Sign in

Sandy West

@sandywestreporter.bsky.social
382 followers 1.9K following 92 posts

Annoyingly persistent. Endlessly curious. Freelance journalist. Former AP, biz journals, small-town papers. Houston. Native Kansan.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Sandy West
Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
i've been covering national security for decades, on and off. i've never heard of anything like this. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
USS Abraham Lincoln sailors tried to jump overboard amid extended deployment – reports
Aircraft carrier’s crew in ninth month at sea and has spent record 250 days consecutively without making land
28257922057
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Grateful to @texastribune.org for publishing my @publichealthwatch.bsky.social story on the lack of access to maternal health care in rural East Texas. Maternal health ‘deserts' endanger some Texas women, babies www.texastribune.org/2026/06/29/t...
texastribune.org
Maternal health ‘deserts' endanger some Texas women, babies
Of the more than 200 rural counties in Texas, about 70% have no hospital at all or have hospitals that don’t have facilities for delivering babies.
215177
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Excellent, thorough reporting.
010
Reposted by Sandy West
Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 17/04/2026
Breaking: Kinahan cartel leader Daniel Kinahan has been arrested in Dubai. It follows a Bellingcat investigation last month that traced him to an MMA event in Dubai - providing the first proof that the cartel's leadership was still in hiding in the UAE. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...
bellingcat.com
New Footage Shows Wanted Kinahan Cartel Kingpins Post-Sanctions - bellingcat
Daniel and Christy Kinahan have been photographed in Dubai, marking the most recent sighting of the wanted crime bosses since the US levied sanctions against the cartel.
19846246
Reposted by Sandy West
Rebecca McCray @rebeccakmccray.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Last summer, an incarcerated woman in Missouri had a hot flash while we were on the phone. Since then, I've been talking to people around the country about what it's like to go through perimenopause and menopause in prison. Here's the result, co-published by @themarshallproject.org and @19thnews.org
themarshallproject.org
What Menopause Is Like in Prison
Limited information, health care challenges, hot flashes and mood swings make this an especially difficult life transition.
0223113
Reposted by Sandy West
Public Health Watch @pubhealthwatch.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Scarcity of mental health resources, prevalence of guns and stigma attached to seeking help contribute to high suicide rates. publichealthwatch.org/2026/03/29/e...
publichealthwatch.org
East Texas Hit Hard by Gun-Related Suicides - Public Health Watch
Scarcity of mental health resources, prevalence of guns and stigma attached to seeking help contribute to high suicide rates.
033
Reposted by Sandy West
Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 31/03/2026
New from @sandywestreporter.bsky.social: Of the 4,389 gun deaths in Texas in 2024, more than 63 percent—or 2,779—were suicides. But talking about mental health and guns here's tough, especially in deep East Texas ...
texasobserver.org
East Texas Hit Hard by Gun-Related Suicides
Scarcity of mental health resources, prevalence of guns, and stigma all contribute to the region's high suicide rates.
23716
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
So grateful to the people who spoke with me for this story, my first for @pubhealthwatch.bsky.social If you, or someone you know, are in crisis, you can call 988, for veterans 988-1. We also have a links to resources with the story. publichealthwatch.org/2026/03/29/e...
publichealthwatch.org
East Texas Hit Hard by Gun-Related Suicides - Public Health Watch
Scarcity of mental health resources, prevalence of guns and stigma attached to seeking help contribute to high suicide rates.
011
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Follow the Money! Produce high-impact #journalism on econ/biz issues. Get a $15k grant from @mcgrawcenter via @newmarkjschool to report on inequality, workplace, health, immigration, trade, corp accountability, climate & more. Apply by 4/13/26: bit.ly/McGrawFellows
bit.ly
The McGraw Business Journalism Fellowship
The McGraw Business Journalism Fellowship
000
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Law and the Media is a great opportunity for journalists, legal professionals and students to have important conversations about the law, the free and independent press and challenges to First Amendment protections. Join us! Registration is now open: www.hba.org?pg
hba.org
010
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
010
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org
Workers’ Wages Siphoned To Pay Medical Bills, Despite Consumer Protections - KFF Health News
Health care providers and debt collectors are biting from people’s paychecks to cover old medical bills. A KFF Health News investigation in Colorado shows that this aggressive collection practice is w...
000
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Why is the RSV vaccine restricted to people 75 and older? Why was my husband able to get it a month ago and I am prevented from doing the same now? Anyone?
000
Reposted by Sandy West
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Pritzker: When did we become a country where it's okay for the president to insist on national television that a state should call him to beg for anything, especially something we don't want? Have we truly lost all sense of sanity in this nation that we treat this as normal?
299205274851
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
On a per capita basis, Wichita as more dangerous yesterday - YESTERDAY - than was Chicago over the weekend. Where in the breathless national broadcast/cable news coverage of that?
010
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Will national broadcasters breathlessly report the gun violence in my hometown today - just today - the same way they breathlessly reported the shootings in Chicago over the weekend? Or will they pretend it didn’t happen b/c that won’t satisfy the machine? www.kake.com/home/two-cri...
kake.com
One dead, another critical after third shooting in Wichita on Labor Day
One person died and another person has been hospitalized following a shooting in north Wichita on Monday, just hours after another fatal shooting.
020
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
And, predictably, national broadcast news sensationalizes crime in Chicago as a means of boosting coverage of threats of military occupation there. Tell me, where is the context here? How many shootings /capita were there in Memphis? Dallas? Wichita? Oklahoma City? www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
cbsnews.com
5 killed, 37 hurt in Labor Day weekend shootings across Chicago, according to police
The ages of the victims range from 14 to 50.
020
Reposted by Sandy West
Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak @alikodjak.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
In a 2025 submission to the Defense Department, Microsoft didn't mention its use of employees based in China, the top cyber adversary of the U.S., to work on highly sensitive department systems, according to a copy obtained by ProPublica. @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/micr...
propublica.org
Microsoft Failed to Disclose Key Details About Use of China-Based Engineers in U.S. Defense Work, Record Shows
The tech giant is required to regularly provide U.S. officials with its plan for keeping government data safe from hacking. Yet a copy of Microsoft’s security plan obtained by ProPublica makes no refe...
516244
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
Goliath vs. David: Optum Rx invokes open meetings law to fight Kentucky counties on opioid suits kentuckylantern.com/2025/08/19/g...
kentuckylantern.com
Goliath vs. David: Optum Rx invokes open meetings law to fight Kentucky counties on opioid suits • Kentucky Lantern
UnitedHealth Group’s pharmacy benefit manager, Optum Rx, sues five Kentucky counties to force them out of national opioid litigation against the company.
000
Reposted by Sandy West
Jesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Federal employee health plans barred from covering gender affirming care “regardless of age” www.opm.gov/healthcare-i...
1 of 2
FEHB Program Carrier Letter
All FEHB and PSHB Carriers
FEHB &
PSHB 区
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Healthcare and Insurance
Letter Number 2025-01b
Date: August 15, 2025
Fee-for-service [9]
Experience-rated HMO [9]
Community-rated HMO [10]
Subject: Chemical and Surgical Sex-Trait
Modification Services for Plan Year 2026 Proposals
This Carrier Letter serves as a second Addendum to Carrier Letter 2025-01, and supplemental guidance to Carrier Letter 2025-05. The guidance outlined below supersedes any previous Carrier Letter with conflicting information.
For Plan Year 2026, chemical and surgical modification of an individual's sex traits through medical interventions (to include "gender transition" services) will no longer be covered under the FEHB or PSHB Programs. This exclusion expands upon Carrier Letter 2025-01a and applies regardless of age.
As an exception, counseling services for possible or diagnosed gender dysphoria must still be covered. Covered counseling services must be provided by a licensed mental health provider and may include those who provide faith-based counseling.
1 First Addendum (2025-01a) to Call Letter Plan Year 2026 issued on 1/31/25FEHB Program Carrier Letter 2025-01b
Carriers must establish an exceptions process for coverage of excluded services for enrollees who are mid-treatment within a surgical and/or hormonal regimen for diagnosed gender dysphoria. The exception process should be applied on a case-by-case basis. Carriers must provide details of their exceptions process in their brochures. Enrollees determined eligible for the exception must be notified through the Carrier's usual notification process.
The exclusion on hormone treatments only pertains to chemical and surgical modification of an individual's sex traits (including as part of "gender transition" services). Carriers should not exclude coverage for entire classes of pharmaceuticals, e.g., GRH agonists may be prescribed during IVF, for reduction of endometriosis or fibroids, and for cancer treatment or prostate cancer/tumor growth prevention.
Provider directories must not list or otherwise recognize providers for the purposes of providing chemical and surgical modification of an individual's sex traits.
Your Health Insurance Specialist will work with you to make appropriate adjustments to your FEHB or PSHB brochure and answer any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
D. Shane Stevens
Associate Director
Healthcare and Insurance
2
13509245
Reposted by Sandy West
Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
The National Science Foundation will stop operating the Nathaniel B. Palmer icebreaker and slash polar science funding by 70 percent, devastating Antarctic research
scientificamerican.com
U.S. Researchers May Never Probe Deep into Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Again Without This Ship
The National Science Foundation will stop operating the Nathaniel B. Palmer icebreaker and slash polar science funding by 70 percent, devastating Antarctic research
9235155
Reposted by Sandy West
southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Rep. Nicole Collier files a state court application for a writ of habeas corpus concerning her detention in the Texas State Capitol. www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/u...
courthousenews.com
16081102409
Reposted by Sandy West
Philip Bump @pbump.com · 17/08/2025
Going on vacation tomorrow so spent Saturday night making maps of all the places in Ohio, West Virginia and South Carolina with higher violent crime and murder rates than D.C. Perhaps better places for those governors to focus resources! www.pbump.net/o/more-peopl...
pbump.net
More people in Ohio need protection from violent crime than do people in D.C.
Governors of three states — Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia — are sending members of their state National Guards to D.C. to … well, theoretically to combat crime but, if the past week is any in...
662664916
Reposted by Sandy West
Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Judge Rejects Trump’s Attempt to End Standards of Care for Detained Migrant Children www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/u...
nytimes.com
Judge Rejects Trump’s Attempt to End Standards of Care for Detained Migrant Children
02317
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
This is hideous.
010
Reposted by Sandy West
Phil Williams @philinvestigates.com · 12/08/2025
VIDEO POSTED: A recent purchase by out-of-state investors on the Celina town square has some Clay County TN residents preparing for a possible battle with people they consider to be political extremists. www.newschannel5.com/news/newscha...
newschannel5.com
'Small town, not small minds:' Residents react to Christian nationalist developers' purchase in their city
Clay County residents worry after a recent purchase by out-of-state investors on the Celina town square, prepare for battle with people they consider to be political extremists
612944
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
@apnews.com A “U.S. tourist who flew to Puerto Rico … ?” Puerto Rico *is* the United States. apnews.com/article/puer...
apnews.com
A US tourist who flew to Puerto Rico for a Bad Bunny concert was fatally shot, police say
A tourist from the U.S. mainland who was visiting Puerto Rico for Bad Bunny’s residency has been fatally shot at La Perla, a popular seaside shantytown.
010
Reposted by Sandy West
PBS @pbs.org · 07/08/2025
An update from us here at PBS 💙
9942572317
Reposted by Sandy West
Ryan Bort @ryanbort.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Brutal stuff from @swin24.bsky.social on the former children's hospital chaplain whose friends says he's been "tortured" in isolation as the Trump administration tries to deport him www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Jailed by Trump's ICE, Children's Hospital Chaplain Was Thrown Into 'Solitary'
Ayman Soliman, a former chaplain at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, was put in "solitary confinement" after being jailed by Donald Trump's ICE.
8376216
Reposted by Sandy West
Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 05/08/2025
A group of former lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department and major law firms launched a new nonprofit on Monday to take on cases for free opposing actions by the Trump administration @davidjthomas.bsky.social reut.rs/4lgJTLc
211044309
Reposted by Sandy West
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 31/07/2025
how much of the money from the ICE/tax cuts bill is just going to go to scammers, do you think? www.richmonder.org/this-tuckaho...
richmonder.org
This Tuckahoe home won a $1.26 billion contract for an ICE detention center. The owner isn't talking.
The company’s website is dated and largely accessible only via login.
560135604887
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Advocates warn that if the Trump administration’s push to end the decades-old Flores Settlement Agreement is successful, outside oversight of the conditions in which immigrant youth are detained would end. My latest for @kffhealthnews.org www.cbsnews.com/news/immigra...
cbsnews.com
Immigrant kids detained in "unsafe and unsanitary" sites as Trump administration seeks to end protections
The Justice Department seeks to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, which requires U.S. immigration officials to hold migrant children in facilities that are safe and sanitary, among other prot...
41010
Reposted by Sandy West
Leah Feiger @leahfeiger.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Hello! I’m WIRED’s senior politics editor, and it’s hard to put into words what it’s been like in our newsroom this year. I am so in awe of my colleagues here, and so grateful to wake up every day to get you, our lovely readers, the news. If you’ve haven’t already, subscribe!! Help us keep it going.
wired.com
WIRED - The Latest in Technology, Science, Culture and Business | WIRED
Unlock a world of benefits, only for WIRED subscribers. | Best-in-class reporting that's too important to ignore - plus gear reviews, podcasts, and more
982976463
Reposted by Sandy West
ׁⲁ᥅ꪱׁׅⲁ.ׁ @cafreedomdreams.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Alternatively, California should NOT redistrict to underrepresent the currently red counties. Gerrymandering & refusing representation (from either side!) is absolutely NOT acceptable. Don’t stoop to their level. Let’s just take our chess piece off their playing board. @votecnp.bsky.social
294021
Reposted by Sandy West
Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 22/07/2025
People did not die solely because of forgetfulness but because this amnesia allowed succeeding generations to erase the past and their responsibilities to the future. When they could have enacted post-flood, life-saving interventions, they chose not to act on their progeny’s behalf.
texasobserver.org
The San Antonio Flood of 1921 Held Lessons We Refuse to Learn
There is nothing unknown about what triggered the brutal Hill Country flood of 2025 and so many others dating back to the nineteenth century.
47734
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
In Texas, a woman has been fighting in court for nearly three years to keep her parental rights and get her son back. Her opponents? The family who fostered the child through a private agency. This is my first story for the @texasobserver.org. www.texasobserver.org/private-adop...
texasobserver.org
The Adoption Trap
Private foster care and adoption agencies in Texas are brokering contracts for moms to turn over their children in a murky legal world, spawning protracted civil custody battles.
714558
Reposted by Sandy West
CNN @cnn.com · 21/07/2025
Many of the policy changes involving transgender people stem from an executive order that Trump signed on his first day back in office.
cnn.com
Trump administration takes all-of-government approach to target transgender community | CNN
Part of the nation’s suicide and crisis hotline that was specifically aimed at helping LGBTQ+ youth was shut down this week, the latest action by the Trump administration to limit the LGBTQ+ community...
143821
Reposted by Sandy West
Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
1/ Remember the "eugenicist hacker" that got the NYT to bite on the Zohran Mamdani Columbia application leak? @nlanard.bsky.social dug deep into his social and chat history, and it is so much worse than previously reported www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
The shocking rise of one of the tech right’s favorite posters
After he leaked Zohran Mamdani’s Columbia application data to the New York Times, critics called Jordan Lasker a “eugenicist.” A Mother Jones report shows there’s much more to his backstory.
14767238
Reposted by Sandy West
Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Of the $165bn allocated to the Department of Homeland Security in the BBB, $45bn of that will be spent on new detention centres.
168
Reposted by Sandy West
Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon) @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Correcting RFK Jr
22507160
Reposted by Sandy West
Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
The death toll from the floods in Texas is now more than 100 people. The bodies of 28 children have been found so far, and ten more campers and one teenaged counselor from Camp Mystic are still unaccounted for. apnews.com/live/texas-f...
apnews.com
Death toll from Texas flooding rises to more than 100 as search continues for missing
Flash floods in Texas killed at least 100 people over the Fourth of July weekend and left others still missing, including girls attending Camp Mystic, drawing a massive search effort.
43112
Reposted by Sandy West
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
GoFundMe has set up a page for the Texan flood victims. Each campaign has been verified by the company's Trust & Safety experts, which means you know your money is going directly to families. Please consider donating if you can. Their stories are heartbreaking. www.gofundme.com/c/act/flood-...
gofundme.com
Donate to US Flood Relief Fundraisers
Help those affected by flooding across the US. Donate to verified fundraisers to offer flood relief to individuals & their families.
38792564442
Reposted by Sandy West
ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/07/2025
2/ First, some background: A pig butchering scam is a sophisticated, long-term con in which scammers present themselves as attractive, successful people to befriend you, win your trust and get you to deposit huge sums to fake online brokerages.
propublica.org
What’s a Pig Butchering Scam? Here’s How to Avoid Falling Victim to One.
Thousands have lost huge sums after being lured into fraudulent online investment schemes by seemingly attractive strangers who strike up online conversations with them. Here’s a guide to spotting the...
139081
Reposted by Sandy West
Jen Christiansen @jenchristiansen.com · 25/06/2025
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. So we published a guide to the evidence-based vaccine recommendations in place *before* all 17 members of the advisory panel were abruptly dismissed by the new admin. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-... 🧪
scientificamerican.com
Here’s Your Cheat Sheet for Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science
These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults
311102656006
Sandy West @sandywestreporter.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Excited, and a little nervous, to see my first story for the Texas Observer publishing soon.
020
Reposted by Sandy West
Mike Reilley @mikereilley.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
Subscribe to the free Journalist's Toolbox newsletter and get tools, tips, tricks & training videos in your inbox! It publishes every other Tuesday morning. Learn how to use #AI tools in a new way.
journaliststoolbox.substack.com
JournalistsToolbox.ai | Mike Reilley | Substack
Journalist's Toolbox (TM) AI shares tools, plug-ins, browser extensions and other artificial intelligence resources that are helpful to professional journalists, students, educators, marketers and…
021