Politics
Inside the Quiet Campaign to Rewrite the Rules on Public Records
Amara Okafor / Harbor ReviewA coalition of state officials is working behind closed doors to narrow what the public can ask for. Here is what the drafts say.
Dispatch
Science
As Coastal Towns Retreat, Residents Ask Who Pays
Daniel Whitfield, Tomás Herrera / Meridian WireManaged retreat is no longer a hypothetical. In a dozen communities, it is a budget line.
The Long Read: How One Town Built Its Own Newspaper
Tomás Herrera, Priya Natarajan / Open LedgerWhen the last paper in Marlow County folded, a retired printer, a school librarian and two hundred neighbours decided to start another. This is how they did it, and what it cost.
Court Weighs Whether Algorithms Can Decide Who Gets Bail
Amara Okafor / Harbor ReviewA challenge to a risk-scoring tool used in 40 counties raises a question judges have avoided: who is accountable when software recommends detention?
The Last Cannery on the Bay Faces Its Final Season
Tomás Herrera / Open LedgerAfter 87 years, a family-run cannery says it cannot afford another one. The town is trying to find a way to keep it open.
A New Generation of Poets Is Rewriting the Protest Song
Priya Natarajan / Common GroundSpoken-word nights, zines and bedroom recordings are replacing the stadium anthem. The politics are the same. The sound is not.
Scientists Map the Deepest Methane Leak Ever Recorded Under Arctic Ice
Daniel Whitfield / Meridian WireA research team found plumes rising from sediment more than a kilometre below the surface. What it means for warming is still being worked out.
Teachers in Three States Vote to Authorise Strikes
Tomás Herrera / Open LedgerClass sizes, pay and school funding formulas are driving a wave of walkout votes ahead of the new term.
In the Shadow of the Dam: Seven Villages Await Relocation
Hannah Lindqvist / Northern PostThe reservoir is rising. The promises made to the people living below it have not kept pace.
The Case for Boring Government
Eleanor Strand / DispatchCompetence is not glamorous, and that is exactly the point.
Why the Midterm Map Looks Nothing Like the Polls
Amara Okafor, Marcus Bell / Harbor ReviewNational surveys point one way. A district-by-district view points another. The gap comes down to geography, turnout and a handful of redrawn lines.
The Quiet Revolution in Battery Recycling
Marcus Bell, Daniel Whitfield / The Ledger DeskA new generation of plants can recover nearly all the metals in a spent battery. The bottleneck is no longer technology; it is collection.
Culture
The Quiet Revival of the Neighbourhood Cinema
Priya Natarajan / Common GroundStreaming was supposed to finish them. Instead, a handful of small cinemas are thriving by doing everything the multiplex does not.
News
Rents Rise Fastest in Mid-Sized Cities, New Data Shows
Marcus Bell / The Ledger DeskThe big cities grabbed the headlines. The sharpest increases are happening in places with populations under 400,000.
Politics
Senators Quietly Strip Oversight Language From Spending Bill
Amara Okafor / Harbor ReviewA paragraph requiring quarterly audits of a $4 billion fund disappeared between the committee draft and the floor version. No one will say who removed it.
