Investigate Midwest - The Midwest Center for Investigative ReportingInvestigate Midwest | The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

Coronavirus

COVID on Campus: Tracking and isolating students was hit-and-miss

By Hali Tauxe, Danielle Duclos, Chris Martucci, Gavin Good and Julia Morrison, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | January 26, 2021

Students report a wide variety of experiences after testing positive for COVID-19 on Midwest campuses. Some were held in university facilities where food was scarce; others were placed in hotels with regular meals. Some said their personal contacts were notified; others say no one even asked who they’d come into contact with, if their schools followed up with them at all.

Coronavirus

COVID on Campus: Containing hot spots a difficult challenge
By Gavin Good, Julia Morrison, Hali Tauxe, Danielle DuClos, Chris Martucci and Dylan Tiger/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | January 25, 2021
When universities across the U.S. reopened and welcomed tens of thousands of students back to campus this fall, students partied in apartments, at pools and on the lawns of Greek houses — celebrating as if COVID-19 did not exist. Local public health departments and universities alike received thousands of reports about students at over-packed parties and bars where they could be seen maskless, violating social distancing and gathering size limits. Some schools created ways for complaints to be filed.
COVID on Campus: Unprecedented challenges, mixed results
By Danielle DuClos/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | January 24, 2021
But an analysis of the efforts at four major Midwestern universities shows that no matter what schools tried — whether it was Illinois’ much-touted testing program or Missouri’s lack of comprehensive or random testing — the results were much worse than predicted. At those campuses and the flagship universities in Indiana and Wisconsin, at least 15,000 tested positive for COVID-19 this fall.
Building Trust Is Key To Ensuring Farmworker Access To COVID Testing, Vaccine
By Christine Herman and Dana Cronin, Harvest Public Media | January 22, 2021
The rollout of coronavirus vaccines provides hope that the end of the pandemic is near. But the virus is still spreading across the U.S. and efforts to expand access to testing and build trust with the farmworker community are still needed, Tellefson Torres says.

Wellness on the Farm

Long distances and stigma: Telehealth seen as way for farmers to access needed mental health assistance
By Marissa Plescia, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Mental health providers said online therapy offers more confidentiality to farmers and spares them from driving long distances to access care.
After #MeToo, This Group Has Nearly Erased Sexual Harassment in Farm Fields
By Vera L. Chang

Nely Rodríguez stands in front of 43 farmworkers and supervisors who sit side by side at picnic tables wearing various protective workwear—hats, ski masks, bandanas, socks as sleeves.

Rodríguez, a member and worker-leader of the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), points to a drawing of a female farmworker bent over picking tomatoes while a male supervisor stands over her saying, “¡Mamacita, qué rico te vez!” or “Hot momma, you look so sexy!”
Homegrown relief: Farming communities tackle rise in suicides
By Stephanie Hanes
This story was originally published by the Christian Science Monitor LIME RIDGE, WIS. One humid afternoon this past July, on the gravel driveway of Lime Ridge Ag Supply in the rolling green heart of America’s dairy land, a small group of masked volunteers delivered sugar cones and goody bags to farmers in big trucks. The […]

Agribusiness

Biden administration reviews Trump regulatory rollbacks likely to harm farmworkers
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | January 22, 2021
In one of his first acts Wednesday, President Joe Biden ordered federal agencies to review Trump-era rules that advocacy groups said harmed public health and the environment.
GRAPHIC: Poultry plants were already dangerous. Then came COVID-19.
By Sky Chadde, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | December 16, 2020
There had been about 8 deaths a year on average across the poultry industry — until this year.
Lawsuit Alleges Farmworkers Sickened After Pesticide Exposure
By Dana Cronin | December 10, 2020
In late July 2019, a group of migrant farmworkers from south Texas was working in a cornfield in DeWitt County, Ill., when suddenly a crop duster flew overhead, spraying them with pesticides. Panicked, the crew, which included teenagers and a pregnant woman, ran off the field with clothes doused in pesticides. Their eyes and throats burned and some had trouble breathing.

Dicamba on Trial

‘Buy it or else’: Inside Monsanto and BASF’s moves to force dicamba on farmers
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | December 4, 2020
Internal company records show the companies knew crop damage from their weed killer would be extensive. They sold it anyway.
Federal judge upholds dicamba ruling but reduces damages owed to Missouri peach farmer
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | November 30, 2020
A jury awarded Bader Farms $250 million in punitive damages after finding Monsanto and BASF knew dicamba would harm crops. A judge reduced the amount.
Trump EPA removes tool states use to protect farmworkers, environment
By Johnathan Hettinger/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | November 20, 2020
The Trump Administration took a step on Friday to severely weaken state regulation of pesticides, taking away a tool that state regulatory officials say helps protect farmworkers and the environment.

Government

Midwest Center sensors find potentially hazardous pesticides near schools, parks and homes
By Claire Hettinger and Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
For one year, the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting periodically sampled for pesticide drift in five locations surrounded by agricultural fields in Central Illinois, where large numbers of corn and soybeans are planted. Five air sensors put up by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting from June 2018 to July 2019 found the presence of pesticides near schools, parks and homes where vulnerable populations live.
Without federal oversight, some states protect workers from COVID-19, others shield businesses from lawsuits
By Frank Hernandez, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Advocates have said safety measures need to be enforceable in order to protect workers. Without the feds, some states have stepped in and done so.
Plagued by COVID outbreaks, the meatpacking industry could be forced to change under Biden
By Sky Chadde, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting; Rachel Axon and Kyle Bagenstose, USA Today
While president-elect Joe Biden has not announced any specific plans to protect meatpacking workers, advocates believe there are things he could, and should, do.

Environment

Despite hundreds of millions in tax dollars, ADM’s carbon capture program still hasn’t met promised goals
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | November 19, 2020
Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world's largest agribusinesses, has yet to make good on its promise to capture a million tons of carbon a year at its Decature, Illinois, facility.
EPA takes steps to allow continued use of pesticides linked to cancer, brain development issues in children
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 24, 2020
The Trump administration in recent days took steps toward continuing to allow the use of two popular pesticides linked to developmental issues in children. In both cases, the agency weakened its metrics for assessing human health protections. On Sept. 18, the EPA approved the continued use of atrazine, the second most commonly sprayed herbicide in […]
EPA Inspector General: Covid-19 could affect agency’s ability to communicate health risks to communities
By Samuel Trilling, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | June 25, 2020
Covid-19 could hamper the EPA’s ability to inform communities of health risks, according to a report released this month from the agency’s Office of Inspector General. Specifically, the inspector general’s office worried the EPA might not be able to inform residents who live near facilities with emissions that could cause cancer. In a separate report […]