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Michael Squires

@mgsquires.bsky.social

17K followers 1.8K following 74 posts

ProPublica’s Southwest editor. Investigative journalism in #Arizona, #Colorado, #Nevada, #NewMexico and #Utah. Signal: mgsquires.87

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Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Aug 15

In June, the Forest Service claimed it had reached 99% of its hiring goal for its wildland firefighting workforce. But ProPublica’s reporting indicated that the agency was selectively counting firefighters, presenting an optimistic assessment to the public.

Top Democrat on Oversight Committee Demands Trump Administration Account for Wildland Firefighter Vacancies

The request follows ProPublica reporting that DOGE cuts and voluntary resignations left thousands of vacant jobs at the Forest Service, severely hampering its ability to fight wildfires.

www.propublica.org

Reposted by Michael Squires

ProPublica @propublica.org · 23d

There are 600,000 of you who now follow us on Bluesky 🦋

As journalists ourselves, we understand that regularly reading stories about broken systems can take a toll, and we never take the community here for granted.

Thank you to all of you who care deeply about the work we do.

Reposted by Michael Squires

ProPublica @propublica.org · Sep 8

NEW: Ignoring urgently needed reforms in favor of fruitlessly trying to find evidence of fraud, DOGE descended on the Social Security Administration “thinking it should work like a McDonald’s,” the agency’s former acting chief reveals to ProPublica.

The Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social Security

DOGE has ignored urgently needed reforms and upgrades at the Social Security Administration, according to dozens of insiders and 15 hours of candid interviews with the former acting chief of the agenc...

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Sep 5

Department of Gore

Reposted by Michael Squires

ProPublica @propublica.org · Sep 3

NEW: The oil industry touts Texas as a success story in controlling climate-warming methane emissions.

The state’s regulator, however, grants nearly every request to burn or vent gas into the atmosphere.

Trump Says America’s Oil Industry Is Cleaner Than Other Countries’. New Data Shows Massive Emissions From Texas Wells.

The oil industry touts Texas as a success story in controlling climate-warming methane emissions. The state’s regulator, however, grants nearly every request to burn or vent gas into the atmosphere.

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Aug 18

At my local paper/website the second sentence is always: What to know.

Reposted by Michael Squires

Jessica Huseman @jessicahuseman.bsky.social · Aug 14

I'm going to publish the entirety of an exchange I just had with the press office of the DOJ. I want you to see how they are talking about truth.

Reposted by Michael Squires

Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · Aug 15

Spend some time with the handwritten notes on what people lost in sweeps. Heart-wrenching and infuriating.

My tent was taken also my blankets, cooler, food, perscription medicines
It made it harder for me to be comfortable in this heat and took my shelter away from me made me feel less safe

my Husbands ashes
It made me feel alone scared, empty, now I wonder where he is and if he’s all still in his urn and if he’s ok and I hope he’s not in the dump

I had my kid’s baby shoes w/me since we became homeless. It was all I had left of them & they are w/family. The police/city took them w/the rest of our stuff it broke my heart

I have lost everything clear down to the clothes on my back. I now wear a purse that I wear 24-7. I have no trust and I live like an animal and have serious mental issues because of it, help it get better,

Reposted by Michael Squires

Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · Aug 15

Seizure medication, wheelchairs, Social Security cards, dentures, urns of ashes, work uniforms — just some of what's been thrown away during cruel, degrading, utterly counterproductive homeless sweeps.

A good time to revisit this gutting @propublica.org story:

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Aug 15

In June, the Forest Service claimed it had reached 99% of its hiring goal for its wildland firefighting workforce. But ProPublica’s reporting indicated that the agency was selectively counting firefighters, presenting an optimistic assessment to the public.

Top Democrat on Oversight Committee Demands Trump Administration Account for Wildland Firefighter Vacancies

The request follows ProPublica reporting that DOGE cuts and voluntary resignations left thousands of vacant jobs at the Forest Service, severely hampering its ability to fight wildfires.

www.propublica.org

Reposted by Michael Squires

Joel Jacobs @joeljacobs.bsky.social · Aug 6

NEW from me: The CFPB's consumer complaint system is more popular than ever, fielding over 2.7M complaints last year.

But Republican lawmakers still voted to slash the CFPB's budget, even after referring thousands of their own constituents' issues to the agency.

www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...

These GOP Lawmakers Referred Constituents to the CFPB for Help. Then They Voted to Gut the Agency.

Many of the same Republican lawmakers who have targeted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for cuts have collectively directed thousands of constituents’ complaints about banks, credit cards, lo...

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jul 29

The doctor doesn’t believe peptides were the cause of the patients’ severe illness after receiving injections at a Las Vegas casino. He asked AI and it responded with a report that “basically says that it is impossible it was the peptides.”

A Las Vegas Festival Promised Ways to Cheat Death. Two Attendees Left Fighting for Their Lives.

Authorities are investigating why two women fell ill at the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival. They both received peptide injections, an alternative therapy promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr....

www.propublica.org

Reposted by Michael Squires

Annie Waldman @anniewaldman.bsky.social · Jul 25

This CEO co-owned a company that pleaded guilty in 2019 to a scheme to hire and conceal undocumented workers.

Now he’s profiting off the construction of an immigrant detention camp.

Such critical reporting from Avi Asher-Schapiro + @jeffernsthausen.bsky.social:
www.propublica.org/article/nath...

His Former Company Got Caught Employing Undocumented Workers. Now He’s Profiting Off an Immigrant Detention Camp.

Disaster Management Group is one contractor behind the nation’s largest detention camp, to be built at Fort Bliss. It’s run by Nathan Albers, who previously co-owned a company that pleaded guilty to a...

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jul 24

“I’ve been warned my entire life, ‘The FBI’s watching us.’”

“Under the Microscope”: Activists Opposing a Nevada Lithium Mine Were Surveilled for Years, Records Show

Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have collaborated with private security to surveil largely peaceful protesters opposed to the Thacker Pass mine, according to a ProPublica review of thousa...

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jul 23

The Forest Service claims it’s fully staffed for fire season, saying it has reached 99% of its hiring goal. But internal data, which has not been previously reported, shows more than 4,500 Forest Service firefighting jobs — as many as 27% — remained vacant as of July 17. via @abestreep.bsky.social

The Forest Service Claims It’s Fully Staffed for a Worsening Fire Season. Data Shows Thousands of Unfilled Jobs.

DOGE cuts and voluntary resignations have severely hampered the agency as the nation enters the peak of fire season, with more than 1 million acres burning across 10 Western states.

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jul 13

“On the way to fudging the math necessary to defend the border against marauding produce pickers and securing a multitrillion-dollar tax break for the wealthiest Americans, the…OBBB managed to botch the commonsense tax deduction for personal gambling losses.” Nevada lawmakers are pushing for a fix.

OPINION: Nevada tries to remove the joker from the deck with FAIR BET bill - The Nevada Independent

The reaction to Sen. Mike Crapo’s (R-ID) gambling tax provision has been swift. Trump’s signature had barely dried on his behemoth bill when Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) pounced on it, calling out the gamin...

thenevadaindependent.com

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jul 8

Utah Sen. Mike Lee says he’ll continue pursuing a sell-off of public land to address the affordable-housing crisis — an idea that has some support across the political spectrum. But as @abestreep.bsky.social reports, similar efforts have created little attainable housing.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee Says Selling Off Public Lands Will Solve the West’s Housing Crisis. Past Sales Show Otherwise.

Last month, Lee introduced a now-removed amendment to Trump’s policy megabill that mandated the sale of up to 3 million acres. It did little to address the challenges of building affordable housing on...

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jul 8

Have we diagnosed the origin of the bro-who-backs-into-parking-spaces trend?

Reposted by Michael Squires

Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · Jun 30

Wowser, this story: Kristi Noem Secretly Took Personal Cut of Political Donations @justinelliott.bsky.social @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations

A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirem...

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jun 20

NY bans anonymous child welfare reports thanks, in part, to Eli Hager’s reporting on a Brooklyn mother whose apartment was searched dozens of times — by police and caseworkers who never had a warrant — because an angry former acquaintance kept anonymously calling the hotline about her.

New York Bans Anonymous Child Welfare Reports

New legislation will require callers to the state child abuse hotline to identify themselves. ProPublica’s reporting in 2023 found that many anonymous callers made false allegations that led to intrus...

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jun 9

Prosecutors in Arizona's largest county pursue the death penalty frequently, at a cost of many millions of dollars, but are unusually ineffective. @nicolesantacruz.bsky.social @davebiscobing15.bsky.social found a secretive panel won't explain how it decides what cases warrant the death penalty.

Maricopa County’s Handling of Death Penalty Cases Puts Its Secretive Review Process in Question

In nearly 350 death penalty cases Maricopa County prosecutors pursued over 20 years, just 13% ended in a death sentence. The numbers indicate the need for a more deliberate and transparent process to ...

www.propublica.org

Reposted by Michael Squires

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · Jun 5

I still think this is one of the most gutting notes I’ve ever read.

Notecard by a homeless person expressing what object was most devastating to lose: Dentures were thrown away and coping isn’t something I can do. It’s made me feel ugly, unworthy, can’t go get a job with no teeth. So how can get off the streets until another pair can be made?

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · Jun 3

“The numbers that are being proposed would close the tribal colleges. They would not be able to sustain.”

Trump Wants to Cut Tribal College Funding by Nearly 90%, Putting Them at Risk of Closing

ProPublica found that Congress was underfunding tribal colleges by a quarter-billion dollars per year. Rather than fixing the problem, proposed federal funding cuts unveiled this week would devastate ...

www.propublica.org

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · May 28

RFK Jr said “One of my big priorities will be getting good food — high-quality food, traditional foods — onto the reservation because processed foods for American Indians is poison.” Then the administration ended a program that provided fresh, locally produced food to dozens of tribal food banks.

Trump Pledged to “Make America Healthy Again,” Then Cut a Program Many Tribes Rely on for Healthy Food

The USDA has ended a program that dozens of tribal food banks say has helped them provide fresh, locally produced food that is important to their traditions and cultures.

www.propublica.org

Reposted by Michael Squires

Aliyya Swaby @aliyyaswaby.bsky.social · May 27

1/ The day after the Antioch High shooting, Nashville police arrested a 12-year-old for posting a concerning screenshot on Instagram.

His school was supposed to figure out if it was a valid threat. Instead, the school expelled him with no further investigation.

Reposted by Michael Squires

Michael Squires @mgsquires.bsky.social · May 23

A DOJ investigation of Phoenix and its PD was the first to find a pattern of violations against homeless people, including throwing away their possessions. “You guys are trash and this is trash," one officer said, per the DOJ. This week, AG Bondi said the DOJ has abandoned efforts to reform the PD.

www.propublica.org