Without state oversight, activists step up to monitor the traffic in their own backyards.
People & Places
Posted inMay 27, 2019: Public Pushback
Militias, MAGA activists and one border town’s complicated resistance
How Arivaca, Arizona, became a magnet for anti-immigrant activists – and what locals did next.
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
Gay rodeo and the subversion of Western clichés
A photo exhibit asks viewers to ponder whether, in reclaiming the idea of the cowboy, gay rodeos renounce violence or reinvest in it.
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
Police-state tactics at the U.S.-Mexico border
The real crisis at the border is of Trump’s own making.
Posted inArticles
A post-Civil War town founded by former slaves perseveres
Discover the improbable and inspiring Nicodemus, Kansas.
Posted inArticles
Dead pines drive new herbicide rules in Oregon
A controversial weed-killer has split the state, and pit state regulators against feds.
Posted inFebruary 18, 2019: Barriers to Entry
The Two Bulls family leads an Indigenous art renaissance
The Lakota family’s first group show is a celebration of tradition and experimentation.
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
In need of water, an Idaho town turns to its neighbors
Does recharging an aquifer solve one of the West’s oldest water problems, or perpetuate it?
Posted inArticles
On-the-ground pollution data spurred stricter zoning in Los Angeles
Locals’ efforts prompted buffers for auto shops and air filter rules for new buildings.
Posted inFebruary 18, 2019: Barriers to Entry
The education crisis for children of deported parents
In Tijuana, an upstart model tries to address the challenges of educating U.S. kids who relocated to keep their families together.
Posted inJanuary 21, 2019: What Killed Washington's Carbon Tax?
See iconic photographers’ forgotten work in 1950s Mormon towns
Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange capture a time when the religion was growing.
Posted inArticles
Idaho’s new governor: ‘Climate change is real’
Environmentalists hope action will follow new state stance on climate.
Posted inJanuary 21, 2019: What Killed Washington's Carbon Tax?
How Indigenous reporters are elevating true crime
In the podcasts ‘Finding Cleo’ and ‘Thunder Bay,’ First Nations reporters reinvent a common formula. Can they find even bigger audiences?
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
It’s time to start eating roadkill
Salvaging meat in Alaska is commonplace. Can it catch on in the Lower 48?
Posted inArticles
The stories that defined the West in 2018
The year in essays, analysis and investigations from across the Western U.S.
Posted inArticles
The metalheads of the Navajo Nation
See photos of the thriving music scene in backyards, abandoned houses and parking lot shows.
Posted inArticles
Alone on the Green River
Writer Craig Childs goes boating in Utah and ponders the costs and payoff of solitude.
Posted inDecember 24, 2018: Good news, bad news
As the influence of newsprint erodes, Westword prevails
Despite the state of the media, Westword Editor Patty Calhoun maintains hope.