One Year of The Lab Report Dallas

Welcome to The Lab Report
Our journalism is actionable and drives real-world impact. Explore our investigations, explainers, and data to see how.
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OUR REPORTING
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The Librarian Who Retired and Only Got Busier
The Kids Are All Right at Prosperity Park
In the Tenth Street Historic District, a Home Repair Program’s Promises Remain Broken
They Spent Weeks Housing the Homeless, Then Police Showed Up
The Public Won’t Be Seeing the State’s Report on Foster Care Problems
How Dallas Police Ramped Up Homeless Enforcement
The January storm was on its way, but the cops came first. Police approached a clearing filled with tents less than a mile south of Deep Ellum that winter morning, confronting nearly four dozen people who had settled onto the cracked pavement beneath Interstate 45. Those in the encampment awoke to a fleet of police…
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
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This Is What It Takes to Keep the Jail From Overflowing
In the years since the pandemic, the Lew Sterrett Justice Center has attracted more attention for its failures and challenges than any triumphs and progress. The county jail, Texas’ second largest, neared 100 percent capacity last fall, requiring emergency beds to house the inmates. A botched transition to new court software in 2023 forced courthouse…
NEIGHBORHOODS
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The Way We Measure Poverty Is Broken
The formula that gauges each city’s poverty rate remains tied to the America of 1963. Economist Cullum Clark explains what that means for families living in Dallas.
