Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023
Dear friends of Investigate Midwest,
Happy Election Day!
Today we want to highlight why our reporting matters to you — we hold leaders accountable for their words and actions, from protecting workers from wage theft and other abuses to why chicken “litter” can cause problems when it is next door.
Here are some recent examples of the impact of our reporting:
- Wage theft investigation in Minnesota. Earlier this year, we reported that the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry opened an investigation into possible wage theft at HyLife Foods, a pork processing plant in Windom, Minnesota, that closed permanently and laid off its 1,000-person workforce in June.
- Stronger pesticide spraying law in Illinois. A story we first reported in 2022 about the fragmented pesticide monitoring system in Illinois, in part, led to new policy that increases fines for violators spraying these chemicals “off-label.” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it into law this summer.
- Large animal farms in Oklahoma affecting neighbors. Thanks to a change in Oklahoma permitting law, large chicken farms that once qualified under federal law as concentrated animal feeding operations — thus subject to stricter regulations — now can register in the state as poultry feeding operations (PFO). This allows these operations to locate nearby residential homes and to do so without having to notify neighbors. Depending which way the wind blows greatly affects air quality for people who have been living for decades in the same area, well before the PFOs came to town.
You are better informed by the work of our reporters. In turn, you impact the world by being more engaged as a voter and speaking out to your lawmakers.
Our end-of-year giving campaign, NewsMatch 2023, is off and running. This program doubles your donation, up to $1,000. And there’s more: Now through Dec. 31, NewsMatch will double any new monthly donations 12 times, so a $10 monthly donation becomes a total of $240 for the year. This is an opportunity of which we hope you will take advantage!
Thank you for what you give to this important cause of independent, nonprofit, accountability journalism — today or any time.
With gratitude,
Mary Ungs-Sogaard, Donor Relations Manager
P.S. Don’t forget - please help us spread the word!
P.P.S. You can meet me (and other Investigate Midwest staff) in person on Nov. 9 in Iowa City at our fall storytelling event, "Discovery in Disguise." "Ticket" donations will also go toward NewsMatch!
Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our mission is to serve the public as a watchdog over influential corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism.
