Drew Hawkins

One Battle After Another: The ANTIGRAVITY 2025 Year-End Top 5 As Smash Mouth famously prophesized, “the years start comin’ and they don’t stop comin,’” and this latest chapter wrought an exceptionally high volume of historic moments, so much so that we didn’t…

@wadrewhawkins.bsky.social recalled the Top 5 Events that Didn’t Save Us from Financial Ruin of 2025

Construction on Meta’s largest data center brings 600% crash spike, chaos to rural Louisiana • Louisiana Illuminator There have been 64 crashes between January and mid-September this year, compared to just nine for all of 2024, according to police records obtained by the Gulf States Newsroom.

Stories like this only reaffirm my “no” vote.

We can't know for certain that the quick economic development dollars the state stands to earn right now will 🟰worthy infrastructure investment in the end. @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social @lailluminator.com

lailluminator.com/2025/11/22/m...

My investigation into traffic and crashes around the Meta data center site in Richland Parish, Louisiana (what Meta says will be the largest in the world) aired on @npr.org Morning Edition today:

It’s a wild story, and it wouldn’t have happened without going there and talking to people about what they were concerned about — and then looking into it.

In September, an 18-wheeler collided with a dump truck turning onto the road leading to the Meta site. In the report, the driver told the deputy that “he does not and has never had a driver's license.”

In August, a dump truck hauling dirt drove off the road and crashed into a tree, killing the driver, according to the Richland Parish Coroner’s Office.

Others are more alarming: A hit-and-run where the dump truck left the scene; an 18-wheeler trying to beat an oncoming train across the railroad tracks; a driver leaving the scene, abandoning his wrecked vehicle in the median so he wouldn’t miss a morning meeting at the Meta site.

Some happened because the large trucks couldn’t see the smaller vehicles or hear their horns before backing or turning into them. Some, because the driver, who was en route to his workplace at the Meta site, was tired.

I reached out to Meta, and they told me they set strict standards about speed and safety for their drivers.

Police crash records suggest that isn’t happening — many of the crashes appear to be caused by drivers in transit to the Meta construction site.

On the roads surrounding Meta’s construction site, vehicle crashes have gone up by more than 600%. There have been 64 crashes between January and mid-September this year, compared to just nine for all of 2024, according to police records.

Construction on Meta’s largest data center brings 600% crash spike, chaos to rural Louisiana An investigation from the Gulf States Newsroom found that trucks contracted to work at the Meta facility are causing delays and dangerous roads in Holly Ridge.

A couple of months ago, I was out in Richland Parish, LA, talking to people about the new Meta data center being built. Everyone talked about the traffic and reckless drivers.

So, I started looking into it. Their concerns were valid. 🧵

www.wwno.org/local-region...

Congratulations to Audrey Brown, Christopher Burrell, Rebecca Cadenhead, @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social , Will Katcher, @josephinelee.bsky.social , Rachel Livinal, @jimmylovrien.bsky.social

#CHJDataFellowship #DataFellows

Louisiana pharmacies make their own rules amid confusing COVID guidance: ‘It’s clear as mud’ Unclear rules and inconsistent interpretations of federal and state COVID-19 vaccination rules leave families confused and vulnerable patients unprotected.

From @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social | Anyone looking for a COVID shot for themselves or their kids in Louisiana is facing a new maze of pharmacy restrictions after changing federal guidance on the vaccine.

MORE HERE ⬇️

Thank you @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social for getting my good side.

Great reporting from Drew Hawkins @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social and Gulf States Newsroom @gulfstatesnewsroom.bsky.social

‘Down but not out’: The punk zine that helped keep New Orleans’ culture afloat after Katrina When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Antigravity Magazine played a vital role in helping local media dispel rumors and keep their audience informed.

There have been a lot of stories about the media in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Here's a story you haven't heard. It's about a small, punk-rock monthly magazine called Antigravity. @antigravitymag.bsky.social

www.wwno.org/katrina-20/2...

From Drew Hawkins...

"What does heat in New Orleans SOUND like?
We know what it feels like. We know what the data looks like. But I had this idea of a way to represent the temperature data through sound — using music."
www.tiktok.com/@drewhawkins...
@climatecentral.org @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social

Drew Hawkins: Reporting on the Shortage of Trauma-informed Nurses in the Gulf South In this episode, we sat down with Drew Hawkins to discuss his new investigation, “Trauma-informed nurses help sexual assault survivors. Most hospitals in the Gulf South don’t have them,

For the latest Backstory, we sat down with @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social to discuss his investigation, "Trauma-informed nurses help sexual assault survivors. Most hospitals in the Gulf South don’t have them," produced in partnership with @gulfstatesnewsroom.bsky.social: soundcloud.com/typeinvestig...

Future of Alabama’s Narcan program in peril OD2A funds helped Alabama make naloxone more widely available last year. Health experts say it’s responsible for a promising downturn in overdose deaths.

The Trump Administration is delaying critical funding used for opioid overdose prevention — especially naloxone (Narcan) — from the CDC’s Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) program.

Cutting or delaying this funding could directly lead to more overdose deaths.

wbhm.org/2025/alabama...

Trauma-informed nurses help sexual assault survivors. Most hospitals in the Gulf South don’t have them. - Type Investigations

A really well-reported story by @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social on the importance of sexual assault nurse examiners and the impacts for survivors who lack access to them in the Gulf South:
www.typeinvestigations.org/investigatio...

Fruit of a Poisonous Tree - ANTIGRAVITY Magazine On a recent Friday morning in New Orleans, while shoppers perused high-end luxury items at stores inside the Canal Place mall like Saks Fifth Avenue and Banana Republic, while workers sipped their cof...

@wadrewhawkins.bsky.social wrote about today's ICE raids, Latin America's banana plantations, and the history that connects them. antigravitymagazine.com/feature/frui...

Fruit of a Poisonous Tree - ANTIGRAVITY Magazine On a recent Friday morning in New Orleans, while shoppers perused high-end luxury items at stores inside the Canal Place mall like Saks Fifth Avenue and Banana Republic, while workers sipped their cof...

Absolutely loved this story.

Talks about the links between the Latin American coups of the mid 1900s and the modern disappearing of migrants in America.

(From @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social in @antigravitymag.bsky.social )

antigravitymagazine.com/feature/frui...

Powerful and eloquent essay that updates the long and shameful history of U.S. involvement in “disappearances.” How many more years will pass before we in the U.S. end these abuses and make real amends?

I know we're seeing people disappear every day now. In the numbers, we lose the humanity. No human is more deserving than another.

I love public media and I love my beat. But I had to step outside to tell this story. Huge thanks to @antigravitymag.bsky.social and all of the wonderful editors there for their guidance and ability to execute darlings without hesitation

Fruit of a Poisonous Tree - ANTIGRAVITY Magazine On a recent Friday morning in New Orleans, while shoppers perused high-end luxury items at stores inside the Canal Place mall like Saks Fifth Avenue and Banana Republic, while workers sipped their cof...

This is the story of a man with no name who was disappeared from a mall in New Orleans.

It's about disappearances—past and present. About the U.S. legacy in Guatemala. About banana empires, CIA coups, and the people still paying the price.

antigravitymagazine.com/feature/frui...

Jamilla Webb attended the second national Get Free: A Black Feminist Reunion conference (featuring keynote speaker Angela Davis); @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social‬ investigates banana plantations, ICE raids at Canal Place, and the history that connects them...

60 opioid settlement and other public health story ideas - (IRE)

A big list of 30 opioid settlement story ideas and 30 other public health story ideas: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

I created this with @aneripattani.bsky.social and @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social .

Building empathy into addiction and homelessness coverage At HJ25, panelists spoke about fostering empathy and nuance in stories about people living with addiction and homelessness.

Building empathy into #addiction and #homelessness coverage, by @wadrewhawkins.bsky.social healthjournalism.org/blog/2025/06... via @healthjournalism.org #journalism

Tons of great stories in here — guarantee you’ll get some ideas!

Great working on this with @edmahon.bsky.social and @aneripattani.bsky.social