When water agencies share data on their customers’ usage, and the public learns who the most egregious water wasters are, it generally leads to stronger conservation efforts. But a 1997 law means agencies are under no obligation to release this information.
Katharine Mieszkowski
Senior Reporter and Producer
Katharine Mieszkowski is a senior reporter and producer for Reveal. She's also been a senior writer for Salon and Fast Company. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, Slate and on NPR's "All Things Considered."
Her coverage has won national awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award two years in a row, an Online News Association Award, a Webby Award and a Society of Environmental Journalists Award. Mieszkowski has a bachelor's degree from Yale University. She is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
Posted inEnvironment, The Secrets of the Drought
To shield tech executives, California’s biggest water users are secret
In the midst of a historic drought, Californians have no way of knowing who’s guzzling the most water. That’s by design, thanks to an obscure 1997 measure that weakened one of the state’s chief open government laws.
Posted inEnvironment, Food Security
Eating mechanically tenderized beef could make you sick
Mechanically tenderized beef has been put through a machine that breaks up the muscle fiber and tough connective tissue with blades or needles. But if there are human pathogens, such as E. coli, on the surface of the meat, the process can push them deep inside the cut, putting you at risk of foodborne illness.
Don't miss a story. Get our investigations and reporters’ insights delivered to your inbox.
Posted inEnvironment, Food Security
No way to tell if US inspectors of foreign food are doing their job
Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has opened foreign offices to help inspect imported food, drugs and products, a new federal report found that these offices don’t have performance measures to track and evaluate specifically how what they do improves food safety.
Posted inFood Security
Your milk’s not contaminated with drugs, FDA says
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released the results of a study completed over two years ago, which found that more than 99 percent of the milk samples it tested were not tainted with drug residues.
Posted inEnvironment, Food Security
There could be arsenic in your rice. Here’s how to avoid it
Despite pressure from consumer advocates, the federal government has failed to set a limit for arsenic in rice. Officials still are studying the difficult question of whether arsenic in rice has cumulative, long-term health effects.
Posted inFood Security
There might be something else in your milk besides milk
Dairy cows get treated with a variety of medications to help them fight illness, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to release the results of its inquiry – started more than four years ago – into whether these drug are showing up in their milk.
Posted inDay Care
California day care centers stay open despite long lists of violations
Ten day care centers in California have racked up more than two dozen serious violations in the past five years, but all still are licensed and operat
Posted inDay Care
Are child care records online in your state?
Twenty-nine states provide access to information from child care inspection and complaint records online. Another nine have online access to limited information or for a limited group of facilities. In the remaining states, including in California, the public can’t get details about inspection findings online.
Posted inDay Care
Day care center records for Alameda, Contra Costa counties now online
Curious about your child’s day care center? Search for detailed state records for facilities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, in addition to the information already available for Santa Clara and Napa counties.