As temperatures in the Southwest soar, advocates worry about border crossers.
Sarah Tory
Sarah Tory is a journalist based in Colorado. Previously, she was a correspondent for High Country News.
Posted inArticles
Police shootings of Native Americans spark a movement
A new generation of activists on and off reservations struggle for visibility.
Posted inMay 15, 2017: Prison Town
How private prisons became a booming business
The numbers and policies behind the immigration-incarceration economy.
Posted inMay 15, 2017: Prison Town
‘If you don’t want us, tell us to go back’
The making of a California prison town.
Posted inArticles
The Western origins of the sanctuary movement
Churches in the West are once again at the forefront of a grassroots effort to save immigrants from deportation.
Posted inArticles
In Canada, a move to protect data from Trump
Researchers and citizens are rushing to back-up government data on climate change and other issues, fearing political interference.
Posted inArticles
Canada’s pipeline plans run afoul of its climate goals
Environmentalists on both sides of the border are gauging Canada’s commitment to the Paris Agreement.
Posted inDecember 12, 2016: How the Park Service is Failing Women
Plans falter for West Coast coal terminals
Coal companies look to Asia, but face port challenges.
Posted inNovember 28, 2016: A Weird and Perfect Wilderness
Could land speed racing fade from Bonneville Salt Flats?
Utah’s changing landscape casts doubt on the future of a sport.
Posted inOctober 3, 2016: Purple Rain
Why Utah’s Mormons waffle on this year’s GOP candidate
Trump sparks a conflict between morality and political belief.
Posted inArticles
How for-profit detention persists in the West
Federal policy changes only go part of the way in dismantling private immigrant detention.
Posted inArticles
New documentary offers a sharp look at the West’s water crisis
In ‘Killing the Colorado,’ people, not nature, are responsible for shortages.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
Will a Colorado compromise end a water tug-of-war?
A controversial deal for diverting water across the Rockies faces scrutiny.
Posted inArticles
How Utah coal interests helped push a secret plan to export coal from California
Companies and investors are trying to survive a collapsing U.S. coal market.
Posted inArticles
Firearm safety group targets suicide at the source
As Western states outpace the national average on gun suicides, one group looks to sellers for help.
Posted inArticles
Study finds surprising source of Colorado River water supply
More than half of the rivers in the Upper Colorado Basin originate as groundwater, USGS says.
Posted inArticles
Why the EPA fails to enforce the Civil Rights Act
Despite a new environmental justice action plan, the EPA has a poor record of protecting communities of color from toxic environments.
Posted inMay 16, 2016: Grizzly Face-Off
How Utah’s public defense system is failing the poor
The state is one of just two that provide no funding for the right to legal counsel, leaving local governments on the hook.
Posted inArticles
As Lake Mead sinks, states agree to more drastic water cuts
California, Arizona and Nevada are back in negotiations about the dwindling Colorado River water supply.
Posted inArticles
How the FLDS church consolidated power on the Utah-Arizona border
A recent lawsuit sheds new light on how the polygamist church and municipal leadership are deeply intertwined.