Michael Grabell
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ProPublica reporter covering the economy, labor, immigration & trade. Stories in the New Yorker, NYT & NPR. Two-time Pulitzer finalist. Poet.
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Articles by Michael Grabell
Free Lunch
Watch a man in a hot dog eating contest: He soaks the bun in water and brings it soggy to his mouth. Small quick bites of the pink naked dog. Just last month, the skinny California kid ate 76 hot dogs in 12 minutes. He also holds the records in waffles, chicken wings, Krystal hamburgers and deep-fried asparagus. Deep fried! Asparagus! Last night, I couldn’t even finish the pad-see-ew from the Thai place. Laura says the portions in American restaurants are too big anyway.
Marshall Allen, a tenacious health care reporter formerly with the Sun, dies at 52
Marshall Allen, a former Las Vegas Sun and ProPublica investigative reporter who relentlessly took on the U.S. health care system and fought for the rights of patients facing unfair medical bills, died Sunday at a hospital in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He was 52. The cause was a heart attack, said Sonja Allen, his wife of 29 years.
Marshall Allen, a Tenacious Health Care Journalist, Dies at 52
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Marshall Allen, a former ProPublica investigative reporter who relentlessly took on the U.S. health care system and fought for the rights of patients facing unfair medical bills, died Sunday at a hospital in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He was 52. The cause was a heart attack, said Sonja Allen, his wife of 29 years.
Journalist Marshall Allen, Who Fused Reporting With His Faith, Dies at 52
Marshall Allen, a former ProPublica investigative reporter who relentlessly took on the U.S. health care system and fought for the rights of patients facing unfair medical bills, died Sunday at a hospital in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He was 52. The cause was a heart attack, said Sonja Allen, his wife of 29 years.
How Tennessee’s Justice System Allows Dangerous People to Keep Guns — With Deadly Outcomes Original
As America emerged from the pandemic, communities continued to experience a rising tide of gun violence. School shootings and the rate of children and teens killed by gunfire both reached all-time highs since at least 1999. ProPublica’s coverage of gun violence reveals how first responders, policymakers and those directly affected are coping with the bloodshed. This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with WPLN/Nashville Public Radio.
Harvard Report: US Meat Supply Could Start the Next Global Pandemic
A new report from Harvard Law School and New York University argues that the next global pandemic could originate from the U.S. meat supply. “Covid has infected more than 100 million Americans and killed over a million of them. But the next pandemic may be far worse and might happen sooner than we think,” Ann Linder, one of the report’s lead authors, said in a statement.
Overinflated: The journey of a humble tire reveals why prices are still so high
By Michael Grabell This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The trouble that brought Heather Brown to Tire Town Auto Service in Picayune, Mississippi, had started with a shake as she drove down the interstate.
Overinflated: The Journey of a Humble Tire Reveals Why Prices Are Still So High
Overinflated: The Journey of a Humble Tire Reveals Why Prices Are Still So High By Michael Grabell, Propublica.org ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The trouble that brought Heather Brown to Tire Town Auto Service in Picayune, Mississippi, had started with a shake as she drove down the interstate.
Overinflated: The Journey of a Humble Tire Reveals Why Prices Are Still So High
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ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The trouble that brought Heather Brown to Tire Town Auto Service in Picayune, Mississippi, had started with a shake as she drove down the interstate. The tires she relied on to guide her gold 2014 Nissan Rogue and grip the asphalt when she braked seemed to shift and bounce unpredictably.
By Michael Grabell Verified, Becca Savransky Verified, Robert Faturechi Verified, Justin Elliott Verified
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ProPublica
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Police Used 911 Call Analysis to Arrest a Mother on Murder Charge
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For more than a decade, a training program known as 911 call analysis and its methods have spread across the country and burrowed deep into the justice system. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Text STORY to 917-905-1223 to get part 2 of this series as soon as it publishes, or sign up here for our Big Story newsletter. Standard messaging rates apply.
By Brett Murphy Verified, Sharon Lerner Verified, Michael Grabell Verified, Jessica Lussenhop Verified
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ProPublica
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USDA Plans Major Reforms to Curb Salmonella in Poultry
After decades of failing to reduce the incidence of one of the most common foodborne illnesses, the U.S. government may finally change the way it regulates salmonella contamination in chicken and turkey. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it is considering banning poultry companies from selling raw chicken and turkey contaminated with high levels of certain types of salmonella.
USDA Considers New Poultry Rules to Curb Salmonella Poisoning
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. After decades of failing to reduce the incidence of one of the most common foodborne illnesses, the U.S. government may finally change the way it regulates salmonella contamination in chicken and turkey.
Banana Ships And The Hidden Fees Of Ship Cargo
A cadre of ocean carriers are charging exorbitant, potentially illegal, fees on shipping containers stuck because of congestion at ports. Sellers of furniture, coconut water, even kids’ potties say the fees are inflating costs. Here is the long story in full graphic detail. by Michael Grabell (ProPublica) The story you’re about to read is bananas, and it’s also about bananas.
The Hidden Fees Making Your Bananas, and Everything Else, Cost More - Michael Grabell, photography by John Francis Peters for ProPublica
The story you’re about to read is bananas, and it’s also about bananas. Last fall, a company called One Banana loaded 600,000 pounds of the fruit from its plantations in Guatemala and Ecuador onto ships bound for the Port of Long Beach in California. Once they arrived, the bananas, packed in refrigerated containers, were offloaded by cranes for trucking to a nearby warehouse, where the fruit would be sent to supermarkets nationwide.
The hidden fees making your bananas, and everything else, cost more
The story you’re about to read is bananas, and it’s also about bananas. Last fall, a company called One Banana loaded 600,000 pounds of the fruit from its plantations in Guatemala and Ecuador onto ships bound for the Port of Long Beach in California. Once they arrived, the bananas, packed in refrigerated containers, were offloaded by cranes for trucking to a nearby warehouse, where the fruit would be sent to supermarkets nationwide.
The hidden fees making your bananas, and everything else, cost more
This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The story you’re about to read is bananas, and it’s also about bananas. Last fall, a company called One Banana loaded 600,000 pounds of the fruit from its plantations in Guatemala and Ecuador onto ships bound for the Port of Long Beach in California.
The hidden fees making your bananas, and everything else, cost more
Michael Grabell ProPublica This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The story you’re about to read is bananas, and it’s also about bananas. Last fall, a company called One Banana loaded 600,000 pounds of the fruit from its plantations in Guatemala and Ecuador onto ships bound for the Port of Long Beach in California.
The Hidden Fees Making Your Bananas, and Everything Else, Cost More - Global Advisors
by Michael Grabell, photography by John Francis Peters, special to ProPublica ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The story you’re about to read is bananas, and it’s also about bananas. Last fall, a company called One Banana loaded 600,000 pounds of the fruit from its plantations in Guatemala and Ecuador onto ships bound for the Port of Long Beach in California.
The Hidden Fees Making Your Bananas, and Everything Else, Cost More
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Join ProPublica on July 7 to discuss the current inflation crisis. The story you’re about to read is bananas, and it’s also about bananas. Last fall, a company called One Banana loaded 600,000 pounds of the fruit from its plantations in Guatemala and Ecuador onto ships bound for the Port of Long Beach in California.
The meatpacking industry’s conspiracy to keep plants open during COVID-19
As hundreds of meatpacking workers fell sick from the coronavirus that was spreading through their plants and into their communities in April 2020, the CEO of Tyson Foods reached out to the head of another major meatpacker, Smithfield Foods, with a proposal. Smithfield’s pork plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., had been hit particularly hard, and state and local officials were pressuring the company to shut it down. “Anything we can do to help?” Tyson CEO Noel White asked in an email.
The Plot to Keep Meatpacking Plants Open During COVID-19
As hundreds of meatpacking workers fell sick from the coronavirus that was spreading through their plants and into their communities in April 2020, the CEO of Tyson Foods reached out to the head of another major meatpacker, Smithfield Foods, with a proposal. Smithfield’s pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, had been hit particularly hard, and state and local officials were pressuring the company to shut it down. “Anything we can do to help?” Tyson CEO Noel White asked in an email.
The Plot to Keep Meatpacking Plants Open During COVID-19
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. As hundreds of meatpacking workers fell sick from the coronavirus that was spreading through their plants and into their communities in April 2020, the CEO of Tyson Foods reached out to the head of another major meatpacker, Smithfield Foods, with a proposal.
When salmonella strikes, turkey and chicken industries respond very differently
Anup Johny, a food safety microbiologist, works with turkeys at the University of Minnesota’s Poultry Teaching and Research Facility to develop tools to fight salmonella before outbreaks occur. (Ackerman + Gruber, special to ProPublica) Editor’s note: This story was originally published by ProPublica. It wasn’t the hog nuts that made people sick.
From ProPublica: Your free-range organic chicken may have been processed at a large industrial poultry plant
by Andrea Suozzo, Maryam Jameel, Michael Grabell and Bernice Yeung ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.Series: Unchecked America’s Broken Food Safety System Americans who want to buy the safest chicken and turkey have had little to go on beyond brand names and labels. But those don’t tell the whole story, as we learned from the readers who’ve used our Chicken Checker app.
When dangerous strains of salmonella hit, the turkey industry responded forcefully. The chicken industry? Not so much.
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. It wasn’t the hog nuts that made people sick. Nor was it the deer heart and noodles, elk meatloaf, turtle stew or any of the other fare served at the Swisher Men’s Club wild game feast in eastern Iowa in February 2019. Matthew Arjes, an avid hunter, had gone to the event with some friends.
Your Free-Range Organic Chicken May Have Been Processed at a Large Industrial Poultry Plant - Andrea Suozzo, Maryam Jameel, Michael Grabell and Bernice Yeung | WallStreetWindow.com
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: Unchecked America’s Broken Food Safety System Americans who want to buy the safest chicken and turkey have had little to go on beyond brand names and labels. But those don’t tell the whole story, as we learned from the readers who’ve used our Chicken Checker app.
When Dangerous Strains of Salmonella Hit, the Turkey Industry Responded Forcefully. The Chicken Industry? Not So Much.
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. It wasn’t the hog nuts that made people sick. Nor was it the deer heart and noodles, elk meatloaf, turtle stew or any of the other fare served at the Swisher Men’s Club wild game feast in eastern Iowa in February 2019. Matthew Arjes, an avid hunter, had gone to the event with some friends.
The Low-and-Slow Approach to Food Safety Reform Keeps Going Up in Smoke
For Nancy Donley, the fight for safer food started one agonizing summer night in 1993. She and her family had hamburgers for dinner, and soon after, her 6-year-old son Alex complained of a stomachache. Within hours, he had curled himself into a ball and was begging his mother for comfort. The next morning, thinking Alex might have appendicitis, Donley took him to the pediatrician. The doctor sent Alex to the emergency room at a children’s hospital near their home in Chicago.
Your Free-Range Organic Chicken May Have Been Processed at a Large Industrial Poultry Plant
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Americans who want to buy the safest chicken and turkey have had little to go on beyond brand names and labels. But those don’t tell the whole story, as we learned from the readers who’ve used our Chicken Checker app.
The Low-and-Slow Approach to Food Safety Reform Keeps Going Up in Smoke
This story first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. For Nancy Donley, the fight for safer food started one agonizing summer night in 1993. She and her family had hamburgers for dinner, and soon after, her 6-year-old son Alex complained of a stomachache. Within hours, he had curled himself into a ball and was begging his mother for comfort.
The Low-and-Slow Approach to Food Safety Reform Keeps Going Up in Smoke
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This story discusses a child’s fatal case of food poisoning. For Nancy Donley, the fight for safer food started one agonizing summer night in 1993. She and her family had hamburgers for dinner, and soon after, her 6-year-old son Alex complained of a stomachache. Within hours, he had curled himself into a ball and was begging his mother for comfort.
America’s Food Safety System Failed to Stop a Salmonella Epidemic. It’s Still Making People Sick.
In May 2018, a rare and virulent strain of salmonella caught the attention of America’s top disease detectives. In less than two months, the bacteria had sickened more than a dozen people, nearly all of them on the East Coast. Many said they’d eaten chicken, and federal food safety inspectors found the strain in chicken breasts, sausages and wings during routine sampling at poultry plants. But what seemed like a straightforward outbreak soon took a mystifying turn.
America's food safety system failed to stop a salmonella epidemic. It's still making people sick.
by Bernice Yeung + Michael Grabell + Irena Hwang + Mollie Simon, ProPublica 11.09.2021, 12:21pm For years, a dangerous salmonella strain has sickened thousands and continues to spread through the chicken industry. The USDA knows about it. So do the companies. And yet, contaminated meat continues to be sold to consumers. This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.
Food Contaminated With Drug-Resistant Salmonella Strain Continues to Be Sold
This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. In May 2018, a rare and virulent strain of salmonella caught the attention of America’s top disease detectives. In less than two months, the bacteria had sickened more than a dozen people, nearly all of them on the East Coast.
Chicken Checker: Look Up the Salmonella Rates Where Your Poultry Was Processed
How does salmonella get into chicken and turkey? Chickens and turkeys carry salmonella in their guts. In the U.S., poultry can be raised in crowded conditions where the bacteria can easily spread. By the time the birds are sent to slaughter, their skin and feathers are often highly contaminated with salmonella. Processing can result in further cross-contamination. Salmonella is found less frequently in less processed poultry.
Cooks Venture Poultry Jay Plant in Jay, Okla.
How This Plant Compares High-risk salmonella was found more often on the ground chicken at this Cooks Venture Poultry Jay plant than at other poultry plants. How Likely Am I To Get Sick? Your likelihood of getting sick depends on many factors, including: how the poultry is cooked and handled; your immune system; and the quantity and types of salmonella present. “High-risk� salmonella strains are more likely to cause illness than “low-risk� types.
Common Wealth Poultry Plant in Gardiner, Me.
How This Plant Compares High-risk salmonella was found more often on the chicken parts at this Common Wealth Poultry plant than at other poultry plants. How Likely Am I To Get Sick? Your likelihood of getting sick depends on many factors, including: how the poultry is cooked and handled; your immune system; and the quantity and types of salmonella present. “High-risk� salmonella strains are more likely to cause illness than “low-risk� types.
Farmers Pride Plant in Fredericksburg, Pa.
How This Plant Compares High-risk salmonella was found more often on the ground chicken at this Farmers Pride plant than at other poultry plants. How Likely Am I To Get Sick? Your likelihood of getting sick depends on many factors, including: how the poultry is cooked and handled; your immune system; and the quantity and types of salmonella present. “High-risk� salmonella strains are more likely to cause illness than “low-risk� types.
Businesses need to stand up to the Chamber of Commerce on the environment — Opinion - Minnesota Reformer
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has membership from companies that employ more than 500,000 Minnesotans and feature some of our state’s most admired and respected names, including Target, General Mills, Best Buy and Cargill. When it comes to climate action, however, the values of the Chamber — and the workforce and companies it represents — are worlds apart. This month the U.N.-sponsored, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a dire report on the state of our planet.
Afghan evacuees to arrive in the U.S. through Wisconsin, Virginia military bases
WASHINGTON — The first U.S. stop for the nearly 2,000 Afghan interpreters and other refugees evacuated so far amid the collapse of the Afghan government has been central Virginia’s Fort Lee military base. Tapped for its East Coast location and its ability to quickly ramp up to serve as a temporary host installation, the Army base just south of Richmond has been receiving Afghans eligible for Special Immigrant Visas since late last month.
Lawmakers add drought relief for Minnesota farmers to September legislative session agenda
Lawmakers are preparing a drought relief package to aid Minnesota farmers and livestock producers, Gov. Tim Walz said Friday during a virtual roundtable discussion. Farmers told Walz and Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson about their struggles with dry fields, as well as efforts by some livestock producers to cull their herds because of the drought’s impact on feed.
Cost of $1,500 bonuses to assisted living, nursing home workers totals $96 million, estimate says
It would cost $96 million to provide $1,500 bonuses to 79,000 full-time employees in assisted living and nursing home facilities who toiled during the height of the pandemic, according to one estimate Minnesota lawmakers heard on Tuesday. A nine-person working group heard the estimate as they decide how divvy up the $250 million the Legislature set aside for essential workers. The Legislature gave very little guidance except that long-term health care workers must be included in the mix.
Walz meets with Biden on wildfires as state warns of unprecedented poor air quality
Gov. Tim Walz on Friday met virtually with President Joe Biden and six other governors to discuss the impacts of drought on Minnesota and strategies to adapt to the effects of climate change. The meeting came as more than half the state is experiencing severe or extreme drought. Minnesota is also blanketed in smoke from wildfires in Canada, leading the state Pollution Control Agency on Friday to extend an “unprecedented” air quality alert through Tuesday.
Minnesota lawmakers begin deliberating how to distribute $250 million to frontline workers
A small working group of Minnesota lawmakers and cabinet members on Wednesday began deliberating how to divvy up $250 million for bonuses for the hundreds of thousands of frontline workers who risked exposure to keep essential services running during the pandemic.
To protect kids, Walz needs to mandate a statewide school mask mandate
We need to keep two truths in mind as the summer comes to an end: First, school is incredibly important for our children. Schools provide a space not only for traditional education, but also social development, healthy relationships and a safety net for students who are struggling with access to food and housing. Schools are primary in the emotional well being of our children, so we must make sure that schools are as safe as possible as students return in the fall.
After hundreds of meatpacking workers died from COVID-19, Congress wants answers
Workers handle meat organizing packing shipping loading at factory plant Shutterstock Editor’s note: JBS operates a beef processing facility in Greeley, which is currently under investigation for a November 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. According to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) data, 96 employees had confirmed cases. This follows outbreaks earlier in the year which resulted in six deaths and about 300 positive cases of COVID-19.
Congress Investigates Deaths of Meatpacking Workers
By Bernice Yeung and Michael Grabell A key congressional panel launched an investigation this week into the wave of COVID-19 infections that killed hundreds of workers at meatpacking plants nationwide last year and highlighted longstanding hazards in the industry. Since the start of the pandemic, the meat industry has struggled to contain the virus in its facilities, and plants in Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas have endured some of the biggest workplace outbreaks in the country.
Congress Is Investigating the Meatpacking Industry's Failure to Protect Workers
A key congressional panel launched an investigation this week into the wave of COVID-19 infections that killed hundreds of workers at meatpacking plants nationwide last year and highlighted longstanding hazards in the industry. Since the start of the pandemic, the meat industry has struggled to contain the virus in its facilities, and plants in Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas have endured some of the biggest workplace outbreaks in the country.
After Hundreds Of Meatpacking Workers Died From COVID-19, Congress Wants Answers
A key congressional panel launched an investigation this week into the wave of COVID-19 infections that killed hundreds of workers at meatpacking plants nationwide last year and highlighted longstanding hazards in the industry. Since the start of the pandemic, the meat industry has struggled to contain the virus in its facilities, and plants in Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas have endured some of the biggest workplace outbreaks in the country.
After hundreds of meatpacking workers died from COVID-19, Congress wants answers
This story was originally published by ProPublica. By Bernice Yeung and Michael Grabell, ProPublica A key congressional panel launched an investigation this week into the wave of COVID-19 infections that killed hundreds of workers at meatpacking plants nationwide last year and highlighted longstanding hazards in the industry.
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