News in Brief Archives

Viewfinder: The Closing of the Last Coal Mine in Germany’s Appalachia

Coal miners give German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier a symbolic final chunk of coal in a ceremony at Schloss Bellevue presidential palace on April 3rd, 2019, in Berlin, Germany.

Pacific Standard Staff

Traffic continues on Interstate 35 as Waxahachie firefighters battle a massive fire at the Magnablend chemical processing plant on October 3rd, 2011, in Waxahachie, Texas.

The Houston Area Has Had Two Chemical Plant Fires in Two Weeks. Why Do They Keep Happening?

Frequent chemical fires in the Houston area signal larger deficiencies in oversight of the chemical industry at both the state and federal levels.

Leah Dunlevy

Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro speaks at Bell Gardens High School, in Los Angeles County, on March 4th, 2019, in Bell Gardens, California.

News in Brief

Border Patrol Can Stop Most Americans in Their Own Neighborhoods. Presidential Candidate Julián Castro Wants to Change That.

For Border Patrol, the border encompasses a 100-mile zone that stretches inwards from Mexico, Canada, and every coast.

Jack Herrera

Should We Blame Pharmaceutical Companies for America’s Opioid Epidemic? Here’s What the Science Says.

Legal evidence is needed to pin addiction and death on opioid manufacturers, but the science suggests that a large and ready supply of legal prescription painkillers led to many addictions.

Francie Diep