Just out @propublica.org @texastribune.org: www.texastribune.org/2025/08/13/t...

Texas private schools hire relatives and enrich insiders. Soon they can do it with taxpayer money.

An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found more than 60 instances of nepotism, self-dealing and conflicts of interest among 27 private schools that likely would have violated state law...

texastribune.org

A shuttered Oakland school was slated for affordable housing. Then squatters moved in, @maggieangst.bsky.social reports: www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/arti...

Shuttered Oakland school was slated for affordable housing. Then squatters moved in

The former Oakland school was to be redeveloped into affordable housing, but years of delays and inaction have made the campus susceptible to illegal encampments, drug dealing and fires.

sfchronicle.com

"Trevor, who asked to be identified by his first name only while acknowledging illegal conduct ..." Fun read via @stjbs.bsky.social www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...

A Bay Area man’s trip to Nevada explains why local skies are about to burst with illegal fireworks

On a recent day, Trevor made the same drive he’s made every year for the past decade. Four and a half hours later, he pulled into Bad Jack’s Fireworks in Schurz, Nev.

sfchronicle.com

New: Beryllium, a metal so toxic that breathing in a minuscule amount over time can cause a chronic & fatal illness, is being found in homes after the LA wildfires. Nobody knows where it's coming from. Few are testing for it. w/ @meganmunce.bsky.social @sfchronicle.com tinyurl.com/4pkefbfx

Toxic metal found in L.A. air after fires. No one knows where it’s coming from

A little-known and highly dangerous earth metal used to craft spaceships has been found in wildfire-ravaged homes and in the air in Los Angeles. Experts are shocked — and alarmed.

sfchronicle.com

Must read: A dangerous, little-known substance has been found in dozens of homes in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones, test results obtained by the Chronicle show. www.sfchronicle.com/california-w...

Toxic metal found in L.A. air after fires. No one knows where it’s coming from

A little-known and highly dangerous earth metal used to craft spaceships has been found in wildfire-ravaged homes and in the air in Los Angeles. Experts are shocked — and alarmed.

sfchronicle.com

How the Fed decides its highly influential "dot plot" rate projection (basically). www.wsj.com/economy/cent...

Polite request to please credit the photographers whose L.A. photos you’re sharing. They’re out there risking getting their shins exploded by police munitions to get those shots.

“One day before the Trump administration deployed U.S. Marines to confront protesters in Los Angeles, [DHS Sec] Kristi Noem asked Defense [Sec] Pete Hegseth to direct the military to detain or arrest “lawbreakers,” a move one expert called “a grave escalation.’” www.sfchronicle.com/us-world/art...

Exclusive: DHS secretary seeks military arrests in Los Angeles in leaked letter

The military is generally barred from domestic law enforcement. Kristi Noem’s request may be a step toward the Trump administration sidestepping those laws by invoking the Insurrection Act.

sfchronicle.com

One day before the Trump admin deployed U.S. Marines to confront protesters in LA, DHS Sec. Kristi Noem asked Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to direct the military to detain or arrest “lawbreakers.” by @mgafni.bsky.social, Cynthia Dizikes, @sophiabollag.bsky.social www.sfchronicle.com/us-world/art...

Exclusive: DHS secretary seeks military arrests in Los Angeles in leaked letter

The military is generally barred from domestic law enforcement. Kristi Noem’s request may be a step toward the Trump administration sidestepping those laws by invoking the Insurrection Act.

sfchronicle.com

EXCLUSIVE: CA National Guard troops sent by Trump to LA amid immigration protests are sleeping on concrete floors. No fed funding for food, water, fuel, equipment or lodging. Source: “Currently, there is no plan for where everyone is sleeping tonight” www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...

‘Wildly underprepared’: National Guard troops seen sleeping on floors in exclusive photos

State troops sent to Los Angeles by the Trump administration, without the approval of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, were expected to sleep on floors or outdoors, a source told the Chronicle.

sfchronicle.com

It turns out that overall, the academic disparities between the lottery and merit students were relatively small. While the lottery had little impact on academic markers, it did have an impact on student demographics, ... significantly increasing the number of Black and Latino students.

San Francisco Chronicle@sfchronicle.com · last yr.

The two years of lottery students at Lowell High School could help answer a burning question: What if the SFUSD randomly admitted students to one of the top-performing high schools in the country?

New from me and @meganmunce.bsky.social: Three major insurance companies have been accused of systematically under-insuring LA wildfire victims via flawed software, following our @sfchronicle.com investigation into the issue. Gift link: tinyurl.com/4dmpcb25

3 big California insurers accused of underinsuring L.A. fire survivors

These allegations come after the Chronicle published an investigation into how flaws in software and the way insurance companies use it have left California homeowners underinsured after wildfires.

tinyurl.com

I can't recommend this #ire25 class highly enough, taught by two of the best investigative storytellers in the biz!

Bethany Barnes@betsbarnes.bsky.social · last yr.

There are still spots in our Writing The Investigative Narrative class at @ire.org! Come talk craft with me & @rwoolington.bsky.social ✨📰 Sign up here: www.ire.org/product/ire2...

Remember: underinsurance isn’t unique to CA—most major insurance companies operating in the U.S. use the same flawed software. Time for other states to follow suit and investigate to make sure their policyholders are protected 🔎

After every major wildfire in California, vast numbers of survivors have found themselves underinsured & unable to rebuild their homes. I'm here at a California Board of Equalization hearing discussing the issue and exploring solutions. Watch the meeting here: boe.ca.gov/meetings/

UC San Diego maintains 1,000+ fire-monitoring cameras across CA. The footage is typically publicly available. That was until the Palisades Fire, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives intervened. @sfchronicle.com fought for months for this footage. See it for the first time ⬇️

Exclusive footage: Deadly Palisades Fire may have grown from this Jan. 1 blaze

YouTube video by San Francisco Chronicle

youtu.be

See for yourself: Side-by-side footage shows the start of the Palisades fire in Los Angeles and small fire that broke out in the same area six days earlier. Did it rekindle? An exclusive, with @mgafni.bsky.social www.sfchronicle.com/california-w...

Exclusive footage: Deadly Palisades Fire may have grown from this Jan. 1 blaze

Footage obtained by the Chronicle shows the deadly Palisades Fire in the Los Angeles area may have grown from earlier blaze.

sfchronicle.com

Another entry in the breaking State Farm saga: A new filing submitted this afternoon reveals State Farm is pursuing its original 30% rate hike request at the full rate hearing slated for this fall. That would cumulatively be an 11% increase on top of the emergency 17% they were granted last week.

State Farm asks for another double-digit California home insurance rate hike

Under State Farm’s new request, its condo rates in California would soar, and homeowners rates would jump an additional 11%.

sfchronicle.com