Archive for November, 2005

Terrorism funded by organized criminal activity

Wednesday, 11/30/05 Posted in Terrorism

David E. Kaplan, with Bay Fang and Soni Sangwan, of U.S. News & World Report found that Dawood Ibrahim, a world-class mobster and engineer of the 1993 multiple bomb blasts ... Read more..

D.C. officials violate spending laws

Wednesday, 11/30/05 Posted in Business, CAR, Government (federal/state/local)

Dan Keating and David S. Fallis, with contributions from Bobbye Pratt, of The Washington Post used District of Columbia purchasing records to show that of $2.5 billion in ... Read more..

Thousands of dollars collected in per diems

Wednesday, 11/30/05 Posted in Government (federal/state/local)

Steve Neavling, formerly of The Bay City Times, reviewed records to show that Bay County paid more than $350,000 to citizens and politicians for serving on its boards in the ... Read more..

Lack of federal oversight of theme park rides

Wednesday, 11/30/05 Posted in CAR, Government (federal/state/local)

Florida Today and WKMG-Orlando used data from a 3-axis accelerometer and data collection device to test the effects of Central Florida's G-forces on theme park rides. They also examined figures ... Read more..

Rogue tow truck drivers

Monday, 11/28/05 Posted in Broadcast, Justice (courts/crime/law)

ABC News reports on "bandit" tow truck drivers who pretend to be from companies hired by auto clubs and then overcharge drivers. The rogue drivers then tow cars to a ... Read more..

Students misuse low-income housing

Monday, 11/28/05 Posted in Education, Housing

Lee Rood of The Des Moines Register found scores of students are paying little or nothing to live in low-income projects in college towns in every region. Loopholes enable students ... Read more..

FOIA request reveals media’s use of FOIA

Monday, 11/28/05 Posted in First Amendment & FOIA

Editor and Publisher reports that The Associated Press leads news organizations in using the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents from the Pentagon. A log of such requests ... Read more..

‘Guest workers’ suffer from exploitation, neglect

Tuesday, 11/22/05 Posted in Business, Environment, First Amendment & FOIA, Government (federal/state/local), Health, Social issues, Workplace

A nine-month investigation by Tom Knudson and Hector Amezcua of The Sacramento Bee "has found pineros [Latino forest workers in the United States] are victims of employer exploitation, government neglect ... Read more..

Ky. economic incentives fall short

Tuesday, 11/22/05 Posted in Business, CAR, Government (federal/state/local)

A series of Lexington Herald-Leader reports from John Stamper and Bill Estep, with contributions from Linda J. Johnson, computer-assisted reporting coordinator, reporter Linda Blackford and news researcher Lu-Ann Farrar, examines ... Read more..

Innocent man likely executed in Texas

Tuesday, 11/22/05 Posted in Justice (courts/crime/law)

Lise Olsen of the Houston Chronicle reports that a witness now says he was influenced by police to identify Ruben Cantu, then 17, as the killer in an alleged murder-robbery. ... Read more..