Adolf Haeberli has not been tidying up since his mother’s death. He likes order but his case of fraud is more important: Every day he writes countless letters on his typewriter among mountains of newsprint. It is all about his damaged house in posh St. Moritz.

Madonna has been the subject of a decades-long controversy in her birthplace, Bay City, Michigan. As the rust belt town’s fortunes declined, interest grew in using her fame for municipal gain. But with a shrinking population and cash-strapped government, is it too late to do anything about it?