Kiah Collier is an investigative reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. She previously worked at the Tribune as a reporter and associate editor since 2015, covering energy and environment through the lens of state government and politics. She was a reporter on “Hell and High Water,” a Peabody Award–winning collaboration between ProPublica and the Tribune that explored the vulnerability of the Houston area to a large, devastating hurricane. In addition to the Peabody Award, she has been honored with the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism, the National Edward R. Murrow Award for best investigation, and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award.
After a ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigation found courts failed to report juvenile mental health hospitalizations to the federal firearm background check system, lawmakers from both parties are backing bills to ensure compliance with the law.
Two air monitoring initiatives are moving forward in Laredo after an analysis by the news outlets showed that a plant emitting ethylene oxide elevated the estimated lifetime cancer risk for nearly 130,000 people, including over 37,000 children.
Following reporting by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune and attention from the EPA inspector general, the agency announced plans to "inform and engage" communities about elevated cancer risk from ethylene oxide. It should have done so years ago.
Texas officials tried to require that the state report all court-ordered mental health hospitalizations to a federal gun background check system. Juveniles have been left out.
The massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, highlights disparities in how federal laws regulate rifles and handguns. The shooter bought two rifles days after his 18th birthday.
A raíz de una investigación realizada por ProPublica y The Texas Tribune sobre el óxido de etileno, la EPA ha emprendido medidas para rechazar una norma menos protectora creada por los reguladores de Texas y respaldada por la industria química.
Nadie le dijo a la familia de Yaneli Ortiz que la fábrica cerca de la que vivían emitía óxido de etileno. No les dijeron cuando en la EPA se descubrió que causa cáncer. Tampoco cuando le diagnosticaron leucemia.
In the wake of an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune into the widely used chemical ethylene oxide, the EPA has moved to reject a less protective standard crafted by Texas regulators and backed by the chemical industry.
Nobody told Yaneli Ortiz’s family that the factory they lived near emitted ethylene oxide. Not when the EPA found it causes cancer. Not when she was diagnosed with leukemia. And not when Texas moved to allow polluters to emit more of the chemical.
Oportun Inc., a small-dollar loan company, disclosed to investors that it is the subject of a probe by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau following reporting by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
Texas regulators and lawmakers knew about the grid’s vulnerabilities for years, but time and again they furthered the interests of large electricity providers.
Oportun, which lends in only a dozen states, applied for a bank charter late last year. Consumer and Latino civil rights groups are pushing back, citing the findings of a joint investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
Una investigación de meses reveló que Oportun, Inc., empresa fundada para ayudar a los inmigrantes latinos a establecer un historial de crédito, utiliza demandas judiciales rutinariamente, con el fin de intimidar a esta población vulnerable para que se mantengan al día con los pagos de sus préstamos de alto interés, incluso durante COVID-19.
Los juzgados de paz, donde se presenta la mayoría de las reclamaciones de adeudos en Texas, no tienen el requisito de documentar información a nivel de caso. Aquí presentamos cómo las reporteras de ProPublica y The Texas Tribune lograron revelar una de las tácticas más agresivas de la empresa.
Justice of the peace courts, where a majority of debt claims are filed in Texas, aren’t required to report case-level information. Here’s how ProPublica and Texas Tribune reporters got around it to reveal one company’s aggressive tactics.
A monthslong investigation revealed that Oportun Inc., which was founded to help Latino immigrants build credit, routinely uses lawsuits to intimidate a vulnerable population into keeping up with high-interest loan payments — even amid COVID-19.
A meses de haber comenzado la pandemia, un prestamista que se comercializa entre los inmigrantes latinos siguió demandando a sus prestatarios, a pesar de que estos perdieron sus empleos y se retrasaron con sus pagos. No obstante, la compañía dio marcha atrás cuando nosotros comenzamos a hacer preguntas.
Months into the pandemic, a lender that markets to Latino immigrants continued to sue borrowers after they lost jobs and missed payments. But they reversed course when we started asking questions.
Texas cities and counties have dramatically different interpretations of the state’s COVID-19 emergency orders. Complaint data from a dozen cities shows disparate approaches to enforcement, particularly among businesses, have been incredibly common.
Kim Boatswain’s tax refund could have helped her get through the coronavirus slowdown. But debt collectors seized it. There are few options for Texans like Boatswain whose money was taken just before the state temporarily banned such garnishments.
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