Ren Larson is a data journalist with the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. Ren uses statistical methods, geospatial analysis and database development to investigate stories and hold officials accountable. She previously worked for the Arizona Republic where she reported on elections, immigration, environmental contamination and wildfires. Larson's 2019 project "Ahead of the Fire," which analyzed nearly 5,000 Western communities for wildfire hazard and human vulnerabilities, won the MIT Knight Science Journalism's Victor K. McElheny award, a 2019 EPPY award for innovation and was a finalist for the Philip Meyer Award.
She holds a masters of public policy and an M.A. in international and area studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to becoming a journalist, she was an urban planner, a case manager and a data analyst.
Comparing the cases of Pvt. Olivia Ochoa and Pfc. Christian Alvarado provides a striking example of Army commanders’ uneven use of pretrial confinement.
A first-of-its-kind analysis reveals that, on average, Army soldiers had to face at least eight counts of sexual offenses before their commanders jailed them ahead of trial as often as soldiers charged with drug or burglary crimes.
A first-of-its-kind analysis reveals that soldiers in the Army are more likely to be locked up ahead of trial for drug offenses than for sexual assault under a system that gives commanders control.
Soldiers are more likely to be held before trial for drug charges than for sexual assault, an analysis of court records shows. Here’s how reporters from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune figured it out.
We’re looking into how the military investigates service members accused of crimes, intersects with the civilian justice system and treats cases that do not make it to courts-martial. Guide us to important stories.
The lawsuit cites findings from a ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation that featured Socrates Shawn, who was commuting between his divorced parents’ homes when he was pulled over and arrested in April 2020 by an officer in Progreso, Texas.
Los generadores portátiles están entre los productos de consumo más mortales. Dos décadas después de que el gobierno identificará el peligro, el sistema deja a la gente vulnerable al permitir que la industria se regule a sí misma.
Portable generators are among the deadliest consumer products. Two decades after the government identified the danger, and as climate change leads to more power outages, people are left vulnerable by a system that lets the industry regulate itself.
They used their car to stay warm when a winter storm brought down the Texas power grid. In a state that doesn’t require carbon monoxide alarms in homes, they had no warning they were poisoning themselves.
Usaron su auto para calentarse cuando una tormenta invernal tumbó la red eléctrica de Texas. En un estado que no exige alarmas para detectar el monóxido de carbono en las viviendas, no tenían advertencia alguna de que se estaban intoxicando.
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.
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.
Governments along the Texas-Mexico border took a hard line to limit COVID-19’s spread. Police were key to the public health response, resulting in hundreds jailed and nearly 2,000 people ticketed.
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.
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.
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 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.
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