Sprawling visa scandal continues to embarrass small towns in Louisiana. Three law officers are among the defendants.

Authorities uncovered the alleged scheme while investigating 
a 'pattern of inconsistencies in U-visa applications.' (HS photo)

Three lawmen, an elected marshal, a Subway shop owner and foreign nationals with cash and a bent for staying in the U.S. allegedly spent nearly a decade manufacturing false police reports of burglaries to help foreign nationals stay in the U.S. 

Most recently, a federal judge "delayed a March trial date and hasn’t set a new one," reports Joe Barrett of The Wall Street Journal. "Locals wish the whole thing would blow over."

Residents from a smattering of small towns in southwestern Louisiana had "endured an 'unusual concentration of armed robberies of people who were not from Louisiana,' then-acting U.S. Attorney Alexander Van Hook said at a news conference last summer."  

"He then delivered the punchline: 'In fact, the armed robberies never took place.'"

How does that happen? It went something like this: The Subway shop owner, Chandrakant 'Lala' Patel, would "allegedly connect with crime 'victims' looking to stay in the U.S.," Barrett writes. "He would then turn to one of the law-enforcement officials to draw up paperwork for crimes that never happened." The foreign nationals, who posed as crime victims, would then apply for U visas, which "allow certain crime victims to remain in the U.S."

Authorities allege the scheme worked for almost a decade and netted the five men $5,000 per foreign national "helped" by the crime reports, which in turn allowed hundreds of foreign nationals to stay in the U.S. based on false claims. Barrett reports, "Investigators with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spurred the multi-agency probe in July 2024 after uncovering a pattern of inconsistencies in U-visa applications."

Meanwhile, residents in the rural towns of Oakdale, Glenmora and Forest Hill, where the indicted men live or worked, have been shocked by the allegations. Barrett adds, "Months later, locals still talk about the scandal in hushed voices, wary of drawing more attention to their towns."  

Flora & Fauna: The grizzly of 2026 awakens; springtime woodpeckers; America dominates pistachio market; crime solving with moss; eagle research helps human PFAS study

The first grizzly bear of 2026 spotted in Yellowstone National Park left its den in search of lunch.                                     (Photo by Jim Peaco, National Park Service)        

Yellowstone Park researchers know winter is on the way out when they see a grizzly bear out of its den and feasting on lunch after its long months of hibernation. "Scientists spotted the first grizzly bear of 2026 earlier this week at Yellowstone National Park, marking the beginning of the end of hibernation season for the massive creatures," reports Emily Mae Czachor of CBS News. "The grizzly observed this year was seen in the backcountry, scavenging on the carcass of a bull bison, another species found in the park." 

When spring starts its seasonal orchestra, the percussion section begins with the staccato drums of male woodpeckers trying to out "hammer" each other to win over female woodpeckers. "The emphatic drumming, meant to attract mates and drive off rival males, is by no means the only way woodpeckers are at the pulse of things," writes Margaret Roach of The New York Times. Abandoned woodpecker nests are repurposed into homes by "wood ducks, owls, bluebirds, tree swallows, squirrels, martens, bats and raccoons" to name a few. Woodpecker: A Year in the Life of North American Woodpeckers is a new book by author and wildlife photographer Paul Bannick that gives rich insight into how humans can help nature's amazing builders.

Chestnut trees that once filled American forests until an airborne blight and root rot pushed them to the brink of extinction might once again compete for space in forests from Maine to Mississippi. "A new study in the journal Science provides hope for its revitalization, finding that the genetic testing of individual trees can reveal which are most likely to resist disease and grow tall, thus shortening how long it takes to plant the next, more robust, generation," reports Michael Phillis of The Associated Press. "A smaller gap between generations means a faster path to lots of disease-resistant trees. . . . The authors hope that can occur in the coming decades."

U.S. pistachio production hit a record 1.57 
billion pounds last year. (USDA ARS photo)

They're cracked, green and more than a little nutty. Meet the American pistachio. It's an alternate-bearing crop that's gaining international popularity, especially when mixed with chocolate. "The U.S. pistachio industry appears to be attracting more demand as its supply could soon reach 2 billion pounds," reports Todd Fitchette of Western Farm Press. "The popularity of a chocolate bar created in Dubai with crushed pistachios in it has helped bolster global pistachio demand in other products. . . .The U.S. currently controls the world’s pistachio market share with about 63% of the global supply."

Moss can help 'track a suspect's movements' through
woods and water edges. (Photo by N. Macc, Unsplash) 

In some hard-to-crack crime cases, there's often a trail that leads to a remote location where a body is disposed of, leaving nearby flora as the only witness. And while plants can't talk, many a detective knows that foliage can still tell part of the story. More recently, forensic botanists are analyzing moss for clues. "Particles from the dense, green mats can easily attach to a suspect’s shoes or clothing, grow on human remains and survive in adverse conditions," reports Samantha Drake of The New York Times. Moss samples can help detectives determine postmortem timelines, "track a suspect’s movements and establish key links to help solve crimes including homicides, missing person cases and cemetery desecrations."

Research efforts in Wisconsin who are focused on bald eagle health are helping scientists determine PFAS levels in human populations across the state. "Dubbed 'forever chemicals,' PFAS don’t break down easily and are found in common household products," Sea Grant for the University of Wisconsin reports. "They’re harmful to human health and have been found in high concentrations in drinking water in communities across Wisconsin. The project's emerging contaminants specialist, Gavin Dehnert, said eagles are what’s known as a 'sentinel species,' organisms that can alert humans to environmental toxins. Due to their diet, bald eagles are particularly good indicators of how much PFAS are in the environment."

Tips and resources for reporting on crime data

The CDC has an active dashboard that maps death rates across the country 
by Census tract, county or state. (CDC map)

Tips from a recent webinar with three crime data experts, narrated by Clark Merrefield of The Journalist's Resource, can help local journalists report on crime trends, fact-check law enforcement, discuss policy, and foster a dialogue about community safety. An edited version of Merrefield's tips from the discussion is shared below.

Get to know The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub, which meets three major needs for crime data research and reporting:

• The help desk, where anyone "can ask questions of reporters and editors at The Trace," Merrefield writes. "Reach out for help understanding gun violence in the areas you cover; collecting, cleaning and analyzing data on gun violence."
• A resource page that houses fact sheets, guides, and a glossary, which can aid in investigations of all sizes.
• The data library for "trustworthy data on a range of gun violence topics, from ghost guns to suicide to road rage," Merrefield notes. "The library includes data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Transportation Security Administration and many others."

Explore data focused on public safety research and data:

• The WONDER database from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes numbers on gun deaths and compressed mortality data.
• The Gun Violence Archive, which "tracks gun violence incidents across the country from more than 7,500 sources, including law enforcement agencies and news media reports," Merrefield writes.
• The Mapping Police Violence provides up-to-date data on police-involved killings in the U.S. 
• The CDC dashboard, which maps violent death rates across the country by Census tract, county or state. 

 Learn which data can help you fact-check statements from public officials.

"Beyond published data on reported crimes, victimization surveys are a major source of crime data that journalists can use to vet statements from officials," Merrefield explains. "The best known is the National Crime Victimization Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. This survey each year reaches a nationally representative sample of roughly 240,000 people and asks whether they have been victims of personal or property crimes — and why the crime was or wasn’t reported to police."

To identify trends in a specific area, aim for at least 5 years of data.

If data doesn't make sense, question it. If it can't be verified, don't use it.

Merrefield's webinar panel experts included: Jeffrey A. Butts, a research professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Executive Director of the John Jay Research and Evaluation Center; Mensah M. Dean, a staff writer at The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom that covers gun violence; and George LeVines, editor of The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub, which is open to the public. 

Quick hits: Cold Case Card Deck to solve crimes; USPS podcast; Walmart's new milk plant; states snip SNAP snacks

Maine State Police hope their card deck 
will generate tips on unsolved cases. 
(Maine State Police photo via Midcoast Villager)

The Maine State Police are launching a Cold Case Deck of Cards initiative to generate leads for unsolved cases. "The deck features 52 of Maine State Police’s unsolved homicides and suspicious missing person cases and will be distributed to inmates in correctional facilities across the state," reports Jim Leonard of the Midcoast Villager. "This marks the first time the concept has been implemented in Maine. Similar initiatives in more than two dozen states have been credited with helping solve multiple homicide investigations."

Just because cranberries are tart doesn't mean they require a ton of sugar to become tasty. "Diabetics or anyone who wants to reduce the added sugars they’re consuming can try a few culinary tactics to lower their sugar intake while still enjoying this holiday treat," writes food scientist Rosemary Trout for The Conversation. "Don’t cook your cranberries much longer after they pop. You’ll still have a viscous cranberry liquid without the need for as much sugar. … For a richer flavor and a glossy quality, add butter. … Adding chopped walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts can slow glucose absorption, so your blood glucose may not spike as quickly."

In a tribute to snail mail and history buffs, a new podcast, "People of Agency," offers listening excursions into "the stories of individuals who have shaped USPS over its 250-year history," reports Sean Michael Newhouse of Government Executive. The show is co-created and co-hosted by Aileen Day, a political communications consultant, and Maia Warner-Langenbahn, who co-hosts the "Well, I Laughed" podcast. In the show's first episode, the duo recount the story of Mary Katherine Goddard, who was "put in charge of Baltimore’s mail in 1775 and printed the first copy of the Declaration of Independence that listed all of its signatories."

In a bid to have more control over production and supply, Walmart recently opened its "second U.S.-owned milk processing facility in Valdosta, Ga., a $350-million plant supplying milk to more than 650 Southeast stores," reports Taylor Leach of Dairy Herd. While the company does purchase milk from local farmers, "some critics have warned Walmart buys milk from only a handful of large farms, putting smaller farms under further pressure. … The opening also follows Walmart’s recent investments in case-ready beef plants in Thomasville, Ga., and Olathe, Kansas."

Shaking your real Christmas tree before bringing it 
into your home can keep bugs from coming inside.

The holidays can be full of surprises, but discovering six-legged stowaways in your freshly cut Christmas tree shouldn't be one of them. "Bringing a real Christmas tree into your warm living room can accidentally wake up thousands of dormant bugs, turning your cozy holiday into a surprise visit from nature," reports Jenn Jordan of The Weather Channel. To prevent insect or spider visitors from entering your home, while your tree is still outside, give it more than one seriously hard shake. Many tree farms use mechanical shakers, which can also do the trick.

From the bubonic plague to cholera pandemics to deadly staph infections, bacterial illnesses often pose one of the biggest challenges to human survival. But with innovation, microorganisms can also help humans do remarkable things. "In the boulder-strewn desert east of Tucson, Arizona, miners are using sulfuric acid and bacteria to bring online the first new U.S. copper production in more than a decade," reports Ryan Dezember of The Wall Street Journal. Advances in technology are key to how this copper is mined. The enterprise uses "microbes to strip copper from ores that are otherwise uneconomical to mine." The Grand Canyon's state motto just happens to be Ditat Deus, which is Latin for "God Enriches." Last year, 70% of U.S. copper came from Arizona.

A total of 18 states have banned some non-nutritious foods from SNAP purchases. 
(Axios graph, from USDA data)

More states are restricting junk food purchases with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to increase the federal funding they receive. "Six more states agreed to ban the use of SNAP benefits for junk food under new deals with the Trump administration," reports April Rubin of Axios. "The new waivers restrict the purchase of non-nutritious items like soda, energy drinks, certain juices, prepared desserts and candy." While which foods and drinks are restricted varies by state, all states with added nutritional restrictions will all receive more federal dollars to support their SNAP programs.

Opinion: Rural policing writer disagrees with Wall Street Journal article about rural law enforcement violence

Rural police officers have high rates of shootings, but they 
are also more likely to get shot. (Adobe Stock photo)

A Wall Street Journal story about violence in rural policing gets some concepts right; however, the story's data and overall conclusions are faulty, writes rural police reporter Kathleen Dias in her column for Police1. "I agree with the premise of the article: there really are a lot of harsh interactions between law enforcement and the public in rural places. . . . Where the WSJ writer and I disagree is in the conclusion he draws (that rural cops kill people because they are poorly trained or trained to overreact), the sources for his statistics, and his slant."

"Rural places have high rates of shootings by law enforcement and also of law enforcement officers who get shot; that’s not new information or a new trend," Dias explains. "The writer is also correct that rural agencies frequently lack the ability to use the tools of time, distance and backup to defuse volatile situations."

The article's primary focus is that "rural sheriffs are killing more civilians," Dias adds. "The writer cites Mapping Police Violence stating that since 2013, killings by sheriff’s deputies have risen 43% while killings by police have risen by 3%. . . . First, sheriff’s offices are not all rural [and] not all rural police interactions, lethal or otherwise, are by sheriff’s offices."

Overall, MPV as a source is "profoundly troublesome. 'Police violence' is a broad, provocative term," Dias explains. "The definition from MPV is 'Any incident where a law enforcement officer (off-duty or on-duty) applies, on a civilian, lethal force resulting in the civilian being killed. . . . I found incidents like an off-duty Virginia state trooper who killed a man who was breaking into his home, an off-duty officer who killed his domestic partner and then himself, an off-duty deputy who struck a bicycle rider at night on a Florida highway notorious for wrecks. . ."

The WSJ article uses examples that aren't rural. Dias writes, "The article is about rural police killings, yet the first several quotes are from urban sheriffs about their resources, their experiences and cultural changes they made."

There was an "implicit undertone in the WSJ article’s descriptions of small towns and remote places of the incongruity of violence in those places — that somehow a rural setting made violence even less acceptable than usual," Dias writes. "I believe that underscores the writer’s lack of understanding of rural places, and also the perception of risk by officers."

What rural officers do face is populations that are "more likely to be poor, addicted to alcohol and illegal substances, and to attempt or complete suicide than their urban neighbors," Dias points out. "Rural officers are often poorly paid, and departments do struggle with recruiting, retention and churn that can result in bad hiring choices."

Rural officers need more staff, higher pay, additional training and equipment that works. "I’ll go to the wall with the WSJ writer on those points," Dias adds. "The officers themselves are not the problem. Indeed, they’re expected to be the solution to every problem that comes the way of every other resident, but that’s impossible. They’re cops, not Swiss Army knives."

Read all of Dias' opinion, including her comparison of the WSJ article to a Washington Post story here.

Rural jails lack mental health resources. Inmates can linger for weeks in tiny cells awaiting psychiatric care.

Local jails weren't build to house mentally
ill populations. (KFF Health photo)

Many rural jails lack resources to manage inmates who need mental health treatment. In Polson, a small town in northwestern Montana, "when someone accused of a crime needs mental health care, chances are they’ll be locked in a basement jail cell the size of a walk-in closet," reports Katheryn Houghton of KFF Health News. Jails across the U.S. have problems similar to Polson, where demand for inmate mental health treatment exceeds any state's capacity to provide it.

Polson's basement jail cell was intended to be a short-term solution to keep mentally altered inmates away from the rest of the jail population until a psychiatric bed opened up. Houghton writes, "Last year, a man sentenced for stealing a rifle stayed in that cell 129 days. He was waiting for a spot to open at Montana’s only state-run psychiatric hospital after a mental health evaluator deemed he needed care."

Some jailed individuals haven't been found guilty of crimes because a judge ordered mental health care completed before allowing the case to move forward. At the Grays Harbor County Jail, located in the small town of Montesano, Washington, "approximately 20-30% of the jail population is made up of inmates who are supposed to be receiving [mental health] care," reports Susannah Frame of KING-TV in Seattle. The facility's medical ward is "the size of a closet. There are no mental health professionals on staff. There is not enough staff to safely deal with a crisis."

Wyoming, Nevada and Oregon jail systems have similar struggles. "More than half of Wyoming’s 23 sheriffs told lawmakers there that they were housing people in crisis awaiting mental health care for months," Houghton reports. "Nevada has struggled despite a $500 daily fine for each jailed patient whose treatment is delayed. Disability Rights Oregon has said delays in that state continue after two people died in jail while on the state’s psychiatric waitlist."

In Polson, Vincent River has been the jail's only mental health provider for 25 years. "He said he’s not always available because he’s the only psychologist in four northwestern Montana counties evaluating whether a person in jail needs psychiatric care," Houghton writes. "River said he can’t get people into any psychiatric bed in Montana because there are too few. Instead, he tries to stabilize people while they’re jailed. . . . Some are released without care if they linger too long on the state hospital’s waitlist."

The former politician who killed Las Vegas journalist Jeff German sentenced to "20 years to life"

CPJ graph of journalists or media professional killed while working in the U.S.

Two years ago Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German was murdered while reporting stories centered on former Democratic politician Robert Telles. Telles was recently found guilty of German's murder, reports Ken Ritter of The Associated Press. The Nevada jury decided Telles will "serve 20 years to life in prison for killing German, who wrote articles critical of his conduct in office."

German's body was found in a side yard of his home over Labor Day weekend in 2022. Investigators quickly focused on Telles, who was arrested and held without bail a few days after German's death was discovered. Ritter writes, "Jurors deliberated for nearly 12 hours over three days before their unanimous vote that Telles ambushed and attacked the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter."

Telles showed little response while his "verdict was read in Clark County District Court," Ritter reports. "Telles didn’t speak then or when he learned his sentence. . . . His defense attorney told reporters outside court that his client plans to appeal. . . . Jessica Coleman, a county employee, was among several co-workers who urged German in 2022 to investigate Telles’ conduct heading the office of unclaimed estate and probate property cases. She sobbed after the verdict was read."

German was the only U.S. journalist killed in 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S., Canada and Caribbean program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, issued a statement 'saying "the verdict 'sends an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated. . . . It is vital that the murder of journalists should be taken seriously and perpetrators held accountable.'"

To explore more of CPJ's data, click here.

Could sleeping in a public park be a crime? A decision about the nation's homelessness crisis goes to the Supreme Court

The Grants Pass decision could change how homelessness
is handled by communities. (Adobe Stock photo)

As the number of homeless people in the U.S. continues to climb, many communities face conflicts over homeless campers and encampments. The rural town of Grants Pass, Oregon, "has become the unlikely face of the nation's homelessness crisis," reports Claire Rush of The Associated Press. The fate of the town's anti-camping laws is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case on April 22. 

Grants Pass, like many communities, has "struggled for years with a burgeoning homeless population. A decade ago, City Council members discussed how to make it 'uncomfortable enough. . . in our city so they will want to move on down the road,'" Rush explains. "From 2013 to 2018, the city issued 500 citations for camping or sleeping in public, including in vehicles, with fines that could reach hundreds of dollars."

The Supreme Court's decision hinges on their review of a 2018 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which blocked anti-camping laws for individuals as violations of the Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment." Rush reports, "Officials across the political spectrum — from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, which has nearly 30% of the nation's homeless population, to a group of 22 conservative-led states — have filed briefs in the case, saying lower court rulings have hamstrung their ability to deal with encampments."

Homeless people and advocates insist that more housing is the answer to homelessness, not citations and punitive actions. "Civil rights groups and attorneys for the homeless residents who challenged the restrictions in 2018 insist people shouldn't be punished for lacking housing," Rush explains. "Grants Pass has just one overnight shelter for adults, the Gospel Rescue Mission. It has 138 beds, but rules including attendance at daily Christian services, no alcohol, drugs or smoking and no pets mean many won't stay there."

At the heart of the problem in Grants Pass is the encampments found along the town's scenic public parks that frame the Rogue River. "They host everything from annual boat-racing festivals to Easter egg hunts and summer concerts," Rush reports. "They're also the sites of encampments blighted by illegal drug use and crime, including a shooting at a park last year that left one person dead."

For details on the case's oral arguments, click here and here. The Supreme Court's decision is expected by the end of June.

New rule closes the 'gun show loophole' and will require more sellers to register as licensed firearms dealers

The new rule will dramatically increase firearm purchase
background checks. (PBS News Hour photo)

To deliver on gun control policy promises, the Biden administration has expanded the number of sellers who must register as federally licensed firearms dealers, reports Glenn Thrush and Erica L. Green of The New York Times. "That means those sellers must run background criminal and mental health checks on potential buyers. . . . [The change] is the broadest expansion of federal background checks and an attempt to regulate the shadow market of weapons sold online, at gun shows and through private sellers that have contributed to gun violence."

Although President Biden was blocked from implementing universal background checks for gun buyers, the administration used the bipartisan gun control law passed in 2022 to "achieve an elusive policy goal that enjoys widespread public support: closing the so-called gun show loophole," Thrush and Green write. "The new regulation, which is likely to face legal challenges, could add as many as 23,000 federal dealers to the 80,000 already regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives."

In many states, the gun show loophole allowed "unlicensed private sellers to legally sell at gun shows, out of their houses and through online platforms without having to submit to the background check system created to prevent sales to children, criminals, domestic abusers, and people with mental illnesses or drug addictions," the Times reports. "Four in 10 illegal gun cases tracked by the bureau from 2017 to 2021 involved such unregulated sales."

The new rule aims to accomplish two goals. It will "pull legitimate sellers into the regulatory sunlight and, second, to deprive brokers who knowingly traffic in criminal gun sales of a legal shield provided by the vagaries of federal firearms laws," Thrush and Green explain. Previous rules required gun sellers who made their chief income selling guns to join the federal system, but that wording has changed and now includes sellers who "predominantly derive a profit" to register. "Failing to register carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines."

Researchers find urban communities have about 150% greater access to legal services than rural residents

Farm Progress map, from Data Axle, 2022

In urban and metro American cities, lawyers and legal help are relatively easy to find, but for rural communities, legal representation is becoming so sparse some counties don't have access to legal advice. "Rural communities often lack the necessary infrastructure to provide essential legal support. This gap can leave individuals without the means to address crucial legal issues, ranging from family matters to property disputes," report K. Aleks Schaefer and Andrew J. Van Leuven for Farm Progress. "A 'rural legal desert' refers to areas where residents face significant challenges in accessing legal services and representation."

Researchers Schaefer and Van Leuven "collected firm-level data from 2014-2021 from more than 350,000 law offices together with socio-demographic data for 3,108 counties in the continental U.S. to statistically quantify the scope of the rural legal desert problem and shed light on potential solutions," they write. "We found that— when evaluated on the basis of legal employees per capita — urban communities have approximately 150% greater access to legal services than those in rural areas."

Legal resources vary among rural communities, and those with greater per capita incomes provide better legal access, Schaefer and Van Leuven explain.

With knowledge of the stark differences in legal access and protections for rural residents, Schaefer and Van Leuven advise advocating for policy changes and creative solutions. They write, "Our findings highlight the need for targeted policy interventions and innovative solutions to address the rural lawyer shortage. One policy intervention that appears to have been successful is Project Rural Practice established by the South Dakota Legislature in 2013. The PRP program provides incentive payments to attorneys who commit to serving five continuous years of practice in an eligible rural county."

Cheap prison labor is used to supply businesses with all sorts of products; but prisoners can be vulnerable to abuse

Prisoners are forced laborers without 13th Amendment
protections. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell, AP)

Less than a decade ago, a New York Times story ran with this headline, "A Small Indiana County Sends More People to Prison Than San Francisco and Durham, N.C., Combined. Why?" The story goes on to explore America's prison belt, which was brimming with rural residents, often sentenced for drug crimes by more conservative courts. But, if sending people away for extensive sentences is a rural answer to crime, residents may want to know what the incarcerated do while serving those sentences.

Angola, Louisiana, is home to the country's largest maximum-security prison, which used to be a Southern slave plantation but is now a vast farming facility with prisoner labor. "Unmarked trucks packed with prison-raised cattle roll out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where men are sentenced to hard labor and forced to work, for pennies an hour or sometimes nothing at all," reports Robin McDowell and Margie Mason of The Associated Press. "The cows are bought by a local rancher and then followed by The Associated Press another 600 miles to a Texas slaughterhouse that feeds into the supply chains of giants like McDonald's, Walmart and Cargill."

Prison workers are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. "If they refuse to work, some can jeopardize their chances of parole or face punishment like being sent to solitary confinement," McDowell and Mason write. "They also are often excluded from protections guaranteed to almost all other full-time workers, even when they are seriously injured or killed on the job."

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude "except as punishment for a crime," AP reports. "That clause is currently being challenged on the federal level, and efforts to remove similar language from state constitutions are expected to reach the ballot in about a dozen states this year."

Meanwhile, many U.S. prisons "lease" incarcerated people for labor. "An analysis of data amassed by the AP from correctional facilities nationwide traced nearly $200 million worth of sales of farmed goods and livestock to businesses over the past six years," McDowell and Mason write. That amount does not include sales to state and government entities. 

Corporations who "hire" prisoners not only harness cheap, reliable labor, but they may reap additional benefits such as tax credits and other financial incentives. "Incarcerated workers also typically aren't covered by the most basic protections, including workers' compensation and federal safety standards," AP reports. "In many cases, they cannot file official complaints about poor working conditions."

Linking prison labor to shelved products requires following a complex web, but AP found "Mammoth commodity traders that are essential to feeding the globe like Cargill, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus, Archer Daniels Midland and Consolidated Grain and Barge have in recent years scooped up millions of dollars' worth of soy, corn and wheat straight from prisons, which compete with local farmers."

To read how AP reporters crisscrossed the country to uncover agriculture trading practices tied to prison labor, read the full story here.

Guns 'destroyed' in community buy-back programs often have parts that are removed and resold

A background check is usually not required to purchase a parts
kit from Gunbusters. (Gunbusters photo via the Times)

Community leaders and well-meaning citizens have encouraged gun destruction programs, but in truth, only some parts are destroyed and other parts are removed and resold, reports Mike McIntire of The New York Times. "Communities are fueling a secondary arms market, where weapons slated for destruction are recycled into civilian hands, often with no background check required, according to interviews and a review of gun disposal contracts, patent records and online listings for firearms parts."

People may think relinquished guns are melted down or pulverized because gun disposal companies market "destruction," but that's not the whole story. "This little-known but profitable corner of the firearms economy exists because the approved method of destroying a gun contains a loophole that has been exploited," McIntire explains. "To be able to say a gun is destroyed, disposal companies crush or cut up a single piece that federal law classifies as a firearm: the receiver or frame that anchors the other components and contains the required serial number. The businesses can then sell the remaining parts as a kit: barrel, trigger, grip, slide, stock, springs — essentially the entire gun, minus the regulated piece."

McIntire reports: "Some public officials and gun safety advocates said they had no clue this was happening. The Rev. Chris Yaw, whose Episcopal church outside Detroit has sponsored buybacks with local officials, said in an interview that he was 'aghast and appalled' when told by a reporter how the process works."

Part of the reason gun destruction companies sell parts is because their service is free. Scott Reed, president of the Gunbusters company, which patented a firearms "pulverizer," told McIntire, "Our services are free for law enforcement agencies. If we can't cover our costs by selling parts, then we charge them." McIntire reports, "Only about two percent of Gunbusters' clients pay to have the full firearm destroyed, he said. Federal agencies, including the Secret Service, are among them."

It's hard to know if those gun parts wind up back on the streets. "Salvaged gun parts typically do not include a serial number that can be traced," McIntire writes. "But while the parts kits have legitimate uses, they could also further the spread of so-called ghost guns when paired with an untraceable receiver or frame, said Nicholas Suplina, a senior lawyer with Everytown for Gun Safety. The number of do-it-yourself ghost guns turning up in violent crimes has surged, made possible by unfinished components — prefabricated metal pieces that need welding and drilling — that are not serialized, and often do not require a background check when purchased separately."

Investigative reporting reveals a Mississippi 'Goon Squad,' with a 20 year history of brutality

Six Rankin County deputies, above, all pleaded guilty to
federal and state charges. (Photo by R.V. Solis, AP)

For almost 20 years, the Rankin County Sheriff's Department deputies have run amuck, doling out their own version of crime justice from sticking guns into suspects' mouths to torturing impoverished residents with tasers, reports Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield of Mississippi Today. "Narcotics detectives and patrol officers, some who called themselves the 'Goon Squad,' barged into homes in the middle of the night, accusing people inside of dealing drugs. Then they handcuffed or held them at gunpoint and tortured them into confessing or providing information, according to dozens of people who say they endured or witnessed the assaults."

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey claimed that "he was stunned to learn of the 'horrendous crimes' committed by his deputies,'" Howey and Rosenfield report. "But a deep investigation by The New York Times and the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting at Mississippi Today "revealed a history of blatant and brutal incidents stretching back to at least 2004." After records and interviews were scrutinized, "What emerged was a pattern of violence that was neither confined to a small group of deputies nor hidden from department leaders."

The Times and Mississippi Today "identified 20 deputies who were present at one or more of the incidents — many assigned to narcotics or the night-shift patrol," Mississippi Today reports. "Taken together, the reporting shows how Rankin deputies were allowed to operate with impunity while racking up arrests for relatively minor drug infractions and leaving entire neighborhoods in fear of violent raids."

The area Rankin County deputies focused on was ravaged by meth in the early 2000s. "Local sheriffs, even in small departments, set up special narcotics units and joined state and federal task forces in the War on Drugs. The Rankin County Sheriff's Department responded by targeting low-income communities and policing them relentlessly," Howey and Rosenfield write. 

"It's unclear when Rankin County deputies adopted their nickname, but last year, they ordered commemorative coins emblazoned with cartoonish gangsters and the words 'Lt. Middleton's Goon Squad.' Lt. Jeffrey Middleton was the squad's supervisor," Mississippi Today reports. "He is among the five deputies who pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from a January raid. . . . A Justice Department investigation this year found that Rankin County deputies chose the name Goon Squad 'because of their willingness to use excessive force and not report it.'"

This article is part of a series by The New York Times' Local Investigations Fellowship examining the power of sheriffs' offices in Mississippi.

Newspaper publisher sounds off on threats and harassment by neo-Nazis after reporting facts about a mayoral candidate

In the case of a newspaper and its adversaries, sometimes "enough is enough," reports Derby Jones, publisher of the Williamson Herald, in Franklin, Tennessee. The Williamson County paper has faced an onslaught of vandalism and harassment, including threats leading up to a Franklin election. "The group or groups seems to take issue with our factual reporting of Franklin's mayoral candidate, Gabrielle Hanson."

Wikipedia map

Jones calls out the perpetrators in his Oct. 24 column: "The Williamson Herald's offices were vandalized over the weekend. . . . Someone took the time to bring printouts of so-called 'leftist journalist' propaganda and glued them to the side of our building here in Franklin, on our painted pillars at our front door and on the front of our building. They stapled them to the utility poles at the entrance of our office, too. . . . This is textbook vandalism and intimidation tactics. It is certainly not the Franklin I love and that I have worked hard to serve the past 17 years. . . .This is also after a weekend where these same organizations threatened one of our reporters, threatened our advertisers and threatened me and my wife amongst others."

Jones has been the Herald's publisher
for 17 years.(Williamson Herald photo)

Jones points out the paper's truthful reporting as the puzzling "reason" for the crimes. He adds, "Hanson herself admitted to being arrested for a prostitution charge in the 1990s, we reported on this. We reported on a neo-Nazi/white supremacist group that attended a candidate forum on Oct. 3 in support of Hanson. . . . Since then, this group has gone after local journalists using threats of violence and neo-Nazi doxing, especially against our reporter."

A group called "nomoorewokefranklin" added to the intimidating tactics through social media posts "targeting our journalists, myself and our advertisers," Jones writes. "We won't stand for our reporter being threatened for doing his job, and we won't tolerate threats of violence. . . . Hanson's followers are harassing journalists and others in the community when they don't like what we say or write. The Williamson Herald stands by every story we report on. We are being called leftist and biased, but there is not one report that we posted that was not the truth."

Jones makes his point clear and asks his readers a question, saying, "Neo-Nazis don't have a place in our town. I say enough is enough. We have never seen this level of hate and divisiveness in Franklin. And to be so blatantly targeted and threatened is uncalled for. . . . If you have not voted yet, I strongly urge you to do so TODAY. And I would ask yourself what kind of Franklin you want to live in as this vote could change our way of life now and for future generations."

Female farm workers often victims of sexual violence; researchers want legal working age raised, other steps

Graph from The Conversation from Department of Agriculture data

Americans don't usually connect female farm workers with sexual assault, but maybe that should change.

ABC's "American Crime" opened its third season on a tomato farm in North Carolina, "where it showed a young woman being brutally raped in a field by her supervisor. . . . 'People die all the time on that farm. Nobody cares. Women get raped, regular,' another character tells a police interrogator. The show's writers did their research, report Kathleen Sexsmith, Francisco Alfredo Reyes, and Megan A. M. Griffin for The Conversation, a platform for journalism by academics. Studies show that 80% of Mexican and Mexican American women farm workers in the U.S. have experienced some form of sexual harassment at work. "While violence against women in agriculture may seem like an issue mainly experienced in developing countries, the truth is that it also happens all too often to women and girls on farms in the U.S."

Researchers found that most women are abused "by men in positions of power, such as foremen, farm labor contractors, farm owners and co-workers . . . . Immigrant women farm workers are vulnerable because of power imbalances in their male-dominated workplaces. Women represent 28% of the nation's farm workers, making them a minority on many farms. Most are immigrants from Latin America, and many are undocumented. Girls under the age of 18 are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse on farms."

Agriculture's unique labor laws may also contribute to abuses. The researchers report: "Children as young as 12 can be hired on farms without a cap on the number of hours they work, as long as they don't miss school. . . . Experts say young girls may be especially vulnerable to sexual harassment and violence on farms because they are less likely to recognize and report abuse. Democrats in Congress have repeatedly introduced versions of the Children's Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety Act since 2005. The bill would help address the vulnerability of young girls in farm work by aligning the legal farm working age with other industries."

"As we see it, sexual exploitation perpetrated by men in positions of power instills fear that keeps farm laborers obedient, despite precarious working conditions – and keeps fruits and vegetables cheap," Sexton, Reyes and Griffin write. "We agree with the United Nations that sweeping change is needed to empower women, raise farm productivity and promote human rights in the global food system. As U.S. lawmakers craft the next Farm Bill, they could do enormous good for women around the world by setting an example in American fields and farms."

Based on their research conclusions, Sexton, Reyes and Griffin outline steps to change below:
As a first step, we believe lawmakers should pass the CARE Act, which would raise the legal working age on farms to 14, reducing the number of young girls who are vulnerable to abuse.
Second, legalizing the nation's approximately 283,000 unauthorized farm workers would make those workers less vulnerable to sexual abuse by expanding employment opportunities outside of the agricultural sector.

Third, in our view, efforts to legalize farm workers – most recently through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act – should strengthen labor law enforcement and provide well-funded channels for reporting abuses and changing jobs when abuse occurs.

School shootings have risen dramatically since 2017; they may make students think about survival instead of studies

Includes any incident when a gun is "brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason."
Graph by Tory Lysik of AxiosVisuals, based on data from Center for Homeland Defense and Security. 

Wednesday, May 24, is the one-year anniversary of the killing of 19 children at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. It brings to mind this imagined teacher-and-student question and answer:
Teacher: What would you like to be when you grow up?
Student: If I get shot at school, I won't be anything.

That may sound overly dramatic, but statistics can suggest otherwise. "More than 1,000 incidents involving firearms have shaken America's schools since 2018 — a dramatic increase over any similar period since at least 1970, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database," reports Erin Doherty of Axios. "Guns are the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens and firearms accounted for nearly 19% of childhood deaths in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control. . . . Gun-related incidents such as gun suicides and gun murders, reached record levels in 2021 and 'swatting" calls,' or fake reports of shootings or bombs that prompt SWAT team responses and lockdowns, are rising." Sarah Burd-Sharps, the senior director of research at Everytown, told Doherty, "The threat of gun violence has become a constant in children's lives in this country, and we're seeing the impact of it."

While an in-school shooting does not scar every pupil, most students are engaged in training to deal with one, which can interfere with student concentration and a sense of safety. "Nearly all (98%) K-12 public schools reported drilling students on lockdown procedures as of the 2019-2020 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics," Doherty writes. "Ninety-six percent of schools reported having written procedures for an active shooter incident. . . . Research suggests safety measures can effectively prevent gun-related incidents, but they risk disrupting the norms of the school day and have become controversial among some parents and activists." Burds-Sharps pointed out to Doherty, "At nine o'clock [students] have to hide in the bathroom for long periods and be silent and then at 10 o'clock, they need to learn math. . . . It's not a recipe for America's schoolchildren to learn and to achieve in school and to be able to focus and to concentrate."

Gun deaths remain racially divided. "Black children and teens disproportionately bore the burden of gun violence and were about five times as likely as white kids to die from gunfire in 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of CDC data," Doherty reports. "While guns became the leading cause of death for all American children in 2020, they have been the leading cause of death for Black children for over a decade. Dr. Katie Donnelly, a pediatric emergency medicine physician, told Doherty that she interacts "with a lot of kids who really aren't thinking about what they want to be when they grow up because they don't expect that they're going to grow up."

Feds try to head off the newest big danger in illicit drugs; xylazine is cheap and causes rotting flesh wounds

Xylazine is legal only as a sedative for animals.
(Photo by Derek Montgomery, The Washington Post; click to enlarge)

Pain pills, heroin, synthetic opioids, fentanyl--what else can drug mixers cut into illegal drugs? Xylazine, that's what. It's a central-nervous-system depressant that is often mixed with fentanyl and can cause a deep stupor, reports Caroline Anders of The Washington Post: "It's known to cause rotting flesh wounds that, left untreated, can lead to amputations." Worsem it's a drug seller's dream: "It's extremely inexpensive, allowing sellers to extend their stores of heroin and fentanyl even further, and some users say it extends the sedative and euphoric effects of the opioids," Anders reports.

Xylazine is FDA-approved for veterinary use; its illegal use began to be noticed in the early 2000s, but "then became rampant in Philadelphia, and is now spreading across the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration said the sedative was present in 23 percent of fentanyl powder and 7 percent of pills it seized in 2022," Anders writes. "Over 3,000 people died of xylazine-related overdoses in 2021 — triple the fatalities recorded the year before. But, importantly, those overdoses were all from mixtures of xylazine and opioids like fentanyl or heroin. . . . It's unclear exactly how xylazine interacts with opioids, though researchers are looking into the question."

"Last month, the Biden administration designated xylazine mixed into fentanyl as an emerging threat . . . . trying to prioritize federal resources to address the drug from the supply and demand side, both boosting testing and treatment and restricting the illegal supply of the tranquilizer," Anders reports. "In March, lawmakers also introduced bipartisan legislation that would classify the drug as a controlled substance." Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told Anders that one of the key lessons the government learned from the fentanyl crisis is that "this two-pronged approach is crucial," Anders reports. "He said focusing only on how to cut off the drug supply is futile." Gupta told her, "If we do not address the unmet treatment needs for people with addiction, we will continue to suffer the same fate."

The government's move to criminalize xylazine hasn't made everyone happy. "Harm-reduction advocates argue the government is heading down the wrong path ... saying that the approach will just lead manufacturers and dealers to come up with new, potentially more dangerous substances to cut into their supply," Anders writes. "In the coming months and years, the administration's plan to tackle the crisis from multiple sides will be tested. But regardless of its effectiveness, experts say there will always be a new emerging threat." Mary Sylla of the National Harm Reduction Coalition, told Anders, "It's literally like whack-a-mole, right? We try to stop this here, and then something else pops up."

U.S. Government warns about cyber-attacks; National Newspaper Association alerts members and gives steps

The National Newspaper Association is alerting members that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory.

"NNA members have reported being attacked by the advised ransomware," the association says, giving steps the agency suggests you take: 

Prioritize remediating known exploited vulnerabilities.
Train users to recognize and report phishing attempts.
Enable and enforce multi-factor authentication.

You may also wish to read this article by TechCrunch that breaks down the advisory.

"Since approximately September 2022, cyber criminals have compromised U.S. and international
organizations with a Royal ransomware variant," the Cybersecurity Advisory release explains. "Royal actors disable antivirus software and exfiltrate large amounts of data before ultimately deploying the ransomware and encrypting the systems. Royal actors have made ransom demands ranging from approximately $1 million to $11 million USD in Bitcoin. . . . Royal actors have targeted numerous critical infrastructure sectors including, but not limited to, manufacturing, communications, health care and public health care and education."