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Susie Neilson

@susien.bsky.social
1.3K followers 444 following 67 posts

Investigative reporter @sfchronicle.com

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Reposted by Susie Neilson
Meghan Hoyer @meghanhoyer.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A year ago, Trump took over DC's police force for 30 days. Joint patrols w/ police & federal agents have continued - and now >30% of arrests in DC involve federal agents. By @jdharden.bsky.social, @conarck.bsky.social, @juanbennjr.bsky.social & Jasmine Golden: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 06/08/2026
BREAKING: in July 2026, *every single one* of the 2,528 refugees admitted in the U.S. were white South Africans. In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 10,255 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November), and nobody else. For reference, the U.S. admitted 100,060 refugees in 2024.
rpc.state.gov
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Mark Simon (he/him) @marksimon.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
New journalists interview @meganmunce.bsky.social @susien.bsky.social @saradinatale.bsky.social joined me to tell me the story of their Pulitzer-winning series, Burned - an investigation of how insurers mistreated and underpaid those who lost their homes podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 25/07/2026
Huge wildfires fueled by extreme heat and strong winds have forced some 200,000 people to flee or remain indoors this past week in France and Spain as firefighters struggle to bring the blazes under control. Here’s what you need to know. trib.al/00i1Y6l
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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I'm heartbroken to share that Marvin (known to readers of There Is No Place for Us as Maurice) died earlier today in a workplace accident. He was 43. Natasha (Natalia in the book) asked me to share this news because she is too devastated to do so herself. We are all in shock.
Marvin, Natasha, and their newborn child
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Ko Lyn Cheang @kolyncheang.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, who died in ICE custody in March, died of COVID pneumonia, an autopsy I obtained shows. ICE's official report shows no indication he was tested or treated for COVID in detention. See more details in our database. @stjbs.bsky.social www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
sfchronicle.com
Deaths in ICE custody have surged. The Chronicle is tracking them
Detainee deaths in ICE custody have surged since 2025. The Chronicle is tracking them all here.
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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
A first-of-its-kind ProPublica analysis found that children who entered the U.S. by themselves are being detained and removed at about three times the rate they were during the final years of the first Trump presidency. @micarosenberg.bsky.social @jeffernsthausen.bsky.social
propublica.org
These Immigrant Kids Were Once Protected. Under Trump, Their Deportations Have Tripled.
A first-of-its-kind ProPublica analysis found that children who entered the U.S. by themselves are being detained and removed at about three times the rate they were during the final years of the firs...
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 26/05/2026
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “At this point, many in the world have heard of the brutality of El Salvador’s prisons. A year ago, my wife, Ruth López, vanished into one,” Louis Benavides writes about the cost of Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on crime.
nyti.ms
Opinion | My Wife Fought Corruption in El Salvador. Then She Vanished Into Its Prisons.
The cost of Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on crime is too high.
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Peter Aldhous @peteraldhous.com · 22/05/2026
A pleasure and privilege to have @susien.bsky.social visit our @ucscscicomm.bsky.social class yesterday to discuss the reporting behind the Pulitzer-winning SF Chronicle "Burned" series on California wildfire insurance and to provide students with feedback on their own work. Thanks Susie!
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Lisa Song @lisalsong.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
1/ Tear gas was created to incapacitate grown men. So when I started seeing reports of kids hurt by tear gas deployed by federal immigration agents, I wondered how often it was happening. My colleagues and I started to count:
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/05/2026
“There was zero plan, except causing pain,” said one U.N. official about the Trump administration’s decision to stop funding the group with no notice or communication. “And that is not forgivable.” Revisit this story from our series “The End of Aid,” a 2026 Pulitzer finalist.
propublica.org
After Trump Officials Cut Food Aid to Kenya, Children Starved to Death
“Brutal and traumatizing”: Interviews and a trove of internal documents show government officials and aid workers desperately tried to warn Trump advisers about impending disaster and death.
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Anthony Edwards @edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
More awards for @sfchronicle.com reporters @susien.bsky.social @meganmunce.bsky.social and @saradinatale.bsky.social!
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Investigative Reporters & Editors @ire.org · 05/05/2026
Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2025 IRE Awards! Awards will be presented at the 2026 IRE Conference in National Harbor, MD on Friday, June 19, during the Awards Luncheon. Full list of winners and finalists: bit.ly/4cS2qfN
The image features the text "2025 IRE Awards" and "Congratulations Winners & Finalists" over a dark background. A partial view of a gold investigative reporting medal is visible at the bottom.The image contains text about the 2025 IRE Awards, focusing on journalistic efforts amidst shrinking newsrooms and press freedom threats. It praises winners and finalists for their impactful reporting. Walter Smith Randolph, Chair of the IRE Awards contest committee, is mentioned with a small circular photo.
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Reposted by Susie Neilson
Peter Aldhous @peteraldhous.com · 05/05/2026
Huge congrats to former student @susien.bsky.social and SF Chronicle colleagues for their Pulitzer win today! We're very fortunate to have Susie visiting @ucscscicomm.bsky.social later this month! www.pulitzer.org/news/2026-pu...
pulitzer.org
The 2026 Pulitzer Prize Announcement
The Pulitzer Prize Board has announced the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes and Nominated Finalists. Watch the livestream and read the shortlist of winners and nominees here.
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Jessica Christian @jachristian.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Happy to have contributed a tiny part to this entry. Congratulations @susien.bsky.social, @meganmunce.bsky.social, @saradinatale.bsky.social, @brontewittpenn.bsky.social and @stephenlamphoto.bsky.social 🎉 @sfchronicle.com
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St. John Barned-Smith @stjbs.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Shot/Chaser BOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! Congratulations @susien.bsky.social and crew!!! #pulitzerprizes
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Ed Burmila @edburmila.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Again: for any big liberal donor who wants to funnel millions into fixing this country's politics, the ROI on buying any struggling paper and simply tasking it with doing real reporting on local news is vastly higher than the same $$ given to some group that does mass ad buys every election year.
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Max Zeff @mzeff.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
New: Anthropic is opposing the OpenAI-backed Illinois bill that would shield AI labs from liability for mass deaths or financial disasters caused by AI models. Governor Pritzker is signaling he doesn't like the bill, but it's exposing new battlelines in the AI policy debate.
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jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 11/04/2026
"Vile AI-doctored photos — including one depicting a cop in a KKK hood and another showing a man with a rifle standing over a gorilla — were among images allegedly passed around a specialized NYPD unit’s chat group, The Post has learned." nypost.com/2026/04/11/u...
nypost.com
Exclusive | Vile AI photos of KKK-hooded cops and cuffed gorillas passed around by elite NYPD unit — sparking discrimination suit
The chat group used by the Major Case Squad was titled “Major case – team building,” with the offensive images showing up in 2025 and 2026, according to a lawsuit.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Important investigation into failures with ICE medial care that have likely caused multiple deaths. I'll note that these failures are common in the criminal justice system, and are just as deadly there, which is one reason why a solution is to heavily restrict the use of immigration detention.
The pain started soon after immigration agents seized the bespectacled 39-year-old man, who had lived in the United States since he was 5, at the Orange County car wash where he worked last August.
They took him to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County, where he developed an abscess under the skin on his left buttock. It filled with pus and bacteria, rotting muscle and fat as it pushed into his pelvis and abdomen, threatening to flood his bloodstream with toxins.
Ayala-Uribe complained to medical staff about rectal pain, rating it “10 out of 10,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement records show, but documents do not indicate he was ever physically examined by staff members at Adelanto. On Sept. 18, a nurse gave him over-the-counter painkillers and fiber supplements used to relieve digestion problems, then sent him back to his cell.
Three days later, sweating and trembling, Ayala-Uribe was finally taken to a hospital. While waiting for treatment, he suffered septic shock caused by the abscess, according to a coroner’s report, and his heart stopped.
“This case is just absolute medical malpractice,” said Dr. Barbara Ogur, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who reviewed his treatment records at the Chronicle’s request.
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Ko Lyn Cheang @kolyncheang.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
My colleague @stjbs.bsky.social and I spent months working on this new @sfchronicle.com investigation into each of the 48 deaths in ICE custody since the start of 2025. Powerful work as well by our data viz colleague Nami Sumida and @santiagomejia.bsky.social www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
sfchronicle.com
Client Challenge
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Maggie Mayhem @maggiemayhem.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
The San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association spent $30K to promote the lie that a “deputy sheriff saved Ward 86 from a rapid mass casualty stabbing.” That was a total fabrication. It was public health workers who stopped the assailant while the sheriff watched. missionlocal.org/2026/03/sher...
missionlocal.org
S.F. sheriffs’ union spent $30K to push debunked story of hospital worker’s stabbing
The sheriffs’ union spent thousands to cast the deputy at Ward 86 as a hero, even after clinic staff said they'd stopped the attack.
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Mica Rosenberg @micarosenberg.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
My colleague @jeffernsthausen.bsky.social analyzed data shared with @mckenziefunk.com to find Trump is detaining more parents of US citizens with minor criminal histories or none at all. We also found that compared to Biden, moms of U.S. citizens are being deported 4x more often under Trump 2/
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gingerthompson.bsky.social @gingerthompson.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Dilley Update: The number of detained parents and children has plummeted following widespread publication of children's letters. @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/fami...
propublica.org
The Number of Families Being Held at Dilley Detention Center Has Plummeted
This week, the average daily population at Dilley dropped to 100 people, compared with over 900 in January. The shift follows weeks of mounting public pressure generated in part by the widespread publ...
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Susie Neilson @susien.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Last fall, Eric McCain died in his room at Jazzie Collins, a supportive housing complex operated by San Francisco nonprofit HomeRise. The org requires "wellness checks" every 72 hours. But by the time Eric's sister Aisha called, nobody had seen him for 12 days. www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
sfchronicle.com
At a ‘model’ S.F. complex for the formerly homeless, a man lay dead for days unnoticed
Eric McCain’s death was emblematic of continuing struggles by San Francisco housing provider HomeRise, which Nancy Pelosi has called a “beacon of hope” and “model for the nation.”
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ProPublica Guild @propublicaguild.org · 19/03/2026
1/ Today, we overwhelmingly voted to authorize a STRIKE as we fight for a fair contract with @propublica.org.
A graphic reads “92% of participating ProPublica Guild members voted YES to authorize our bargaining committee to call for a strike.” The “92%” is very large. A ProPublica Guild logo is under the text.
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
It's going to be a very hard summer for so many people and so many species. We can already feel here in BC, with the weak snowpack currently washing down mountains because of an unseasonable atmospheric river. The only ones doing well are the oil companies, with their record war profits.
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Anthony Edwards @edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I've interviewed more than a dozen hydrologists and climatologists across the West the past 10 days. A sense of panic is starting to set in. Wildfires and water shortages will start mounting this summer. Adverse impacts are expected from not only this heat wave, but the historically warm winter.
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Israeli cops break a CNN producer’s wrist while beating up journalists who were filming them beat up people praying, per the Foreign Press Association.
france24.com
Foreign press group slams Israeli police for breaking journalist's wrist
An international media association on Wednesday criticised an "unprovoked assault" by Israeli police on journalists in Jerusalem, which it said left a CNN producer with a fractured wrist.
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Sara DiNatale @saradinatale.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I did an investigation on the flood of white South Africans on H-2A visas into the Mississippi Delta while at @mississippitoday.org in 2022. First, a link to my investigation: mississippitoday.org/2022/06/29/d...
mississippitoday.org
Delta farm owners underpay, push out Black workers - Mississippi Today
A Mississippi Today investigation found at least five Delta farms paid Black local workers less than white workers from other countries.
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Holly McCall @jhollymc.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
"After being held in isolation for about five days. Rodríguez was forced to strip naked in a shower while an officer "poured some kind of chemical liquid on her head, which seemed to be something used to clean floors and burned her eyes,” the filing read."
tennesseelookout.com
Nashville journalist arrested by ICE granted bond, remains detained while feds considers appeal • Tennessee Lookout
Estefany Rodríguez, the Nashville reporter arrested by ICE, was granted a $10,000 bond Monday but remains detained in Louisiana.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
“The memo also bars reporters from requesting public records through the Freedom of Information Act…”
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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
South African immigrants to the US are returning to South Africa because the US does not feel safe, citing school shooters and ICE raids. apple.news/A9pQEUbPrT_W...
apple.news
Trump says white South Africans are persecuted; some are returning to a better life — Reuters
Andrew Veitch left South Africa after being held up at gunpoint in his car. But now he feels there are greater threats in the United States, ​he said, citing mass shootings in public places as well as...
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David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Very excited that we're somehow getting another day of discourse out of The Florsheim Affair, one of the most delightful stories of this awful last year and change. Keep on clompin' boys! defector.com/report-presi...
defector.com
Report: President Donald Trump Is Giving 'All The Boys' Dress Shoes That Don't Fit Right | Defector
It goes without saying that there is a great deal of Psychology going on in Donald Trump’s second term. None of it is especially complicated, because the people involved are without exception clammy, ...
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Mike Baker @mikebaker.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
NEW: We just published a deep dive into just how much billionaires are now dominating U.S. politics. We found 300 billionaire families accounted for 19% of federal donations in 2024. The deluge was even larger in many state and local races. 1/7 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/u...
nytimes.com
The Scale of Billionaires’ Campaign Donations is Overwhelming U.S. Politics
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 05/03/2026
NEW: ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who declined to identify former clients.
propublica.org
Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate
ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who d...
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Susie Neilson @susien.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Super proud that our investigative series into wildfire insurance was recognized as a semifinalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting! TY @shorensteinctr.bsky.social :) goldsmithawards.org/announcing-t... @meganmunce.bsky.social @saradinatale.bsky.social
goldsmithawards.org
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San Francisco Chronicle @sfchronicle.com · 27/02/2026
Prosecutors are looking into complaints about Pacific Private Money, a Novato-based real estate lender and investment firm run by Mark Hanf, a Tiburon entrepreneur who has faced past troubles.
bit.ly
‘This was my nest egg’: Marin lender’s sudden collapse panics investors, prompts investigation
Prosecutors are looking into complaints about Pacific Private Money, a Novato-based real estate lender and investment firm run by Mark Hanf, a Tiburon entrepreneur who has faced past troubles.
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Stephanie M. Lee @stephaniemlee.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
For journalists who want to dig into stories about scientific integrity: Here's an exciting new opportunity from two of my favorite science-journalism organizations, @retractionwatch.com and @theopennotebook.bsky.social. I'll be joining a webinar to help kick things off on March 26!
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Much credit to @jdaleshoemaker.bsky.social's original reporting. www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/24/b...
investigativepost.org
Border Patrol dumped a blind man at a Buffalo donut shop
A nearly blind Burmese refugee has been missing since Thursday after Border Patrol dropped him off at a Buffalo Tim Hortons.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 21/02/2026
A retired British primary school administrator with a British passport and a valid visa was shackled, chained and detained for six weeks by ICE www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks
Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...
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Andrea Pitzer @andreapitzer.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
In the concentration camp universe, this is what's known as a filtration camp. A government preemptively takes a whole class of people to interrogate and detain extrajudicially in order to inflict duress on them while arbitrarily assessing their (supposed) culpability.
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Mike Hixenbaugh @mikehixenbaugh.com · 13/02/2026
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast. The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me. But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
On Nov. 16, a mental health counselor recorded in Kamilla’s medical records that her mother reported the girl had lost her appetite after being “served food that contained worms.”

A week later, the couple said, children were told to gather in the gym for what they believed would be a Thanksgiving celebration. Excitement spread as families saw tables set with turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, they said. The children waited expectantly. But when a parent asked when the celebration would begin, Oksana said, staff told them the holiday meal was for employees, not detainees.

The children, she said, watched despondently as the feast was packed away.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 13/02/2026
New drone footage from @floodlightnews.org - the fossil methane power plant Musk built specifically to create abusive and racist material on his social media website is still wildly breaching EPA regulations even after a ruling against using them -->>> floodlightnews.org/thermal-dron...
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Nicole Foy @nicolefoy.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
if you remember the FBI + ICE + local raid on a horse race track in Wilder, Idaho that detained hundreds of families (including many kids & U.S. citizens) the @acluidaho.bsky.social just announced a lawsuit. The complaint is just as disturbing as previous reporting www.aclu.org/press-releas...
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Daniel Wolfe @sadbumblebee.buzz · 05/02/2026
@byaliceli.bsky.social: biggest heart for stories. Weep at her coverage of the Klamath kayak kids. Instrumental in our piece on cultural burning in California. Out there with the biggest smile huffing pounds of cameras and capture the most emotionally arresting footage. byaliceli.com/about
byaliceli.com
About — Alice Li
is an award-winning video journalist for The Washington Post, where she focuses on earth’s rapidly shifting climate and humanity’s response to it.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 12/02/2026
Several Israeli military reservists and a civilian were arrested after an investigation into the use of classified information to bet on military operations on an online prediction platform, prosecutors said on Thursday.
nyti.ms
Israeli Army Reservists Are Suspected of Using Inside Knowledge to Bet
The authorities said several reservists and a civilian were arrested, and two were charged, after an investigation into the use of classified information to bet on military operations.
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Susie Neilson @susien.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
This week, California lawmakers unveiled a bill that would establish standards for testing and cleaning of toxic debris left inside homes after wildfires. It's the fifth bill introduced this year citing our @sfchronicle.com series into insurance practices following wildfires. tinyurl.com/36bc95p7
tinyurl.com
New bill asks California to craft standard for cleaning wildfire smoke-tainted homes
It is the second piece of legislation this session that asks the state to create first-of-its-kind standards to address toxic debris left in homes that survive wildfires in California.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/02/2026
We found that Jeff Bezos paid *zero* taxes in 2007 and 2011. In fact, he reported making so little in 2011 that he even claimed and received a $4,000 tax credit for his children. This is how he did it (published 2021):
propublica.org
The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, ev...
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Susie Neilson @susien.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
In the lead-up to the Super Bowl, I wrote about why Californians will have no trouble gambling on the game — even though sports betting is illegal here. And with the blessings of my editors, I placed a few bets myself... tinyurl.com/2n9x8ux3
tinyurl.com
Sports gambling is illegal in California. So why is it so easy to bet on the Super Bowl?
Some types of online sports bets are flourishing in California, despite the attorney general calling them illegal. A Chronicle reporter looks into why — and places a few wagers herself.
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