"Taxpayers in Colorado's largest school districts have spent more than $5.8 million during the past five years to subsidize the activities of local teachers unions.

The expenses resulted from years of agreements that require tax money to pay for everything from full-time union leaders' salaries and benefits to providing leave for some teachers to attend union conferences, a Denver Post analysis of the 20 largest school districts with collective-bargaining contracts found."

"MaryJo Webster of The Pioneer Press reported that the state of Minnesota paid about $57 million in unused sick time from January 2008 to June 2012 to departing workers. Now, Minnesota legislators from both sides of the aisle are calling for inquiries into the payments, with one senator saying, "we need to take an aggressive look so that we make sure that not only the citizens of our state - the taxpayers - are being protected, but also that our employees are protected as well.'"

The calls came after reports in the Pioneer Press and on KSTP-TV on the issue. 

“Nowhere are the challenges facing the Alexandria Fire Department more stark than at Station 206, the Seminary Road facility built in 1958. Standing on the front ramp looking west, Fire Chief Adam Thiel can see the massive Washington Headquarters Service — the new Department of Defense building where more than 6,000 people will work early next year. As the crow flies, it’s less than a mile away. But Thiel told The Alexandria Gazette Packet that during rush hour, the massive gridlock created by a lack of transportation planning could create a worse-case scenario — a 20-minute response time.”

In today’s story on dangers in the workplace, John Ryan covers hospitals and emergency rooms.

“Most of us face little risk of being assaulted while we’re on the job. But if you’re a cop, a convenience store clerk or a cab driver, your line of work can quickly turn violent. The same is true for people working in hospitals and nursing homes.” Ryan discussed the problem of what happens when patients are in pain and agitated, and try to take it out on the people who are trying to give them care.  One nurse describes the unfortunate ...

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John Ryan takes a closer look at some of the more dangerous jobs in the country with an eye for safety laws and regulations.

http://www.kuow.org/specials/danger-at-work.php

Today, KUOW highlights a day in the life of a lineworker, one of the most dangerous jobs, right up there with commercial fishing.

Ryan talks with workers who ‘free-climb’, or climb electrical poles without being harnessed, despite the high safety standards for almost every other job in the country.“All workplaces in this country have to be safe. That’s the law of the land. But above the land ...

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In this series by the Buffalo News, reporter Aaron Besecker revealed that the "highest paid local government employee in Erie County last year" was Kenneth K. Hycner, a police lieutenant who did nothing out of the ordinary except retire. This investigation reveals that several local governments in Erie County often give police officers hefty "parting payouts." The town of Cheektowaga, where Hycner had been employed, produces some of the largest "end-of-career payments" in the area. The town's policy of encouraging comp time and liberal buyback arrangements adds to the high payout totals.

In this series that was "inspired by a session at the IRE conference in 2010," The Columbus Dispatch reporters Rita Price, Jill Riepenhoff and Jennifer Smith-Richards reveal that thousands of adults with intellectual disabilities working across Ohio are receiving wages that "pay less money than a teen-age baby sitter earns." A provision in the federal wage law allows "employers to pay less than minimum wage if adults have disabilities that limit their productivity." The issue has prompted a divided response from the communities affected.

In part one of this series of stories by WSMV-TV, reporter Jeremy Finley and the Channel 4 I-Team found that one of the highest paid elected officials in Nashville, Tenn., only works about half of the week and uses a county car to run personal errands. The team's hidden camera caught David Torrence, the Davidson County Criminal Court clerk, leisurely cleaning up his yard and using his county car to drive to the bank and the liquor store. Part two revealed that Torrence hired his two sons to work at the criminal court office without advertising the openings to ... Read more ...

Two San Diego redevelopment officials were arrested and accused of "embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds." The voiceofsandiego.org investigation that began in 2008 culminated this week when the Southeastern Economic Development Corp.'s former president and former finance director were accused of "five criminal felony counts" each. Voiceofsandiego.org reported that the SEDC started paying "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to its employees in the form of "secret bonuses." Employees were ordered not to discuss the extra payments and alleged violation of the policy was termination. The investigation tracks the secret scheme as it "built up and, eventually, collapsed."

Reports dating back to the early 1990s indicate that top city officials were aware of high radon levels in the basement of Ann Arbor's city hall where many police officers worked for years. Measures were put in place, however, failed to eradicate the problem. The levels of radon, which is a radioactive gas that can cause serious health problems, were found to be "far above amounts posing cancer risks." Two police officers who worked in the basement have since died from cancer, and many members of the police offer union believe the deaths are linked to the radon exposure.