Reporters for MuckRock and the Cicero Independiente received the Victor K. McElheny Award at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their “Air We Breathe” series this weekend. The Cicero Independiente team also spoke in a panel discussion on the future of local and regional journalism, and discussed their reporting process.

The investigative series was a first-of-its-kind analysis of Cicero’s air quality and involved installing air quality monitored by the Cicero Independiente and MuckRock. Reporters found that Cicero’s air quality is much worse than surrounding Cook County neighborhoods. It’s also worse than what the Environmental Protection Agency and pilot programs run by the city and Microsoft have routinely reported.

The series also uncovered how the town’s biggest source of industrial pollution, Koppers coal tar plant, has also routinely been found in violation of both state and federal environmental laws dating back 50 years. Reporters followed the story as the plant disputed the most recent violations and held a secret meeting with a group of seven elected officials and employees of the nearby village of Stickney.

“This series demonstrates the critical importance of local science journalism, in which reporters take the time to explore city environments often ignored by others, illuminate health threats, and provide information that is essential to protecting the health of such communities,” Deborah Blum, Director of the Knight Science Journalism Program, said in their announcement.

The Update

• Advocates say this New York bill will “delay the release” of public records: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new bill into law that will require the government to inform employees when their disciplinary records are requested. The Freedom of the Press Foundation says the bill “will compound existing problems with New York’s Freedom of Information Law.”

• California-based newsroom fights for shelter records: CalMatters filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority after the agency repeatedly denied attempts to share shelter incident reports under California’s Public Records Act. . ​​The lawsuit states that “what happens in shelters remains largely a ‘black box,” reports Lauren Hepler.

• When state officials use encryption apps: Transparency advocates in Maryland are raising the alarms after a report from The Office of the Inspector General for Education found that the former Maryland State Superintendent and other key officials were using the encrypted messaging service Signal to communicate about personal and work-related matters, reports Dan Belson for the Baltimore Sun.

FOIA Finds

• Overdue FDA inspections: The Food and Drug Administration has not returned to roughly 2,000 pharmaceutical manufacturing firms to conduct surveillance inspections since before the pandemic, according to inspection records, reports Matthew Perrone and Nicky Forster from the Associated Press.

• The battle for DEA records on retirement medals: Joseph Cox chronicled 404 Media’s attempts to obtain records from the Drug and Enforcement Agency (DEA) for standard expenditure records on the DEA’s purchase of retirement medals and other awards. MuckRock’s Michael Morisy told Cox that what “we’ve seen in the last few years is a backslide in things that used to be routinely released and of significant public value.”

• Oklahoma official spends thousands on travel expenses: An investigation by FOX 25 found that over $27,000 in tax dollars were spent on travel expenses for Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters for speaking events that amplified his political messaging, reports Wendy Suares.