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Meet the Mayor of a Tiny Texas Town Who Wants to Limit How Cities Can Govern

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Margaret Flatley for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune In February, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit accusing Dallas officials of failing to adequately fund the city’s police department and violating a voter-approved measure requiring it to hire up to 900 new officers. “I filed this lawsuit to ensure that the City of Dallas fully funds law enforcement, upholds public safety, and is accountable to its constituents,” Paxton said in a news release demanding that the city adhere to a 2024 change in its charter. “When voters demand more funding for law enforcement, local officials must immediately comply.” The reason Paxton could pursue such action, the reason the Dallas city charter even requires hiring more officers, was due in large part to a man named Art Martinez de Vara. A private attorney with a law practice based in Houston and a tiny South Texas town called Von Ormy, Martinez de Vara was one of the driving forces behind the changes in the charter that opened Da...
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Some Connecticut Towing Companies Are Ignoring New Law Aimed at Helping Low-Income Residents

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Tawana Galberth, a tenants union leader and resident at Sunset Ridge Apartments in New Haven, Connecticut. Residents say the frequency of towing has picked up in recent months after the formation of a tenants union. Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror Connecticut legislators overhauled the state’s towing law last year to make it more fair for low-income residents who couldn’t afford the fees to get their cars back. Those residents sometimes saw their cars sold after being towed for breaking one of their landlord’s parking rules. The new law, which took effect in October, requires tow truck companies to give owners notice before hauling away a car for minor issues like failing to display an apartment complex’s parking permit or parking in the wrong space. They also now have to be available after hours to allow people to retrieve their vehicles. They have to accept credit cards and provide change when people pay in cash. But when Elias Natal went to work one evening in December, he discovered...
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Unfounded Health Concerns Are Powering a Solar Backlash

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A sign denouncing large-scale solar energy development lies a short distance from where a project has been proposed in St. Clair County, Michigan. The county’s medical director has claimed that large solar facilities are a potential health risk for residents. Nick Hagen for ProPublica Kevin Heath had hoped there would be solar panels by now on his family farm in southeastern Michigan, roughly 50 miles outside Detroit. About six years ago, he agreed to lease part of his land for a solar project. It would help him pay off debt and keep the farm in the family, he said. But the opportunity was thwarted when, in 2023, following pushback from some local residents, his township passed an ordinance that banned large solar projects from land zoned for agriculture. In the fight over solar development, Heath said he was bombarded by just about every argument from critics — including claims that solar fields are a health hazard. “I’ve heard them say that, but I’ve never heard anybody prove th...
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“A Punch in the Gut”: After Years of Waiting, Many Opioid Victims Will Be Shut Out of Purdue Settlement

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Pennsylvania resident Mary Jannotta, 77, left, and her daughter, Susan Ousterman, with a photograph of Susan’s son, Tyler Cordeiro. Jannotta had to overcome an addiction to opioid painkillers. Cordeiro died of a drug overdose in 2020. Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer Mary Jannotta sliced meat and cheese behind deli counters at Acme and Pathmark supermarkets in the Philadelphia suburbs for decades, developing aches that came with working on her feet. A botched back surgery in 2008 made the pain worse. Her doctor repeatedly prescribed OxyContin, Purdue Pharma’s marquee painkiller — the high-dose opioid the company later admitted it criminally marketed and distributed.    Jannotta said she soon became dependent on opioids. Cut off by her doctors, she found her way to Kensington, home of Philadelphia’s dangerous open-air drug market, to score pills. She eventually lost her car, her home — and her grandson. Tyler Cordeiro first pilfered Jannotta’s prescription pil...
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