Richard Spencer has attracted attention as a leader of the so-called alt-right movement. He and family members are also absentee landlords of cotton and corn fields in an impoverished, largely African American region of Louisiana.
Lance Williams
Reporter
Lance Williams is a former senior reporter for Reveal, focusing on money and politics. He has twice won journalism’s George Polk Award – for medical reporting while at The Center for Investigative Reporting, and for coverage of the BALCO sports steroid scandal while at the San Francisco Chronicle. With partner Mark Fainaru-Wada, Williams wrote the national bestseller “Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports.” In 2006, the reporting duo was held in contempt of court and threatened with 18 months in federal prison for refusing to testify about their confidential sources on the BALCO investigation. The subpoenas were later withdrawn. Williams’ reporting also has been honored with the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Edgar A. Poe Award; the Gerald Loeb Award for financial reporting; and the Scripps Howard Foundation’s Award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment. He graduated from Brown University and UC Berkeley. He also worked at the San Francisco Examiner, the Oakland Tribune and the Daily Review in Hayward, California.
Student loan powerhouse sued for deceptive practices
In a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accused Navient of a long list of improprieties and deceptive practices in collecting and servicing some $300 billion in student loans.
LA’s mega water users still pumped millions of gallons despite drought
Los Angeles’ 100 biggest residential water customers have cut back on their wasteful ways, but they still pumped enough during the fifth year of California’s crippling drought to supply the needs of 2,800 ordinary households.
GAO: Cost of Education Dept.’s debt relief program off by billions
The GAO says that the Department of Education’s “income-driven repayment” plans for federal student loans will rack up “government costs of $74 billion” in the upcoming fiscal year.
Life and debt: Profiles of people caught in student loan crisis
More than 8 million borrowers have defaulted on their student loans. For millions more, the financial burden of those loans has altered lives, relationships, even retirements. Here’s a look at how people are coping with their debt.
This was the first presidential election in the new era of voting rights
Voters went to the polls in a divisive presidential election roiled by anxieties over race, class and the fundamental integrity of the American electoral system itself.
How Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit behemoth, suddenly imploded
Corinthian Colleges was one of the world’s largest for-profit college chains – and one of the biggest moneymakers. But even in a boom-and-bust business, its closure and bankruptcy in 2015 was a remarkable collapse.
Who is the Wet Prince of Bel Air? Here are the likely culprits
Los Angeles officials refused to identify the homeowner who used millions of gallons of water during a single year of California’s crippling drought.
California cracks down on its Wet Princes
California will crack down on future “Wet Princes” – homeowners who use enormous quantities of water during droughts.
Who got rich off the student debt crisis?
Today, just about everyone involved in the student loan industry makes money off students – the banks, private investors, even the federal government.