Patrick Terpstra

Patrick Terpstra

National Investigative Reporter

Patrick Terpstra is a national investigative reporter devoted to accuracy, clarity and fairness. His reporting relies on data, records and brave people willing to share their experiences. He aims to expose problems and difficulties with governments, corporations, and other mighty entities, while searching just as hard for solutions. His work at Scripps has exposed how a couple without medical experience led a massive troubled covid testing operation. He revealed how the state of Maryland secretly refused to implement key parts of a new online privacy law. He also uncovered how cellphone emergency alerts fail to warn people in the way of deadly wildfires. Prior to joining Scripps, Patrick covered Washington for the Cox Media Group. His reporting on former Congressman Paul Broun’s office spending led to the indictment and federal conviction of his chief of staff. Patrick can be reached at patrick.terpstra@scripps.com.

Recent Work
A tornado siren near a basketball court
Rogelio V. Solis / APScripps News Investigates

When tornadoes strike, warning sirens often stay silent

Recent immigrants to the United States
Seth Wenig / APScripps News Investigates

After crossing border, migrants end up in blue states more than red

Packers Sanitation Services Inc., in Worthington
Scripps NewsScripps News Investigates

A failed attempt to stop child labor years before a raid

Child in PSSi facility
Scripps NewsScripps News Investigates

Scripps News Investigates: A city’s not-so-secret child labor problem

Architect of the Capitol denies wrongdoing before Congress
Scripps NewsPolitics

Architect of the Capitol denies wrongdoing before Congress

J. Brett Blanton, the Architect of the Capitol.
APScripps News Investigates

Architect of the Capitol, accused of misconduct, avoids accountability

Ticket company executives appear before Congress
Andrew Harnik / APScripps News Investigates

Ticketmaster under fire on Capitol Hill for failing to stop bots

Ticket Bots
Scripps NewsScripps News Investigates

Few scalpers pay a price for using illegal ticket bots

Sam Bankman-Fried under arrest
APScripps News Investigates

SBF Donated To Lawmakers Working On Crypto Policies, Newsy Finds

Ballot box observers in Arizona.
KNXV-TVScripps News Investigates

Election Skeptics Fall Far Short Of Goal To Observe 'Every Ballot Box'

Voting in Delhi Township, Mich., during a primary election in August.
APScripps News Investigates

Why 2020 Election Skeptics Want To Be Poll Workers And Watchers

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
APPolitics

Undocumented Immigration Isn't Just A Red State Problem

A person types on a keyboard.
 Scripps News Investigates

Pioneering Privacy Law Runs Into More Trouble In Maryland

Zach Cusson / NewsyScripps News Investigates

Hospital ERs Struggle To Treat Surge Of Mental Health Patients

An ancestry DNA website.
NewsyU.S.

Maryland Quietly Shelves Parts Of Genealogy Privacy Law

A spam text message
NewsyScripps News Investigates

Lots Of Spam Texts, Little Action To Stop Them

A medical setting
APScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Vague Health Exceptions In Abortion Bans

A man on a bicycle stops at a railroad crossing as a train passes.
Lauren Knapp / NewsyScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Increasing Incidents At Rail Crossings

bottles of abortion pills at a clinic
Charlie Neibergall / APScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Abortion Pill's Safety Record

A beach on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Patrick Terpstra / NewsyScripps News Investigates

Erosion Is Turning Dream Homes Into Nightmares: Newsy Investigates

A woman looks over paperwork.
Patrick Terpstra / NewsyScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Surge Of Rejected Ballots In Texas

Cash, debit cards and guns seized in an unemployment insurance fraud investigation.
U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector GeneralScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: The Slow Hunt For Stolen Unemployment Aid

A shuttered Center for Covid Control site in Chicago.
Patrick Terpstra / NewsyScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Government Money For Troubled COVID-19 Testing Lab

An empty Center for COVID Control testing site
Patrick Terpstra / NewsyScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Tax Dollars Kept Flowing To Troubled COVID-19 Lab

A person wearing a shirt that says "Make TikToks."
Ng Han Guan / APScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: TikTok's Misinformation Challenge

A COVID-19 testing site
APScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Delays And Fraud Fears At COVID-19 Test Sites

A candlelight vigil in Mayfield, Ky.
APScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: OSHA Violations At Candle Factory Hit By Tornado

Emily Reid at Spagnvola Chocolatier
Patrick Terpstra / NewsyScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Small Businesses Still Locked Out Of Aid Program

Jeff Stover at the Virginia Department of Health
Nicholas McMillan / NewsyScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: Why So Few COVID-19 Smartphone Alerts?

A COVID-10 antigen test
APScripps News Investigates

Newsy Investigates: COVID-19 Rapid Tests Struggle To Win FDA Approval